Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Aeromax Junior Space Explorer Inflatable Space Shuttle



I think my four year old son likes this a whole lot more than I do. Like many others have stated, this does seem to lose air pretty quickly. Generally, he's not as rough with this as he is in the video, so I'm pretty surprised that it seems to deflate after three or four days. The inflatable itself is pretty detailed and has a lot of things to keep your kids busy. As my son shows you in the video, the "control panel" has various buttons, switches, and knobs that keep his attention. He's also a big fan of the satellite and Earth display directly above the handle. We haven't had a chance to take this out in a pool yet, but I doubt there would be any issues with flotation.

From my point of view, I think this is a pretty neat toy but it definitely is lacking in the air retention department. When I was recording this video, I thought maybe we just got one that had a leaking seal or a pin hole somewhere in it that was causing it to lose air quickly, but after reading various reviews, it seems that it may be a systemic problem that should be addresses at the factory. Inflating this was rather easy and since it is split up into three sections it definitely helps to make things easier on your lungs.

Overall, this is a pretty cool toy. I'm a little torn because I feel like this isn't a 4 star product and it isn't a 3 star product either...it's closer to 3.5 but Amazon only lets me do full stars so...rounding up to four here. I guess that since this is really for my son and not for me, I can't degrade this inflatable too much. He really loves it even though I have to blow it up every few days. The details on the ship are pretty nice and it keeps my son busy for decent periods of time. I liked that it was easy to blow up and I like that it is useful inside and outside of water.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 4/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/Df9Sku

#AEROMAXSHUTTLE

Sunday, May 22, 2016

LyxPro HABT-10 Bluetooth 4.0 Wireless Headphones


This is the second set of LyxPro headphones I've had the pleasure of owning (the HAS-30 being the first) and I can absolutely say that I couldn't be happier with this set. When you get them out of the box, they come in this real classy velvet bag. It made me feel like I just spent well over $100 and this set isn't anywhere near that price. The next thing you'll notice is the matte black finish. One more point for the classy column. When you put these on, the comfort is immediately noticeable. The faux leather ear pieces are soft, form well to the ears, and don't leave the sides of my head feeling sweaty.The ear pieces are also flexible so they shouldn't have a problem conforming to or accommodating most head sizes or shapes. The headband is also adjustable and comfortable.

In regard to sound, this set performs better than the price tag ($25.99 at time of writing) would suggest. They definitely get loud enough to drown out most of the outside world in your typical settings. If you use these in the office, you'll never hear your phone ring or people talk to you. But maybe that's exactly what you're looking for! The audio is full with balanced representation throughout. The only area I felt these headphones lacked slightly is on the lower end of the scale. Bass was represented here, but not to extent of the LyxPro HAS-30 set. The bass is reasonable, I don't feel like it's missing...but it could be represented a little better. The highs and mids are crisp and clear, nothing sounded muddled or blended together in a variety of genres. Where I felt this set performed the best is in video. Movies and TV sounded so much more clear and of a substantially higher fidelity.

I'm realizing now that I forgot to mention phone call quality in my video. While I did only test this briefly, I could hear the other callers with no issues and they could hear me clearly too. I was told that they couldn't have ever been able to tell I wasn't using my actual phone.

Overall, these are my new favorite bluetooth headphones. I personally think the cost of these is too low as I wouldn't hesitate to spend over $50 on them. Most other headsets at this price point feel cheap, have a garbage battery life, and don't sound nearly as good. LyxPro did this set right and I would confidently recommend these to anyone in the market for a new bluetooth headset. Everything about this set looks/feels/sounds much more expensive than it actually is.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/x6nbOu

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Novapolt USB 3.0 External DVD and CD Drive

As a PC tech, this thing is a lifesaver for me. It's thin, incredibly portable, and out of the box plug and play. I don't need to fumble for drivers when I go to someone's house and need to plug in this drive. I get it out of my bag, plug the USB cord in, and I'm ready to go. As a disc drive, this is sleek and performs all the functions I need. It can burn most of the more popular DVD and CD formats with no issues at all. Both my Nero burning program and my native Windows burning program gave me no issues or faults. All the discs I've burnt have come out perfectly and I haven't needed to waste a disc yet.

As far as form goes, this is a beauty. It's slim, the color is cool, and people have made plenty of comments when I get it out of my bag. Speaking of my bag, it fits perfectly inside and takes up about as much space as approximately two CD cases stacked together. Even if I needed to carry it by hand, it's so small that I wouldn't complain a bit.

Overall, I'm entirely pleased with this drive. It's done everything I've needed and hasn't failed me at all. I couldn't be happier with either the form or the function of this burner and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it at all.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/l23Bwy

#externaldvddrive

Friday, May 13, 2016

InewVision Virtual Reality 3D Glasses with Bluetooth Remote Controller

This is a reasonable "VR" headset for getting your feet wet, but it definitely has short comings. Don't get this expecting to have an experience like you'd get on an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift...keep in mind that this is powered by your phone and not an expensive computer. I did like that I didn't need to get my phone out of the case in order to get it working on the headset, so definite plus for that.

The goggles themselves are decent enough, but they can get uncomfortable after 10 to 15 minutes since the padding is sort of lower quality and there is no padding at all where the nose goes. The lenses are adjustable so you can really get it configured to be rather clear for your particular eyesight. The field of vision is poor and I can clearly see the black edges which take away from how immersive it's supposed to feel. What I didn't like at all about this set is the joystick that comes with it. It connects via bluetooth easily enough, but the buttons never did anything for the VR games that I downloaded. They would turn the volume up or down, mute it, or act like the home button. That is an utter fail right there.

Overall, this is an OK set to get you accustom to using VR. You won't get a high end experience and the remote is garbage, but you can at least get a better idea of the concept and test your tolerance to the potential motion sickness people get.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 3/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/n3RbD1

Monday, May 9, 2016

InnoGear 20 LED Solar Motion Sensor Outdoor Light

To help light up the side of my house, or other hard to reach areas, these are perfect. They came with all the hardware you need (minus the screw driver and drill) and were a complete breeze to set up. Once you get these out of the package, you'll feel how sturdy they are. They don't feel cheap, they don't feel like they'll break easily...they feel more expensive than what they are. They are rated as being IP65 for waterproofing, and I can attest to their time spent out in the rain this past week. In PA, it's rained 7 days in a row and they're still working beautifully.

The 20 LED set up is very bright and provides ample coverage at full strength. The dim setting is nice to be able to see clearly before I physically reach the location of the motion sensor. On a full charge, I've had these running on the dim/bright setting all night and not run out of juice. I love LEDs a lot! The light is a bright white color that really makes it easy to see everything that it touches.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with these lights. They seem to be built using high quality components, they provide a very large amount of light, and solar power always makes me a happy camper. Save some green in two ways!

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/aVd0tV
#InnoGear20LEDSolaMotionSensorOutdooLight

Friday, May 6, 2016

FAVI FE02RF-BL Mini 2.4GHz Wireless PC / Tablet Keyboard Designed for SmartStick

This is a very welcome replacement for the standard SmartStick remote. The original SmartStick remote is very basic and has very little options for you to utilize. This one is the complete opposite. When I recorded my video, I hadn't tried it on my Windows 10 PC, but I have since and it works! I simply plugged the USB dongle into a free USB port, and boom...remote worked! This would be really nice for presenting as you have full control and a laser pointer right in your hands.

As far as how well it works for the SmartStick interface, this is again much nicer than the standard remote. I can use the touchpad interface to navigate around much more simply (especially on menus that have a lot of options which mean a lot of arrow key pressing to get where you want) in almost any app. Another great feature about this keyboard is the backlighting. I'll tell you what, trying to find the right button on this remote without the backlighting is a nightmare. I'm incredibly happy they included that feature.

Overall, this remote has made navigating around in the SmartStick ecosystem much more convenient. The touchpad allows for PC style navigation and the backlighting of the keyboard facilitates simple night time usage. Even as a backup PC mouse/keyboard, this will definitely work in a pinch!

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/FFN0yU
#smartstick

Easy@Home Digital Bluetooth Body Fat Smart Scale

This is an upgrade to the really basic, really generic body fat scale I got about eight years ago. It's really sleek with a large, legible display with a convenient back light. While it doesn't look like anything special, the app is what really makes this scale stand out. If you have an iPhone, don't get confused like I did. You don't need to go into settings and try to pair your phone with this scale. All you need to do is make sure your bluetooth is turned on, then open the app and stand on the scale. It auto connects and loads your data to your phone.

If you want to use it for the actual body fat calculator (which I'm sure you do) you'll need to make sure you are barefoot to get a proper reading. It gives you a pretty robust amount of information including body fat, BMI, muscle mass, etc. The other great thing is that it can be incorporated directly into the native Health app on your iDevice. I also love how it has the ability to graph and list your progress over periods of time so you can keep better track of your results.

Overall, this is a really nice scale that has definitely done everything I've been looking for. It's sleek, has a great display, and has an awesome app that provides some really good information.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/E1yaH1

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Ailihen - K6 Gaming Headset

I've had my fair share of headsets for all different kinds of consoles and PCs over the years and I can say that it's hard to find something that does every single thing you want without spending an arm and a leg. With that being said, I think this is a good product for something in the sub $50 price range. Generally, it feels like a very comfortable headset that won't cause much in the way of fatigue from wearing it. The inside leaves me wishing they would have used a different material, but it's not a deal breaker.

The sound quality is about what I'd expect for something in the price range. No it's not going to blow your mind, but it definitely provides par audio quality and can be used with a 3.5mm jack for the speakers and one for the microphone. The inline remote provides the ability to control the volume, however there is no indicator on which direction increases and which direction decreases the volume as you turn. It wasn't until I watched the video I've recorded that I noticed I had the microphone to close to my mouth and so you're getting those annoying blows of air. Sorry about that!

Overall, this is a nice set for the price. It's comfortable, it produces reasonable sound, the volume limit is about where it should be, and the accent lights are a nice little touch.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/raFhSQ

InnoGear MT-057 Outdoor Waterproof LED Solar Lights

My expectations were entirely satisfied with these outdoor solar spotlights. They offer the versatility of staking them in the ground or mounting them directly to a wall or ceiling with nothing more than three screws. The product itself feels pretty well made and I don't get the feeling that these will break easily or without some force behind it. The solar panel and the actual light fixture offer flexibility in angle for both of the components. The back of the solar panel houses one button that cycles from low light, high light, and off.

I like that you can pick which brightness you like then you can basically walk away from the device knowing that it will automatically activate that setting when it no longer senses the sun and turns on by itself. The light is bright and makes me feel a bit more at ease about the security of my home at night. It's nice to know that I don't need to rely on batteries or electricity for them to operate either. I also like that they are waterproof and can attest to that as they have been outside my home for the last week and it's rained for about four days now.

Overall, I'm definitely pleased with these. They hit the marks I'm looking for and knowing they are not only solar but utilize LED leads me to believe that I've just made a long term investment that won't need to be replaced any time soon.

Although I received this product in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own and reflect my personal experience with this product. Feel free to ask me questions about this review and I'll respond within 24 hours.

Rated: 5/5
Find it here: http://goo.gl/bFl7xo