swemoney's stats
- Review count205
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- First reviewMay 14, 2016
- Last reviewApril 21, 2024
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- Average rating3.9
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- Answer count12
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- First answerJune 10, 2016
- Last answerApril 18, 2021
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Explore the art of espresso made right, effortlessly, with the refined features of La Specialista Arte from De'Longhi. Created for the hands-on home barista, this compact and stylishly designed machine empowers you to craft custom espresso drinks with ease and precision. From start to finish, unlock all the aromatic flavors of the beans for results that perfectly match your palette. Full control is at your fingertips with exclusive features like a conical burr grinder boasting 8 precise settings developed to expertly grind all bean varieties in a single or double dose. Use the complete barista kit, including a tamper, dosing funnel, and more, to prepare your fresh grounds in either a single or double dose in the single wall filter basket. Next, 3 active infusion water temperature levels adapt to your beans and roasting level for optimal flavor extraction. Finally, My LatteArt wand’s powerful steam produces the perfectly silky milk microfoam ideal for latte art creations. Save time with three beverage presets—espresso, Americano and hot water—for those on-the-go mornings. With La Specialista Arte, an authentic, hand-crafted coffee experience is within your reach. Indulge in the creativity of coffee-making as you get the best out of every bean and enjoy experimenting with foam art as a home barista.
Customer Rating
5
Not much bad to say about this one.
on October 10, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I'm still sort of new to using an espresso machine and over just making a pot of drip coffee but I've been working my way up. Starting with a nespresso pod, then moving to a low end "real" espresso machine and now I'm feeling like I'm pretty fancy with this one. This machine is nice. It feels like most everything was thought out and it makes good coffee. And best of all, it's not super hard to use.
Setup is the part that feels the most daunting if you aren't experienced with these machines. There's a lot of parts and it looks overwhelming pulling each piece out of the box. But a quick read through the quick start guide was enough for me to realize it wasn't really that much. It just looks like a lot. There's a really simple "your first time" step that just walks you through what I assume clears the pipes and gets the maker ready for the real stuff. That's about all you need for setup. Plug in and follow the fairly simple quick start guide.
My favorite part of this is the included grinder. It still tells you to only put as many beans in as you intend to use which is going to take me some time to figure out (my first time, I just filled up the bean grinder before reading that part) but after you select single or double and adjust the coarseness you just put the wand with the guide attached in and it fills up a perfect amount of coffee for you. Move everything over to the tamper (with an included mat to help) and tamp it down. Every shot I've made has looked exactly the same after tamping the coffee down. One of the big things I didn't love about my mid range espresso maker was grinding up the coffee myself and then having to guess how much I'd need to put in the strainer. I felt like every cup was just a little different. This feels not only easier because it's mostly automatic but much more consistent which I love.
Pulling the shot is just as simple. There's a guide which tells you what settings to use for each different kind of roast so it's mostly ready to go from there but you can adjust a little bit depending on taste or if things aren't coming out exactly right for you. There's even documentation about what a good and bad pour should look like and what steps you can take to improve your next one. It's a process that you'll just get better at over time if you aren't experienced but it didn't feel like it took very long to feel happy with my pulls on this maker.
The steamer seems to work well but I don't feel like I'm good enough at it yet. It doesn't come out bad but I haven't nailed down consistency yet. Each cup is better or worse. The guide does have more documentation about how to steam the milk so it's very helpful in guiding you down the right path at least. I'll get better over time.
Cleanup is pretty easy. Just make sure to wipe down the steamer as soon as you're down with it and then everything else just rinses off for the most part. Another thing I didn't love about my old espresso maker was that I always had to dig the coffee out of the portafilter. I'm sure it was something to do with how I was pulling my shots but I could never get a perfect puck to just pop out after brewing. This bad boy has been 100%. Every cup I've made, I've been able to knock the portafilter once and out pops a perfect puck with a mostly clean portafilter. Very satisfying. The only issue I had was that the portafilter had the double shot cup pre-installed and it's... in there. I wasn't sure how to get it out so I could make sure I completely clean it out. A little Googling and I discovered that you just use the other filter cup to pry the installed out one. It wasn't too hard to remove and reinstall after figuring that out but for as nice as I thought the documentation for the whole maker was, that one piece of information would have been nice to have.
Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this espresso maker. It's not cheap but it does feel like a really huge leap in quality over my more mid-range espresso maker (which I also didn't think was super cheap). Everything is pretty streamlined and works very well. Everything is easy to clean up. The coffee it makes is really good. If I had to reach for something to say, it would be about some of the terminology I don't fully understand yet but that's not a shortcoming of this machine, it's just something I'll learn over time. I definitely recommend this espresso maker if you have the budget for it and you're looking to get out of the low to mid tier of coffee/espresso makers. This machine has been a delight to use.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The Velox Magnetic Wireless Dash & Windshield Mount is a powerful, convenient, and highly versatile wireless charging phone mount designed specifically for MagSafe compatible iPhones and cases. Keep your iPhone accessible in a myriad of custom mounting positions without obstructing your view thanks to the newly redesigned telescopic arm. Featuring a streamlined profile that utilizes a friction ring and snap lock, adjusting the arm is quick and hassle-free. Easily attach the Velox Dash Mount to your vehicle’s dashboard or windshield for a superior suction hold. Strong magnets provide precise alignment for efficient charging and keep your iPhone in place in portrait or landscape mode, even on the roughest terrain. The soft silicone mounting face ensures a scratch-free experience. With up to 7.5W of wireless charging power, you can hit the road with confidence!.
Customer Rating
4
Does what it's supposed to very well.
on October 10, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
With MagSafe on my phone, I've found a new love for accessories that work well with it. This one does a really good job as a stand for your phone in the car while also keeping your phone topped off.
Setup is really easy. Everything comes out together for the most part. Just put stick the suction cup where you want it on your car's dash (or windshield) and plug it in to a lighter or other USB-C plug.
The suction cup doesn't seem like it would be that great but it works really well. I was expecting it to give out after a few days but it's still holding strong just stuck to my dashboard. It's sticky as well as having the lever to increase the suction so both methods together work really well in holding it even on a porous surface like a car dashboard.
The MagSafe connector isn't super stiff but it does hold its position pretty well. It's actually really easy to move around but it stays where you leave it very well.
Charging capabilities are top notch for wireless charging as well. No complaints. It feels like it's plugged in.
Overall, my old MagSafe car charger that attached to my vent is now relegated to a backup charger and this one has taken the throne.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The king returns to raise the game. Enter the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro—the most advanced gaming mouse. Armed to the teeth with industry-leading technology, unlock your maximum potential with a weapon that pushes the known limits of performance, customization, connectivity, and control.
Customer Rating
5
Most comfortable mouse I've used in a long time.
on October 2, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I've been testing a lot of different mice lately and I've found another one that's going to stick around as a daily driver for a while. I've more recently determined that I'm much better off with these styles of mouse as opposed to more symmetrical shaped mice just for wrist comfort and this guy fits my grip extremely well. I haven't noticed any comfort issues and some soreness that I had while using my old Logitech G Pro Wireless have pretty much gone away.
Setup is a piece of cake no matter how you plan to connect this mouse. You have options. You can use the included dongle for the "fastest" wireless connection. That's as easy as plugging it in and turning on your mouse to the 2.4 setting. Then you can go with Bluetooth if you're using a computer or laptop that supports it. You'll have to go through the standard Bluetooth setup but that's it. Or you can just plug the nice, soft cable in to run it wired (and also charge the battery). All of these options are basically plug and play. You can also install the Razer Synapse software to customize the buttons, lighting, power settings and DPI for the mouse.
As stated earlier, this is probably one of the most comfortable mice I've used. I have a drawer with at least 5 or 6 mice in it right now and this one just felt great right off the bat as soon as I started using it and I haven't felt any discomfort or strain at all. Obviously this is going to be subjective and you'll need to feel the mouse yourself to know if it's the right fit for you.
The buttons all feel pretty good and easy to use. There's 3 buttons on the right side but the third thumb tip button actually feels pretty easy and good to press. I don't find myself going out of the way to press anything. The top middle buttons under the mouse wheel are in a similar spot to other mice I've used and work well. One thing I really like is the button directly under the mouse wheel that switches the mouse wheel from a clicky wheel to a smooth wheel. In other mice I've used, this was kind of a mechanical button that locked the wheel into clicky or smooth positions but on this mouse, it's a digital button that can be reconfigured if you'd like. The best part of it being digital is there's an option (off by default) in the Synapse software that allows you to automatically switch to smooth wheel if you scroll fast enough and then automatically switch back to clicky when it detects the wheel has stopped enough. Takes a second to get used to but I really like it now.
Overall, I think this mouse is going to stick around for a while. I like testing out new mice but I don't foresee one overtaking this as my daily driver for a while. If you have a chance to hold this mouse in your hand to see if it's as comfortable for you as it is for me, then pull the trigger on this one. I'm a fan.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Wyze Cam Outdoor v2 takes everything you loved about the original wire-free, battery-powered Wyze Cam Outdoor to a whole new level. Now with our Starlight Sensor, you can see at night just as clear as day with Color Night Vision 1080p HD resolution. Get alerted when motion is detected, now up to 28% further away and set custom motion detection zones to only get alerts that matter to you. See even more than before with a wider, 130 degree field of view, so you can see more of what’s out there. Take advantage of the built-in security features like a motion-activated siren, two-way audio, and motion-detection alerts for even more peace of mind. Best of all, it’s easy to mount, has a 6-month battery life with easy recharging via microUSB, and you can even connect it to Wyze Solar Panel to eliminate the need to recharge ever again, depending upon your location.
Customer Rating
4
Simple with a lot of unofficial potential
on September 24, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I've tried out a lot of cameras for my home looking for that perfect system that "just works" for my needs. This one still isn't it but it's closer than most and one of the cheaper options too.
Setup is fairly straight forward. Plug in the base station to ethernet and power and the app will walk you through the setup entirely. The lengthiest part of the whole process is updating the firmware but even that's fairly quick compared to others. All in, I had all 3 cameras set up and updated and ready to go in maybe 20 minutes. Two of the cameras came around 50% charged while one of them was completely dead so I let them all charge up to 100% which took the night.
I've used battery powered cameras before but usually just left them connected to power at all times. These are definitely meant to be used as completely wireless. They're pretty hefty feeling from what I assume is mostly battery. A couple days of usage has only depleted the battery a few percent even after adjusting the clip recording time and cooldown time and having them in fairly high traffic areas. You aren't able to keep these plugged in outdoors as the charging port is not sealed while charging. So you'll have to be fine with bringing the camera back inside for a while to charge when they're close to dying. If you're using them indoors, you should be fine keeping them plugged in at all times.
The mount for these cameras is pretty nice. I think it's a similar mount on all of the wyze cameras but these are my first so I'm not 100% sure. They are magnetic which lets them stick to the bottom or top of the camera (in case you want to mount on the ceiling and hang the camera down). You can then extend and angle and rotate fairly freely to get the angle you want. The mount is stiff so I'm pretty confident it'll stay where you put it but given only a couple days to test I'm not sure if they'll loosen up at all.
These are 1080p cameras so quality is pretty much what you'd expect out of some cheap but decent 1080p cameras. Quality is fine but you aren't going to get the crispness of a 4K stream or anything. Settings for the cameras are pretty basic but should cover most of your needs. You can record standard motion clips for a maximum of 12 seconds with a 5 minute cooldown right out of the box. If you want more features and customization with your recordings you'll need to subscribe to at least their Cam Plus plan. It's not incredibly expensive to cover all 3 cameras but something to consider if you're going to use the camera in an area where a lot of pixels are going to change. If you don't, you'll just be flooded with 12s motion clips and I'm guessing it won't be super easy to find what you're looking for. With Cam Plus, they let you eliminate the cooldown (or change it to a shorter time) as well as increase the recording time all the way to 5 minutes. Better yet, you can use their AI detection settings for finding humans, pets, packages or cars. The app even lets you receive notifications from the AI events separately from the standard motion events so you can see when most important things happen but you won't be notified every time a motion only event happens.
Home integration is pretty minimal. I was only able to find Amazon Alexa support in the app officially. But I was able to find a docker package that spins up a very customizable proxy for your cameras which gives you rtsp streams and a web frontend. If you're feeling more adventurous, there's instructions on the same package that should get all of your Wyze cameras running with HomeKit Secure Video. None of this is officially supported and you'll need to do a lot of work to get it to work but it's nice to know that it's even possible at least.
Overall, these cameras are easy enough and the AI seems good enough to do a good enough job inside and outside my home. Cam Plus is inexpensive enough that I may stick with this for a while but I'll also probably try and get the whole system working with HomeKit Secure Video which is what I want for my whole home's camera system. If you're looking for a camera system that "just works" out of the box but also has the potential to tweak and poke into submission to do more unofficial stuff, this might be the system for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Don’t let the battery of your devices die as you go throughout your day. The Insignia NS-PW3X4AC2W22B 140W 4-Port USB & USB-C Desktop Charger Kit for MacBook Pro 16” and More has a high, 140-watt output to quickly charge your MacBook Pro, smartphone, tablet and more. It has two USB and two USB-C ports so you can connect your cables (not included) and charge up to four devices simultaneously. Its desktop design easily lets you stack up to 4 chargers on top of one another, granting you more charging options. A simple white design pairs well with your other accessories. Keep your desktop devices working as hard as you do with this 4-port charger.
Customer Rating
4
More than I need, but it gets the job done.
on September 18, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
Looking for a "do it all" power brick and this definitely meets my needs. Probably a little overkill.
Setup is obviously a breeze. You plug it in and then plug whatever you're looking to charge into it. Super simple. You can plug in the unit straight into an outlet or you can use the extension cable for extra length. You then have 2 USB-A outputs and 2 USB-C outputs so you can charge your phone, computer and whatever other devices you might need. There's also an extra standard plug on the front side of the device that acts as kind of a pass through power outlet for the one you're taking up.
I can't complain about any of the charging abilities. All of my devices work great. An iPhone plugged into the USB-A slot charges about as fast as you'd expect out of a 10W charger. And I can keep my MacBook Pro going at the same time. If I need to use the actual outlet, I don't have to worry about unplugging anything since I can just use the pass through.
Only real complaint would be that this this is HUGE. And heavy. You're going to notice it if you're using it for a lot of travel stuff. Not a huge deal breaker for me but it's noticeable right away how big this is.
Overall, this thing is much more than I really need but it works for everything I need just fine and maybe my needs change in the future and this will still work great for me. If it's in your budget and you're looking for a heavy duty do it all charger, this might be for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Linksys Hydra 6 with Intelligent Mesh delivers the speed of Wi-Fi 6. From next-level gaming to streaming your favorite content, get the fastest connection to everything you do.
Customer Rating
3
Lack of settings really kills this one
on September 1, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
It seems like I've been testing out a lot of routers lately. I had an old Linksys that was on the higher end for a long time. Despite my distaste for the interface and how much they push their mobile app, I overall thought it was a good really router. Since then, I've tried a couple routers on the cheaper side of things and have thought they were decent routers as far as settings goes and customization but their performance was just... subpar. My home is technically 2 stories with a split level living room. It's not huge but with the router on one side of the home, it struggles to get to the upstairs on the other side of the room. I was excited to try out another Linksys and since this one was a good $50 or so more expensive than the other ones I tried, I hoped my wifi struggles would be taken care of. Sadly, only a little bit.
Overall, setup was pretty easy. As much as I'm not a big fan of their mobile-most approach, I will admit that their setup process seems like it would be really painless for someone who doesn't know the first thing about networking or setting up a router. I am not that person, but I can see how it would be very helpful. I also only have one of these routers right now so I don't have to set up anything as a mesh. The app seemed very good at these kind of setup tasks. It takes you through everything with diagrams if you need extra help. It even convinces you to unplug and replug your modem (with timers so you can leave the modem unplugged and everything). I noticed this step because I feel like it's pretty common for me to hook up a new router and then wonder what's wrong with it for a minute before remembering that the modem probably needs a reboot. Definitely something I'd forget to tell my dad if I was talking him through setting up a new router over the phone. There was one step I didn't love about the initial setup. I was only allowed to name my wifi once for both bands. I like to keep my networks separate so I can specify which network every device connects to (and the 2.4 interference in my area is terrible). Aside from that, the initial setup process was pretty OK.
Settings on this router are about as bare bones as I expected. Linksys likes to dumb down everything so the lay-person isn't exposed to settings that they might not understand (overwhelming them) or that they might misconfigure and cause performance issues. If you are a lay-person and don't know much about networking and just want something to plugs in and works, this is great news for you. I wasn't as pleased after the last two routers I used with the offerings.
For starters, they really push the mobile app for all of your configuration needs. But the mobile app doesn't expose all of the settings. The aforementioned setting for separating your 2.5 and 5 Ghz bands into separate wifi networks is just not existent on the mobile app. When I finally logged in to the router page on my computer, I was able to find the ability to do this. After this is done, the wifi settings page on your mobile app just doesn't scroll down enough to enter advanced settings anymore which is the only place you can find their Channel Finder feature which is supposed to scan the channels around you to find the best channels that won't overlap. When I tried this setting the first time, it found channels that were definitely not the best for my area and neither the app OR the web based interface has any place (that I've been able to find) to set the channels for each band manually. So I'm just stuck on whatever channels it has chosen in a heavy interference area. It's so bizarre to find a router now a days that you can't adjust the channels for your wifi since it's such a crucial step for troubleshooting interference issues.
The rest of the settings you can find are pretty much your bare basics. Nothing to right home about. It'll get the job down for 90% of just home users that need wifi but if you're looking for any advanced settings at all, this is just not the router for you. On top of that, even though the router is on your local network and the connection to the router should just be a really simple (and fast) local connection, the app and web interface area painfully slow. Changing any page. Doing anything really results in a loading indicator blocking the whole page for 5-10 seconds. I don't understand how they could engineer a webpage (or API for the mobile app) that's this slow on a local network. None of the problems I mentioned are new to this specific router. They've been around for a long time. If you aren't an advanced user, you'll probably be fine. If you are, look at similarly priced options from ASUS and TP-Link for more advanced features and settings.
Performance-wise, I think I do notice a little bit in the way of 2.4 Ghz coverage over the last couple routers I've played with. Not a lot. Not enough to endorse this router and forgive the lack of customization. But it does seem a tad better. Speeds overall for my wired connections seem to be up to the 1Gbps download speeds I get through my ISP. I'm not really set up to test out their 3Gbps claims, sadly, but I'd expect my local connections to be faster than 1Gbps if I wasn't running everything else through a 1Gbps switch right now.
In conclusion, this is just an OK router. It does what it's supposed to do with minimal fuss. It sacrifices a lot of customization features so that it can be dead simple to setup and use and not have to worry about. This is probably what a lot of people are looking for. I still can't get over how annoyingly slow their web interface is and how many features and settings are missing from routers priced almost $100 cheaper, though. The fact that they push their mobile app so hard for all your router settings and then they have even fewer settings available on there baffles me even more. For that reason, I'll probably be switching back to something like my cheaper ASUS that I can fine tune a lot more. If you're looking for something you can just plug in and go and don't need to worry about more advanced features, this one might be pretty good for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Hear them first. With 360 Spatial Sound for Gaming and our proven hardware technology, you can detect where your opponents are and how far away. Even players hiding in shadows or behind walls and obstacles, can’t stay hidden for long.
Customer Rating
4
Overall decent headset for your PC or PS5
on August 18, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
Sony's "first" foray into a "PC Gaming Headset" is overall a win for me. I've used the old school PS4 Gold headsets even before they were redesigned and actually quite liked them. I don't remember if they definitely worked on PC as well but I feel like they did. In any case, the INZONE series is currently being called Sony's first PC gaming headset. I'll probably use it more with my PS5 and as a bluetooth headset for my phone, though.
Setup was a breeze no matter what. The documentation included with the headset is pretty much non-existent but you shouldn't need it. Plug in the wireless dongle into your PS5 or PC (there's a switch on the dongle to tell it which system it's plugged into) and that's about it. Out of the box, my Windows PC and PS5 immediately recognized the headset. Windows, sadly, auto-switches the audio as soon as you plug in the dongle so it's a little more of a pain if you want to just leave the dongle plugged in forever since you'll need to switch between your speakers and headset manually. PS5 is smart enough to know when you actually power on the headset and switch to it at that point instead. You also have a bluetooth mode so you can connect straight to any bluetooth device you have instead of the dongle.
The overall sound quality is quite nice. These aren't cheap headphones so I would hope that's the case and they don't disappoint after some time with them. Listening to music and playing games sounded really good. The spacial audio works pretty well too. I tested out some 3D sound tests and for the most part, these headphones do a decent job of simulating and differentiating the front, rear, side and center channels. I also tested some of Astros Playground on the PS5 because I know they use the Tempest Audio system that's new in PS5 and it really felt like there was just sound all around me. Microphone audio is passable. It sounds good enough. Nothing to write home about but it's a headset microphone so I wasn't expecting much more than I got.
There's no active noise canceling on the H7 like there is on the flagship H9 but honestly, when playing a game, I don't think you need it much. The passive noise canceling is already pretty top notch. As soon as I put them on I commented to my wife that there wasn't supposed to be noise canceling on this set but the room kind of drifts away when you put them on. Playing anything that has any volume to it drowns out anything else even without the active noise canceling. I can attest that my newborn child within a leg's distance from me was in-audible while crying a little bit which is pretty good since she's got a set of lungs on her.
There's an INZONE windows app that lets you tweak some settings (EQ and such) as well as personalize your spacial audio settings by using another app on your phone that takes a picture of your ears to customize the sound. I'm not 100% sure that I heard much of a difference but I thought it was a neat way of doing things. The process is a little cumbersome but not too bad. Mostly it was logging in to your Sony account on the Windows app and then logging in again on the phone app.
Comfort is pretty great. The headset isn't the lightest thing I've ever worn but it's just a really comfortable set. It's easy to forget you're wearing it. Not much else to be said. The cups are deep and don't hurt my ears at all. There isn't a lot of pressure pushing into your head. All around, just a really comfortable headset. Enough that it might be the first one I actually use to listen to music and podcasts on my phone in lieu of in-ear wireless headsets I would normally pick.
One of the only real downside I found had to do with the connection to my PS5. I was able to hear some "artifacting". Like a connection/interference type thing. I didn't notice it when I was connected to my PC but on my PC, I was connected to the front/top of the case which is just out of arms reach while the PS5 was connected to the back of the PS5 a good 6-8 feet away. That sort of range shouldn't be an issue, but we do have a newborn child as well as a toddler so we have more than one 2.4ghz device hogging up a lot of bandwidth already. Our 2.4ghz wifi also suffers from a lot of interference so I can't really blame the headset but it's something to consider if you also have a lot of 2.4ghz issues. The artifacts aren't really distracting and I didn't notice them when there was a lot of sound happening in game. It was mostly just little moments while the background PS5 music was playing.
The only other downside is a personal thing that limits how much I can use it with my PC. I stream on Twitch and have an audio setup that won't work with a USB headset. Most other headsets I've used allow for a passive, 3.5mm audio jack connection that I can use but the INZONE's do not have that. This is the main reason I'm OK with just using these for my PS5 and phone. If they had a headphone input, though, I'd probably just use these for everything.
All in all, this is a pretty good headset. It's not cheap but I do think it offers a good enough sound quality in a very comfortable package. Even without the 3.5mm audio jack so I could use it streaming, I'm still happy with them enough that using them with my PS5 and phone is enough for me. If you aren't on a tight budget, I can recommend looking into these.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Ready to take your ride to a new level?! Introducing the Hover-1 Jive. This exciting eScooter is the epitome of rideable technology. Featuring a powerful 300W brushless motor, a max range of 16 miles, and 14mph top speeds, the Jive gives you a smooth and soaring ride with all the bells and whistles you could ask for – including an LED light, LED Footpad, an LCD display, and a foldable frame for maximum portability. Equipped with 8.5” tires, and a strong frame capable of supporting 264lbs of weight at a 15-degree incline with ease. The Jive is a smooth, comfortable, and enjoyable ride.
Customer Rating
4
I'm way too old for this thing but I like it
on August 13, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I always enjoyed scooters as a kid. Just the old school ones powered by your Flintstone feet. Always made me feel like I was surfing when I could just put my feet up and coast for a bit. So with this guy, I don't need to worry about all that manual labor anymore! It's all coasting all the time!
Setup/assembly was pretty easy. It's mostly just folded up. The rubber grommets that hold and seal the break/power lines were all popped out so I had to stick those back in. One of them had split on one side but after putting it back in place, you couldn't notice. I'm not sure if it'll be a problem in the future but I don't think it will be.
It came with a full charge right out of the box so I was able to try it out right away. Controls are pretty simple but you have to get used to them a little bit. There's only a power button so everything is done by pressing the power button in various ways. Double press the power button after the scooter is on to change through the driving modes. Press and hold to turn on and off the scooter. Press once to turn on and off the lights. The only control I'm not fully use to yet is the cruise control. You need to push the throttle to get the scooter to go. And you need to hold the throttle to get it to keep going. And if you hold the throttle for more than 7 seconds, the scooter beeps and cruise control is active. I'm still getting used to taking my finger off the throttle at that point so when I want to stop or slow down, I usually need to lay off the throttle and then tap it again to turn off cruise. It's not a big deal and I'm conscience of it now. It's just a muscle memory thing.
The scooter looks pretty nice too. The foot board looks almost dirty at first but it's just the frosted plastic for the lights to shine through. Everything looks pretty sleek. The display is nice and shows you your speed and the mode you're on and your battery level and it blends in with the rest of the handle bar assembly pretty nicely.
I'm pushing close to the max advertised weight so I wasn't expecting to hit top speed or distance but it did pretty well. I didn't notice that the tires needed some more air until I rode it the first time. Even with deflated tires I was still getting around 11mph. It helped to top them off with the included air pump. The battery felt like it drained a lot quicker but not so much that I ever really worried about it on my short cruises.
Overall, I haven't had a bike or scooter since I was a lot younger and this thing is pretty nice. I feel way too old for it but I'll get over that. Consider this one if you're looking for a nice scooter and this is in your budget.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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See, hear, and know Baby is okay with Owlet’s most advanced monitoring system yet. Dream Duo includes Owlet Cam 2 smart video monitor and the first-of-its-kind FDAcleared Dream Sock®*. Combined, these products allow you to view and track your baby’s pulse rate, oxygen, sleep patterns–all while streaming HD video right to your phone. Take comfort in knowing that our advanced technology offers clinically-proven, medical-grade accuracy, and will notify you in the Owlet Dream App as well as the included Base Station in any instance when your baby’s pulse rate or oxygen fall outside of preset ranges. With Owlet Cam 2, you’ll also receive in-app notifications when any sound, motion, or crying are detected, so you can determine if your assistance is needed. With this Dream Duo, you can experience the perfect balance of technology, safety, and peace of mind. *Dream Sock is intended for use with healthy infants between 1-18 months and 6-30 lbs.
Customer Rating
3
Hampered by annoying software and regulations
on August 4, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I'm no stranger to Owlet. We got our first Owlet Sock when our first daughter was born. Being new parents, it was a great peace of mind knowing that if anything went wrong, we would know about it and hopefully those extra seconds or minutes would be the difference. That was just over 2 years ago now and we just had our second daughter. I wish things were still the way they were back then but it's getting harder and harder to sell an Owlet sock to anyone with kids now a days.
The sock tracks your child's heartrate and O2 levels (an average O2 over 10 minutes which is fine). That's all I signed up for it to do and it would be great if that's all it did like 2 years ago. Sadly, they rebranded and changed a lot of the functionality to become the Dream Sock. Dream Sock tracks the same things, but it focuses more on the quality of your child's sleep and does away completely with the alarms that you could set up if their heartrate or O2 got below or above acceptable ranges. This was always the peace of mind the old sock offered. You could fall asleep knowing if your baby stopped breathing or their heartrate was irregular, you'd know about it immediately.
I'm a numbers kind of guy. I like tracking stats. Our first child had hand/foot/mouth one time and we were able to get a good idea that she was sick by looking at her last couple nights heartrates since they were so much higher than her normal sleeping heartrate. So the Dream Sock still offers me something now that I've been a parent for 2 years and am less terrified of them having some serious issues while they sleep. But 2 years ago, I wouldn't have cared two licks about how well my baby was sleeping without all the alarms if anything was seriously wrong. I understand, there was a FTC issue that caused Owlet to stop selling socks in the US for a while and these changes are more than likely to get around the medical device regulations but I do really wish things were back to the way they were. It was a simpler time. That time has passed.
Setup of the sock is pretty straight forward. One of the many devices that ask you to connect to the device's own wifi network so you can set it up to connect to your wifi. Then you just plop the sock on the base/charger to pair it and you're off to the races. The sock has always been pretty easy to set up aside from when I turned on encrypted DNS on my router which Owlet did not like.
Setting up the camera is just as painful as the first camera. It took me literally an hour just to get the camera to read the QR code that the app spits out and then the pairing failed anyways. After trying for that long, I realized the camera might not love the ultra bright screen that the app forces when reading the QR code so I took a screenshot and showed that to the camera at a lower brightness. It was still finicky but it worked a lot better and the second try actually paired the camera. I wish they'd ditch the QR code thing. It feels like the camera and/or the AI behind it just isn't good enough since I had this same issue with the Owlet Cam 1. Was really hoping they had resolved that for the followup.
Usage is alright. Depending on your tolerance for annoyances and depending on how many kids you have with socks. We have the larger pack of socks for our 2 year old so we now have both kids in the app. Nice that we can do that but with multiple kids, things get annoying in the app and the app gets down right clunky. Any notice throws a big full screen alert at you and then proceeds to switch to that child's screen. So if you're viewing one of your kids, and Owlet decides it's time to let you know the other one is sleeping now, that full screen alert switching to that child for whatever reason. No idea why those alerts aren't smaller and less intrusive. They're usually things like "so and so is sleeping" or "so and so is stirring" .. simple things.
The app also becomes just plain un-usable sometimes. Like you scroll and the screen moves a tiny bit down and stops and you have to force-quit the app to get any bit of stability back. Since we added the second child, I find myself force-quitting the app multiple times per day because I can tell it's about to get really bogged down and I'd rather not wait for it to figure it's stuff out.
Speaking of multiple kids, if you have multiple kids with socks that share a room and you were interested using the camera for both of them in the room, you're SOL. The app forces you to assign a camera to a single child and you can only view that camera when you're viewing that child. This is a non-issue if you have separate rooms for your kids but it's annoying that I can't just have the camera always visible.
And on that note, why do my kids both need their own page? Or why isn't there at least an option for an overview page that shows any cameras and socks with vital information on it all in once screen? Give me the little Peaceful/Active guage along with heartrate/O2 and maybe the sleep/wake/deep sleep graph for each of my kids along with any cameras. Make notifications not pull me out of that screen. That would go a long way to fixing the app. I'll cut the rant here. Just some frustrations on using this app for so long and noticing things get more annoying as time goes on. I'm sure I'll think of more annoyances after submitting this review too.
The camera quality is pretty good and the ability to actually view clips of certain events is always nice. The mount for the camera is heavy and it's easy to move the camera angle around if you don't have it mounted very high. The best thing they do is also include wall chambers to run the wire through so you don't have a wire hanging off your wall. The little one hasn't gotten to the wire at all because it's protected and stuck to the wall. I love that about the cam. They also give you a decent amount of wire which isn't always the case with some baby monitors I've used.
The bottom line is the technology here is great. 2 years ago I couldn't stop screaming from the rooftops to anyone who would listen how much peace of mind the original Owlet Sock 3 gave me. But after coming back as the Dream Sock, the software just isn't all that exciting anymore. The sleep tips are fairly general and without alerts I have a hard time recommending the sock to new parents who are seeking that same peace of mind I got. If you want to track some cool stats about how your child is sleeping with some slight utility for diagnosing some issues with your child and you're looking for a decent camera for the same app? This might be for you. But it's a lot more novelty now than it was before it became the Dream Sock.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Show off your family photos with this Nixplay 10.1 inch Touch Screen smart picture frame. Wi-Fi connectivity and the included app let you synchronize and display pictures from social media, and the included remote lets you switch photos easily.
Customer Rating
4
Simple to set up and use
on July 21, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I haven't tried a digital picture frame in a very long time. Back when they first started coming out the screens were pretty terrible and they just didn't look like they fit in as a picture frame so I kind of avoided t hem. This frame changed my mind and all the "smart" features just make it a really nice frame for the whole family.
Setup was very simple. I downloaded the app and created an account. The hardest part of the whole process was connecting to my WiFi with the onscreen keyboard on the frame. After that, the app found my frame and I was able to compare and verify the serial number displayed and that was it. I was free to upload pictures.
The biggest feature for me is the ability to share the frame, though. As I went through the setup process in the app, it took me through steps to share multiple different aspects of the frame too. The fine-grained sharing is pretty nice. You can invite a friend that can send you pictures that you can use on the frame. Or you can share an individual "playlist" with a friend so they can upload and change the playlist in real time. Or you can just invite a friend to the entire frame so they can do anything you can do on your frame from their own account. This is perfect for letting both my wife and I upload pictures and if I wanted to make a dedicated playlist for my friends, I could do that too and switch to that playlist whenever we have them over. It was all pretty smart and intuitive.
The uploading process was fine. You can select multiple images and then you have the ability to tweak each one before uploading. So you can crop them to the exact fit for the frame (you can also select fit options for the whole frame) or you can tweak colors and such. Some of the UX was a little clunky but nothing too bad that made it unusable, just a thing here and there that felt a little annoying. The only thing I wish was available was the ability to edit the pictures that are already on the frame. The only way I found to do this was to download the image, delete it and reupload it. This was for some images my wife uploaded in landscape mode, so I wanted to crop them to get the right framing.
You have a lot of options for how things display like shuffling photos, only displaying the last 100, 200, 500 or 1000 photos (for some reason, these are literally the only options) and how you want the photos to fit on the frame (you can use Fit Screen to make sure the image always fills up the whole frame without needing to edit every picture). You can also change the timing between pictures. There's a sleep schedule and an activity sensor that's supposed to shut the frame off when no one is around. I've never noticed this happening which I think means it's working? There's a clock you can display as well as selecting which playlist should be played when the frame wakes up. Plenty of options.
The only other thing I'd love to see is the ability to customize the transitions. The frame defaults to "random" which is... ok... But the transitions are all so slow they look cheesy. I settles on the pixelated transition because it looks alright but other than that, I was ready to just do a simple cross-fade or cut because the bulk of the transitions available are just really slowly paced. Some way of changing the timing would be great.
At the end of the day, though, I really like this frame. It's displayed prominently on our entertainment center. I'm a big fan of the ability to share everything about the frame so granularly and the screen looks great. If you're looking for a nice frame that doesn't just look like a video screen, this one might be 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, 6 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, 6 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, 7 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, 11 months ago
by
swemoney