ITJim
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- First ReviewNovember 23, 2013
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- First AnswerNovember 23, 2013
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Alienware m18 Gaming Laptop - Play like a boss with a high-powered, 18-inch gaming laptop that features advanced Alienware Cryo-techcooling, 7000 Series AMD Ryzen 9 processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics.
Eating performance for breakfast!
Customer Rating
4.0
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
Initial impressions:
The Alienware m18 is massive. The m18 is truly a desktop replacement with its 17 7/8 inches diagonal viewable area and full-size keyboard. The outside of the m18 is metal, very well beveled along the inner edges for comfort, and feels durable and substantial in the hand. The screen has some flex but is not flimsy by any stretch. The tension on the cover hinge is heavy but very smooth throughout its arc. The m18 shares the same design DNA as its smaller cousins like the m15 and m17 laptops with the honeycomb intake vents at the top of the keyboard and the bottom of the case. This is a massive intake for the four fans that exhaust out the back and the sides of the m18. Finishing off the back is the unique Dell/Alienware gaming laptop heat sink/exhaust boot. I call it a boot. The AlienFX keys are comfortable, easy to type and game on, and have the kind of quality RGB lighting that I have come to expect from a premium keyboard design. Gaming is glorious with the 1920 x 1200 480hz screen. And, for its size, and number of fans, this is not the loudest gaming laptop I have ever used.
Benchmark:
I performed a single benchmark for you benchmark junkies out there. Time Spy v1.2 DX12 score of 12,380. According to 3D Mark’s website, the m18, stock, is 68% better than all scored systems. This beats out the average High-End 2020 gaming PC’s score of 11,085. Go m18!
Games:
For testing: Forza Horizon 5, Star Wars Squadrons, Apex Legends, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, Supreme Commander 2, Mechwarrior Online (MWO), and Wing Commander III. I used MSI afterburner to track CPU, GPU, and FPS.
Forza Horizon 5 was the most feature rich and graphically intensive game I had time to test. Settings were set to Ultra, DLSS on, Frame Generation On, and Raytracing On. Probably the most intense particle and lighting heavy scene I could find was driving my vehicle through a shallow river. This scene was full of water reflections, splashy water and foam, spray droplets everywhere, and light refracting through those water droplets. It looked a lot better live than the included screenshot shows. FPS was in the 80’s while in the water. Otherwise, FPS fluctuated between 80 and 120. Very smooth and charming.
Star Wars Squadrons is by far the star of the FPS show. 200 FPS or greater sustained at full graphical fidelity. However, this game does not sport any “special” Nvidia features like Ray Tracing and DLSS. This was brute force rasterization performance. Bonus, the fans were relatively quiet.
Apex Legends ran smoothly at high graphics settings. High settings is as high as the game will allow with only 8GB of VRAM. The game told me so in the settings screen. FPS bounced between 170 and 250. The game ran smoothly without any glitches or FPS drops. This is without DLSS because Apex Legends does not support DLSS.
Middle Earth: Shadows of War ran buttery smooth. I was able to maintain between 100 and 130 FPS consistently regardless of how many orcs or special effects were flying around the screen. Graphical settings were set to Ultra in most cases. I probably could have gotten away upping everything to Ultra. I think I could have gone full Ultra Saiyan but there was no need. The game already looked fantastic.
Supreme Commander 2: I included this game simply because this is a single threaded monster that used to take my older computers to their knees due to the enormity of active military units it had to keep track of. I set up a customer game with 7 AI players, hid in a corner, and let them build and beat the heck out of each other. The Ryzen CPU handled itself beautifully with thousands of units in play. FPS bounced between 40 and 60. Believe it or not, this is normal. More importantly, the m18 did not show any strain as moved around the map, zoomed in and out of combat, clicked on individual units, and commanded my armies. Zero issues.
Mechwarrior Online: This has been my go-to game for well on a decade now. MWO is an old Unreal Engine 3, DX9/11 game that was never fully optimized. Which is why this game can be tough to drive even on today’s hardware. I cranked up all the graphics settings to max. FPS remained consistently over 100 for every map. Typical behavior for this game is for the FPS to take a hit on city maps or when other players enter the field of view. The m18 powered threw everything like a champ.
I will admit that I was a bit disappointed with the external monitor performance.
Wing Commander III (Just because). Still has that glorious 1990’s “We Build Worlds” magic. Not a problem for you nostalgia junkies.
Things to know:
The m18 has an issue with sudden FPS drops. Randomly, the FPS will go from 100 to 30 for a second or two and then return to 100. This impacted all games except Apex Legends. ??? Alienware and Nvidia need to investigate. Most likely this is a driver or resource conflict issue. I did not see any evidence of the CPU or GPU throttling in the MSI Afterburner overlay. It is random with no obvious cause that I can detect.
The CPU runs hot. At 30% overall utilization the CPU bouncing between 90- and 100-degrees C. I even saw it go over 100 a few times. Turning on performance mode will kick the CPU temps down below 100 and sometimes below 90 depending on the content. This laptop is not a lazy, hot summer day of gaming kind of laptop. Nor is it all that suitable for your lap. Find a table!
AWCC still has bugs and room to grow. I set up a few lighting profiles. Sometimes AWCC gets everything right. And sometimes it gets really confused cycling through different profiles and sometimes going nuts repeatedly re-loading the same profile over and over again. Also, building lighting profiles needs a human usability pass. It is still confusing and feels half baked. Profiles cannot be edited without redoing the whole profile. And what I’ll call “layers” can be created within a color profile but not deleted? Why not? Everyone does a better job than Alienware on this front. Just copy what someone else is doing.
1440 Gaming: I only tested Mechwarrior online on my Alienware AW3423DWF 34-Inch QD-OLED 1440 monitor via Display Port. 3440 x 1440 is a lot of pixels to drive and the m18 really felt some strain here. I had to drop most settings to low or medium just to maintain 60 FPS. I was really expecting better than this since I already had been able to squeeze better performance out of lesser systems. I will admit that I did not spend a lot of time tuning the system for 1440 and probably won’t. The m18 is just too big to allow me to operate both the m18 and the AW3423DWF on the same desktop.
To improve airflow, I recommend lifting the back of the laptop slightly. I use inexpensive furniture coasters on the corners to lift the back of the laptop about an inch. It makes a huge difference for cooling and noise.
Keyboard and lighting:
The AlienFX keyboard is one of the best gaming laptop keyboards I have used. The keys are large, well spaced, have an audible click but not loud enough to wake the kids, RGB lighting is fantastic, short travel, shallow actuation distance, instantaneous return, and each key is gently concave for comfort and accuracy. I could play and type on this keyboard all day long without any issues. Unless you need the hyper responsiveness that the MX will give you then I think the AlienFX keyboard is a fantastic choice.
Screen: At 15 ¼ w X 9 ½ H X 17 7/8 diagonal the screen is equivalent to an 18” monitor. I realize that the measurement is just shy of a full 18” which makes it 18” class in marketing world vernacular. It has an excellent brightness range from dim to max brightness. It is colorful. During gaming, I did not experience any ghosting, screen tearing, or artifacts other than the unusual FPS disruptions I outlined above. Overall, the monitor provided a great gaming experience.
Wireless:
The m18 ships with Wi-Fi 6e wireless. I was able to maintain 600 Mbps download rates from Steam and Microsoft over a 1 Gbps internet connection. Performance is subject to several factors. I had one download that peaked at 100 Mbps. While viewing Netflix movies and during some heavy gaming on Comms I did experience some break up in transmission. Now, that could have been the laptop, the wireless signal experiencing interference, or my provider. Regardless, it happened enough that felt I needed to mention it.
Bluetooth is rock solid. I connect a pair of noise canceling Sony headphones for gaming and movie watching. No issues with syncing or usage. Everything sounded as it should.
In Closing:
This is a desktop replacement for any gamer looking for a “portable” solution or a gaming rig in another room. This could also act as an entry-level workstation option. The CPU does run hot but the m18 has crazy cooling power. The fans will get noisy under load but nowhere near the leaf blower level of small Alienware laptops. The keyboard is fantastic. Great high refresh screen. I think if Alienware can address a few issue then this will be a true flagship system.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+5points
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ASUS - Zenbook 14X 14.5" 2.8K OLED Touch Laptop - Intel Evo Platform i5-13500H - 8GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Inkwell Gray
The powerful and compact Zenbook 14" OLED is just 0.66” slim and 3.48lbs light, with a breathtaking new design that’s timelessly elegant yet totally modern. Perfect visual experience from the 14.5” 16:10 2.8K OLED HDR NanoEdge, up to 550-nit screen which is PANTONE Validated with 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. The Intel EVO platform with 13th Gen Intel Core i5 Processor, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB RAM and 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD deliver superb performance, and there’s a long-lasting 90 Wh battery and latest Wifi-6E built-in. For extraordinary audio experience, there’s a Dolby Atmos sound system powered by a smart amplifier with Harman/Kardon certified.
Compact package loaded with Modern Technology
Customer Rating
4.0
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
The Asus Zenbook is a compact, mobile laptop that is light weight and attractive. The OLED screen is bright, vivid, and rich. The membrane keyboard is easy to type on, non-fatiguing, and the keys are well sized and spaced for a laptop this size. The system runs quietly. Fan noise was only noticeable during the most intense tasks. The ports are well positioned at the back of the case on either side of the keyboard. And the sound system is clear at all volume levels. This Zenbook packs enough value to make it a great choice for schoolwork, word processing, spreadsheets, social media, and streaming.
OLED Screen:
The OLED screen is bright and super responsive at 120hz refresh. YouTube Videos at high resolution are crisp and clear. Netflix is clear but with the normal artifacts in bright colored scenes that I see with all Netflix streaming on all my computers. Colors pop. And action scenes play without stutter or any smearing. The screen’s brightness is more than adequate to make video and images pop.
Web surfing, office applications, and other similar operations look good but with a few caveats. First, this monitor suffers from color fringing along the top and bottom edges of static content. It is most noticeable on pages with a lot of text such as MS Word. I have word setup for Dark Mode which means the background page is dark grey and the text is white. To top edges of letters have a red fringe and the bottoms have a green fringe. I have included two photos that illustrate this. The fringing effect takes otherwise very clean and crisp text and makes it slightly blurry. I hope Asus releases a driver or firmware update soon that address this issue.
Second, peak brightness is just too bright for anything other than video or photos in my opinion. This is not necessarily a con. For me, 40% brightness was the right balance between brightness and usability with my office apps, web surfing, and social media. I did not find any independent controls to adjust brightness and contrast. So, for now, the screen is either bright or it is not.
Blacks at 40% brightness are true black. As you increase the brightness, blacks tend to lean more towards dark grey than black. Lowering the brightness below 40% and the whites suffer. Just keep that in mind before cranking up the brightness for dark scenes in your videos. There are several options in the MyAsus app to address screen behavior such as Blue Light, Vivid, Movie, and different HDR modes. Not every mode is designed to be good at reproducing all content. Be sure to play around with these so you can find what works best for you.
Ports and expandability:
Both USB-C ports are Thunderbolt. The power brick that ships with the Zenbook connects via USB-C. Either port can be connected to a monitor that also accepts Thunderbolt. I had this Zenbook rocking a 34” Alienware QD-OLED monitor without any issues. Better yet, the Intel Iris GPU was able to handle both the 34” Alienware monitor while also operating the 14.5” OLED of the Zenbook. That is like having three monitors running at the same time. Not too shabby.
The remaining ports are HDMI, Stereo mini-jack, and a single USB-A port. There is no RJ-45 port. The Zenbook relies on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6E to expand its connectivity options. Wi-Fi 6E wireless network adapter connected to my Asus ROG router without any trouble at all. The connection remained fast and strong for all my Windows Updates and application downloads. I also did not experience any dropouts as I moved around my home. Bluetooth found my wireless headphones and SVS Soundbase within seconds. Connecting was quick and easy. Like Wi-Fi 6E, the Bluetooth connection remained strong and stable.
Sound:
The Harmon/Kardon sound system is very good. Better yet, Dolby Atmos is available for any sound system you want to connect this laptop to. And you do not need to purchase an additional license from Dolby. The MyAsus app allows access to many preset sound modes, Dolby Atmos settings, and the ability to create your own EQ presets. I like the flexibility because not all content is created equal. And different speakers and sound systems also have different limitations that EQ can compensate for.
The built-in speakers are clear at all volume levels. However, before you crank the volume know that the entire keyboard surface resonates with the speakers. The higher the volume, the more the keyboard surface resonates. This includes the palm rest and the touch pad. This is not necessarily bad. For you sound purist out there…you probably already have audiophile quality headphones and an external DAC for critical listening. For non-critical listening such as lectures, news, YouTube content, and other content the internal speakers will do a good job.
Touch Pad:
The touch pad is large for a laptop this size. It is very smooth and easy to use. Asus integrated a number pad into the touch pad. There is a number pad icon in the upper-right hand corner of the touch pad that will reveal a lighted number pad through the touch pad surface. There is a second icon in the upper-left hand corner that controls brightness and is used to activate the calculator app. The calculator app function needs some work and is not very reliable. Everything else works without issue. The best part is you can use the number pad for any application including MS Word, Excel, or a financial application.
Camera:
The camera supports Windows Hello. This allows you to sign in with your face. For video, I tested the camera with Windows 11 Camera app. The video quality is only 1080p and will not win any awards anytime soon. The MyAsus app has settings that allow for different AI filters to be applied. The camera with zero AI filters worked well. The video was quick, clear, and responsive. In contrast, the AI filters penalized video frame rates and video quality. Frame rates dropped and image quality became blocky and unfocused. The only AI mode that did not incur a performance penalty was the AI Head Tracker. This mode did a good job of keeping my head center frame as I moved my head from side to side.
Additional items:
The Zenbook ships with 8GB of memory that is shared with Intel’s integrated GPU, Iris XE graphics. The laptop at idle will consume 5 to 7GB of memory. Memory management seems to do a good job of keeping things under control. I was able to run both the internal and external monitors with multiple web pages, a Netflix video running in its own window, and multiple office documents open at the same time. At no time did I suffer slow opening windows, drawing issues opening or switching between windows or tabs, or any video stuttering. Overall, pretty good.
Games I downloaded from my Xbox Game Pass did not run very well if they ran at all. I would not recommend this laptop for gaming.
The case’s hard edges are sharper than they need to be. This makes the laptop sit harshly in the hand when carrying it. This is most noticeable when typing or mousing with the laptop on my lap. The laptop will not cause injury. It would have been nice if Asus smoothed out the corners with future Zenbook offerings.
MyAsus App:
This is part bloatware and part master laptop control center. However, Asus does give you the choice whether to install certain applications. Which is nice because there was nothing for me to uninstall.
It is worth taking the time to scroll through all the options and features the MyAsus app provides. This is where Camera, OLED Care, OLED features, Sound, AI, and other unique features of the Zenbook can be controlled. If you have other Asus products in your home or office networks then they can all be connected through this app. For example, MyAsus app connected with my Asus ROG router and provided me with some limited network controls. There are offers in this app to sync files via Drop Box, accept alerts and advertisements from Asus, and some options from some third-party applications. My advice: take 20 minutes and play with the options. Some I think are very useful such as the OLED options sections. You can also access the Dolby Atmos settings here and even configure the system to interface with a Dolby Atmos home theater. This would be excellent for someone who has a surround-sound-in-a-box solution or high-end sound bar with surround and height speaker capabilities.
Final Thoughts:
This is a very nice entry level ultra-light laptop that is rocking all the latest technologies and some nice innovations accessible via MyAsus app. The OLED screen is good but not perfect due to the color fringing. Hopefully Asus will address this in a future software update.
The external ports are very well positioned and out of the way. Heat management seems good. Keyboard and touchpad are comfortable to use and well-spaced and positioned. The Zenbook case seems durable enough to survive your average backpack. And the unit can handle all my web surfing habits and Office Applications. Overall, I expect to get years of solid use out of this laptop.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+28points
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Chill up to 48 12-ounce cans in this 1.5 cu.ft. Insignia beverage cooler. Its touch controls make it easy to keep drinks cool within a range of 34° F to 50° F. It has one removable shelf, letting you organize this cooler to your exact preference. If there’s a power outage, an automatic memory function restores the same settings and automatic defrosting helps the cooler stay free of ice.
Great little mini-frig. Poor quality control.
Customer Rating
3.0
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
The Insignia 48 Can Beverage Cooler does a good job of keeping my drinks cold. The frig is attractive with its stainless steel and glass door and black body. The control panel is well placed. The target temperature is centered on the control panel and can be seen through the window. And there is an interior light that can be toggled from the control panel. The light cannot be set to auto on/off like kitchen frig. Overall, this is a nice little drink fridge but does have some quality control issues that I will discuss below.
Unpacking and setup:
Unpacking the frig was straight forward: cut the plastic straps, lift the top of the box, and extract the frig from the Styrofoam bottom. There is a sticky plastic film wrapped around the sides and top of the frig that is easily removed. The door is also securely taped shut. The unit ships fully assembled. The only adjustments that may require attention is leveling the frig using the single leveling foot and swapping the door from opening to the right to opening to the left.
The control panel is simple and easy to use. There is a standby button. Unfortunately, the manual does not define what Standby Mode is. Only that Standby mode can be turned on. Light button turns on the internal light. Pressing and holding both the Standby and Light buttons for 3 seconds will put the frig into Quick Cool mode. There is a small display that shows the target temperature in either F or C. The last two buttons are used to set the target temperature. Pressing both temperature buttons for three seconds will switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius.
On my unit, the power cable was jammed into the compressor compartment tangled with the copper pipes. In my opinion, this was a very poor decision and could lead to damage to the unit if the cord is not extracted with the utmost care.
Cooling:
The unit cools well. There was a lot of bubbling and churning in the cooling system when I first plugged the frig into the wall. This was mostly due to trapped gases in the cooling system being spread around the cooling system during shipping. It takes a few minutes for the system to sort itself out before it starts sounding like a normal refrigerator. The manual does cover this in the Troubleshooting section of the manual.
There are two cooling modes: Quick Cool and normal. Quick Cool can be used to rapidly cool a fresh load of room temperature bottles or during partial refills. Quick Cool is pre-programmed to run for 24 hours unless interrupted by the operator. I set my frig to 45 degrees target temperature. Quick Cool took less than 12 hours to cool off an initial load of 32 cans and six Gatorade bottles. Pressing the Standby and Light buttons simultaneously and holding for 3 seconds will turn off Quick Cool.
For greatest efficiency, you will want to keep about 4 to 6 inches clearance to either side of the frig. The left and right sides get hot as the frig dissipates waste heat. Good air circulation, plenty of clearance on all sides, away from heat sources, and out of direct sunlight are all good ways to make the frig as efficient as possible. I placed mine in my basement with six-inch clearance to either side and about four inches from the wall to the back of the frig. My basement is temperature, humidity controlled, and away from direct sunlight.
Loading:
The frig is easy enough to load. Insignia has a 12 ounce can loading scheme outlined in the manual that will get you to 48 cans. They use a combination of vertical and horizontal storage of your cans. I managed to fit 32 cans with six larger Gatorade bottles. But could have done better if I vertically loaded the top shelf. The shelf height can be adjusted. There are two positions molded into the case. The upper most position is really close to the cooling plate and did not seem to serve any purpose for me at that height. The default height did not allow for the Gatorade bottles to fit. So, I put the shelf on top of the first position molding. Which, coincidentally, works very well as another shelf height position.
The bottom row has two non-removable bars to prevent the frig contents from falling out. This is the reason I did not remove the top shelf to install my box wine box. First, the bars on the lower shelf got in the way. Second, I would have to remove the top shelf regardless of vertically or horizontally storage. And finally, I would not be able to use the spigot through the bottom shelf bars.
Poor Quality Control (why I gave this a three-star review):
First, the door can be positioned from the right side of the frig to the left. This is a good thing. Except, the holes in the sheet metal and the frame do not align. For one hole, the internal insulation overlaps the screw hole. This prevents me from repositioning the hinge from the right side of the frig to the left. Additionally, the sheet metal casing is bent and misaligned to allow the holes to line up.
Second, the bottom of the frig has one leveling foot, a nob on the bottom of the door hinge that doubles as a foot, and then a metal plate with the threaded end of multiple screws fully exposed. The metal plate can and will scratch hardwood floors, vinyl tiles, and counter tops. The exposed screws can cause injury. Third, Insignia did not provide any stick-on feet to address any of these issues. I provided my own felt stick on feet. See included photos.
Third, the cooling plate inside the frig is bent. There are two hooks along the inside roof that secure the cooling plate and stabilize it against the case. The left corner is bent and insecure. I attempted some gentle manipulation to resolve the issue and failed. I did not apply force because I did not want to risk cracking the plate and possibly releasing coolant into my room.
Fourth, the wire shelf is filthy. Originally, the shelf looked grimy and rusty. I used a damp cloth to clean the shelf. It now looks like a new shelf. In all fairness, the instruction manual does suggest cleaning the inside of the frig before use. Still, why does the wire shelf look like it’s been exposed to the elements prior to shipping. All you can really see from the included photo is a bit of discoloration.
And finally, I mentioned this earlier, why is the power cord jammed into the cavity of the frig for shipping. This would not be such a bid deal if the cord wasn’t entangled with the copper tubes. It took some manipulation and untangling to extract the power cord without disrupting the tubes. But if I had just grabbed and pulled then I could have caused some damage. There is plenty of space in the Styrofoam shipping container for the cable so there is no reason why the cord is shoved into the cavity.
Overall, any one of these items could be considered a minor issue. What I pointed out are not difficult or expensive things to fix. This does show poor quality control on Insignia's part when taken as a whole.
Conclusion:
Does the frig do a good job cooling my drinks? Yes, it does. It is quiet. Has a good feature set. I like the stainless steel and glass door. And the control panel is well placed and easy to use. I also feel that there are some quality control issues that Insignia needs to address before I am willing to give this frig my buy recommendation.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+1point
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Get hands-on cleaning control and hands-off debris removal with the All-in-One Tower that keeps your LG stick vacuum clean, charged and ready to go—automatically. Two quick release batteries and Kompressor technology combine for uninterrupted cleaning power, with multiple tools for cleaning all kinds of surfaces, both high and low. Done for the day? Return the vac to the tower to recharge, store tools neatly out of sight and let Auto Empty clean out the dust bin for you. Your hands, floor and air stay clean and your CordZero vac is ready to go when you need it next.
Lots of innovation and smart design
Customer Rating
4.0
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
Initial Impressions:
The LG CordZero Cordless Stick Vacuum with All-in-One tower is unique from other stick vacuums in several ways. First, the wand is telescopic. Second, the LG CordZero comes with two battery packs. Think electric drill type battery packs. Third, the inclusion of a multi-function, free standing tower. Fourth, disposable vacuum bags. fifth, dust cup auto clean. There is no longer a need for you to stand over the garbage pail and drop your flap! Not unless you want to. And Sixth, homework, uh, very thick User’s Guides. There are a lot of great things to like about the LG CordZero. There are also a few not so fun things that I will discuss under the “Not so Fun Things” section. Overall, I think this is a very solid product that is well designed and full of useful innovations.
Unpacking and Setup:
First, about 80% of the packing material is cardboard. The remainder is a combination of Styrofoam (for the Tower), Styrofoam bags, and a few plastic bags. The LG CordZero also ships with two large User’s Manuals that I recommend you read before using either the LG CordZero or the Tower, a few quick start guides, a warranty-ish kind of sheet, and a few other documents. The LG CordZero ships in a single box with three smaller boxes inside: one for the tower, one for the motor and telescoping wand, and one for the accessories.
Unpacking and setup took about an hour. I spent another hour looking through the manuals and quick setup guides. The LG CordZero is a bit more sophisticated than your regular, run of the mill stick vacuum. For example, the vacuum needs to be loaded into the tower, a bell indicates that the vacuum has been loaded properly so battery charging and dust cup cleaning can take place, and then removal lift first then extract. For my wife, the dust cup popped off the vacuum the first time she extracted the vacuum. More on the dust cup incident in the “Not so Fun Things” section. The Tower has indicator lights and touch settings that are only described in the manual. The good news is LG auto loaded the filters in the LG CordZero and in the tower. They also pre-loaded a dust bag in the Tower and provided two additional dust bags and an additional yellow filter.
The tower has a storage compartment on either side of the unit. All the accessories that ship with the LG CordZero have a hanger location. Which is nice considering most other stick vacuums include a bag that you fill and throw in your bottomless basement for safe keeping… One word of warning, the Tower is not easy to move. The sides are too smooth to get a good grip. To help, LG located carry handles on either side of the Tower hidden behind both doors. If you need to move the unit then open each door, grab the handles, and then lift to move. The tower has an attachable foot with stick on grip pads to add stability to the tower. LG also includes some wall anchors and nylon rope to secure the tower to the wall. This way, the tower is less likely to fall over. The tower is heavy, stable, but there is always the possibility that someone could knock it down and cause injury.
Finally, the two batteries for my unit arrived fully charged. Loading and unloading batteries into the stick vacuum and the tower are just as easy as loading and unloading the batteries in your wireless drill.
Cleaning Power:
The LG CordZero has three power modes. Wimpy (my term), Medium, and Turbo. I used the universal nozzle to clean my basement floor for my first cleaning. My basement is semi-finished having a combination of vinyl tiles, low pile rugs, concrete, and soft foam tiles. The floor space is about 1000 sq feet. I started with Wimpy power and quickly moved to medium power once I saw that wimpy power was doing a terrible job of cleaning up stray kitty litter around my cat box. I switched to Turbo power because medium power was having a difficult time picking up little bits of paper scattered around my wife’s craft area. Turbo did a fantastic job of picking up almost everything on the floor.
Overall, I was able to fill the dust cup with hair, dirt, kitty litter, and other loose debris. See photo. On turbo mode, I got about 10 to 15 minutes run time out of each battery. It took both batteries to clean my basement. The cement and vinyl tiles were the easiest surfaces to clean. The low pile rug was more of a challenge. More on that in the next section. The foam tiles were impossible using medium or turbo power. Switching to wimpy mode made the foam tiles vacuumable. And did a pretty good job on wimpy. The manual recommends one of the cleaning wands for a foam tile surface. Which I ignored.
The dirt collection is significant. One of the unique features of the LG CordZero’s dust cup is a lever that allows me to compress the dirt and hair captured into the dust cup to the bottom of the dust cup. This can extend the use time of the vacuum during longer, heavier cleaning sessions. It is also an important part of the tower’s cleaning cycle. Cleaning the dust cup, regardless of how it is cleaned, is made much easier with the inclusion of the lever.
Other features:
The included pet tool does a good job of removing pet hair. I have a Jersey Wooly rabbit which leaves fine, whisper thin hair everywhere he goes. He loves hanging out with me in my home office during the day and leaves a mess of white hair all over the rug and floor. I used the pet tool on the rug. See included before and after photo. The pet tool did a good job of cleaning up the pet hair but did a terrible job at everything else. I needed to use the universal nozzle to finish the rug cleaning job. I also found a wad of hair caught in the pet tool that I had to manually remove when I swapped out the nozzles. I also used the pet tool on my exercise mat which was also covered in rabbit hair. It did a good job. It is also small enough that I could get into the tight spaces around my exercise bike and along the walls.
The different nozzles that ship with the LG CordZero easily store inside of the Tower. However, there is no space in the tower to store extra filters or dust bags. It would have been a bonus if there was a small shelf in the tower for additional storage but not a deal breaker.
The telescoping wand is one of my favorite features. LG included a slider switch on the wand that depresses in the direction you want to expand or contract the wand. The switch and the telescoping movement is effortless. The telescoping wand also brings more flexibility from a usability perspective.
Some jobs require a three-foot wand. Some jobs, like tight cleaning spaces, can benefit from a wand half the length. For example, the telescoping wand allows me to work easier in the tight space behind my entertainment center. Normally, I bump up against my speakers, TV, photos, and subwoofers. A shorter stick length has an easier time allowing me into these tight spaces. Along this line, the motor is also much smaller and lighter than a plug-in stick vacuum. This also increases cleaning flexibility in tight spaces as mentioned above. I no longer need to worry about managing a cable while trying to not scratch my speakers or subs.
Some jobs require a three-foot wand. Some jobs, like tight cleaning spaces, can benefit from a wand half the length. For example, the telescoping wand allows me to work easier in the tight space behind my entertainment center. Normally, I bump up against my speakers, TV, photos, and subwoofers. A shorter stick length has an easier time allowing me into these tight spaces. Along this line, the motor is also much smaller and lighter than a plug-in stick vacuum. This also increases cleaning flexibility in tight spaces as mentioned above. I no longer need to worry about managing a cable while trying to not scratch my speakers or subs.
Finally, the other nozzle attachments are nothing special. The crevice tool and brush tool are like every other modern vacuum I have used. They can be used at the end of the wand or directly connected to the handle. They do a good job. The different vacuum power modes will obviously impact performance for each nozzle.
Not so Fun Things:
The dust cup came off the LG CordZero the first time my wife removed it from the tower. One of the two hinge pins holding the dust cup door to the dust cup fell into the dust bag located inside the Tower. The two coil springs that wrap around the hinge pins dropped to the floor. Re-attaching the door took a considerable amount of force. I needed a small vice to squeeze the dust cup enough to allow the pins to be reinstalled. See included photo. Since reassembly, I now need to manually close the dust cover every time I remove the vacuum from the tower. I have no idea if this is normal behavior because the door broke off the very first time it was removed from the tower.
The second not so fun thing is the mobility of the Universal Nozzle. As mentioned above, the vacuum does a good job. But the universal nozzle is very difficult to push across a rug of any thickness. My first rug was an extremely low pile rug. I was surprised by the overall resistance pushing the universal nozzle across the rug. A rug with a slightly thicker pile was higher resistance. I could still clean the rug, but it took additional force than a hardwood, tile, or concrete floor. And much more force than I must apply with other stick vacuums I have used. Ease of mobility on a rug also seems proportional to the vacuum power being applied. I think the LG CordZero will have an issue with any rug ticker than a low pile rug.
Final Thoughts:
The LG CordZero is feature rich and does require the review of LG’s provided manuals before you will be able to fully realize the benefits of this vacuum. There is a lot of intelligent design here including the dust cup auto cleaning, telescoping wand mechanism, and swappable batteries. The tower is sturdy, very useful, and refreshing after owning several stick vacuums with either a cheap wall hanging gimmick or no storage mechanism at all. There are additional nozzles available separately for the LG CordZero such as a mop nozzle, bedding nozzle, and flexible hose extension to name a few. Another feature I do not have room to address is the LG app which connects to the vacuum. The app reports on Cleaning mode, performs Smart Diagnostics, and issues Filter Alarms that will let me know when it is time to maintenance the filters. Overall, I think LGs direction is refreshing and adds a level of flexibility that is not readily available
I would recommend this to a friend!
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As the middleweight speaker of the home line-up, Stanmore III brings expansive Marshall sound in a frame that sits proudly anywhere in your home. Stanmore III has an even wider soundstage than its predecessor, delivering home-filling Marshall signature sound, re-engineered for a more immersive experience. This new generation of Stanmore has tweeters angled outwards and updated waveguides to deliver a consistently solid sound that is so wide it chases you around the room. The two-way driver system delivers a heavy but balanced sound, with crisp, soaring treble and controlled bass that really roars. Built-in Dynamic Loudness adjusts the tonal balance of the sound, ensures your music sounds brilliant at every volume, while Placement Compensation corrects for any nearby reflective surfaces that may affect the sound. Stanmore III is ready for the future of Bluetooth technology and has been built ready to deliver next-generation Bluetooth features the moment they are available.
Beautiful box
Customer Rating
3.0
Images for this Review
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Initial Impressions:
The Marshall Stanmore III has a clean and sophisticated look. I will never be embarrassed showing this off in any room. It is a very handsome piece. The speaker has a faux leather wrap, cloth grill, an intelligently lighted brushed copper and black control panel, and finished with the iconic Marshall signature scrawled across the front grill. The Stanmore III should be able to easily blend into any modern household décor. Setup is easy as one, two, three. Plug in, flip on the meaty power switch, and sync with your phone or other stream source. Done! Room placement is very important for the Stanmore III. Thankfully, Marshall took the time to include some EQ settings to assist with room boundary compensation. And finally, sound quality, in my opinion, is hit or miss depending on the content, physical location, and the overall volume level.
Room Position:
I will start off by stating that room position and your listening position have a lot to do with getting the best out of any speaker. This is especially true with this speaker. I tried two rooms and four positions. The best position for my Stanmore III was in the middle of my multi-purpose room, 5.5 inches off the wall, and on the top shelf of my bookcase. See included photo. The top shelf of the bookcase is also ear level with my sitting position in the room. Next, I used the Mashall App to adjust the speaker’s Placement Compensation. This is an EQ adjustment and not auto-room correction feature like you would find on a modern AVR. Placement Compensation corrects for two situations: 1) Is the speaker close to an edge, and 2) Is the speaker close to a wall? I set the speaker Placement Compensation to “Yes” for the first setting and “Yes, a wall” for the second. I then set the tone controls to Bass-1 and Treble-3. Volume was set to 4.
For me, this produced the best sound from the Stanmore III for this room.
Sound:
My sound source was my iPhone and my Apple Music subscription. I both streamed and used the RCA cable connection on the back for musical playback. I spent three days listening to content. Below are the highlights.
Music like electronica, metal, hard rock, anything recorded live, or anything with a lot of artificial sounds sounded muddy, muddled, and hallow on this speaker. Classical, Jazz, easy listening, and anything with vocals and acoustical instruments, content without a lot of processing, seemed to work out well.
For example, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” sounds good at low volume. But who plays Metallica at low volumes? Turn up the volume, and the bass, and the wheels simply fly off this speaker. The speaker box rings like a bell. Meaning the box vibrates so much from the speaker output it overwhelms the music. Plus, the midrange takes a back seat to the bass reproduction. In my opinion, I think the woofer is being asked to do too much in this system. At least for something heavy and hard hitting like Metallica.
In stark contrast, “Closer to Fine”, by the Indigo Girls, sounds good on the Stanmore III. The acoustic guitars came through with authority and a level of clarity that really shows the Stanmore III’s midrange capabilities. At least when the bass isn’t overpowering the woofer. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ voices are clear, pitch perfect, and the system effortlessly responds to the dynamics of the singer’s voices as they weave in and out and around each other. It is almost like the Stanmore III was designed specifically for this type of music.
A high energy song, such as the B-52’s “Love Shack”, comes off as a complex mess that sounds terrible at anything above half volume. And even then, the true dynamics of the song feel subdued and hollow at lower levels. If there was ever a B-52 song that could get you to kick off your shoes and dance around the room then it is this song. Just not on the Stanmore.
Idena Menzel’s album, “Christmas: A Season of Love” sounds good on the Stanmore III. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, and the Jacques Loussiers Trio’s jazz arrangement of Bach’s “Fugue in G Minor” sound great once the Stanmore III is dialed in properly. Even the lonely piano notes at the beginning of George Winston’s “Colors/Dance” show an amazing decay that I did not expect to hear on a small system like this. But, a highly synthesized, big sound, such as Boston’s classic album “Third Stage” easily overwhelms this speaker and sounds terrible.
Everything else:
Control Panel: The manual controls on the top of the Stanmore III are beautiful and provide a luxurious experience. The power switch is meaty and satisfying to flip back and forth. The volume, bass, and treble control nobs are black plastic with copper textured caps which turn with little resistance. Each nob has 11, 0 – 10, red lighted notches that light as you dial up or dial down. The notches will also dim after a preset amount of time and then light up fully when you make a new adjustment. There is a single rocker switch for Back, Play/Pause, and Next. The switch looks good and is free floating. There is also a button that allows the Stanmore III to switch between Bluetooth, Aux, and RCA inputs. These two switches have the same build quality and presentation as the other nobs on the control panel. I am impressed with the level of sophistication Marshall put into the control panel experience.
Aux inputs: I connected my iPhone to the Aux ports using an RCA to Mini-stereo jack cable. The unit played without any issues. The input needs to be chosen from the control panel on the speaker. The Marshall app does not allow a soft switch between inputs via their app.
Tone controls: Treble and Bass tone controls can be set from the “Equalizer” page. Volume can also be set from the app but you have to enter another screen to manual adjust the volume. You can also use the manual volume controls of your source app or source device for Bluetooth playback.
Sleep mode: The speaker will go into sleep mode if left alone long enough. However, the speaker will also put the Bluetooth transmitter to sleep. The speaker’s physical control panel requires interaction before Bluetooth connectivity will be re-established.
Bass: This little guy will throw out the bass. Put on your favorite bass heavy piece, crank the bass nob to 11, and rock out! Put it up against a wall or in a corner to take advantage of boundary enforcement and you’ve got yourself a party. However, the speaker will ring like a bell with its own resonance which will degrade your listening experience.
Treble: Just like the base, the Stanmore III is capable of amazing treble. Whitney Houstin sounds outstanding on this speaker with the treble turned up.
Recycled materials: The packing material is almost 95% recyclable. I included photos of the packing material. The little desiccant packets are not. Otherwise, bravo Marshall! The Stanmore III is also 70% recycled material. This is huge from an environmentally friendly position.
Portability: This speaker is as portable as there are available wall outlets. There is no internal battery.
Final thoughts:
The Marshall Stanmore III is second to none in the looks and styling department. Marshall chose to spend its money on styling instead of gimmicks. And I think they made the right choice. The system is powerful. It will play music loud and with authoritative bass. Even at low volumes, the bass output of the Stanmore III can be satisfying. Is it good bass? In my opinion, it depends on the content and the volume level. At lower volumes I think it is good enough.
For sound quality, I think Classical, Jazz, and acoustic Singer/Song Writer type content sounded best to me. I also feel that this speaker shines at volume levels of 50% and less. Over 50% and this speaker has a very hard time controlling box resonance and speaker balance even with tone controls and Placement Compensation EQ presets.
Overall, I had a mixed experience with the Marshall Stanmore III. I can see this speaker working out well in a collage dorm room, a kitchen, or a small den providing background ambiance. But, if you are a head banger, then you will find plenty of bass here to rock to all night long. For me personally, I did not find the musicality of the Stanmore III to my liking.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Greenworks - Pro Electric Pressure Washer up to 3000 PSI at 1.1 GPM - Green
With up to 3,000 PSI at 1.1 max GPM (2.0 GPM at 100 PSI), the Greenworks GPW3001 pressure washer is the most powerful residential electric pressure washer available. With a powerful 14-amp TRUBRUSHLESS motor, axial cam pump, and hassle-free, push-button starts, you’ll get to work fast; just plug the 35-foot power cord into any typical exterior household outlet for quick starts with no priming, no choke, and no pull cord. This quiet-running, lightweight, compact, easy-to-store pressure washer features a rugged steel frame and wheel barrow design, thermal relief valve that purges hot water from the pump to cool it down during constant use, and intelligent PCBA technology that automatically senses which pressure washer nozzle is being used, and adjusts motor speeds to auto-adapt for more pressure and water flow for maximum cleaning power. With a 25-foot, non-marring, high-pressure hose, oversized one-gallon soap tank with built-in detergent system, and on-board accessory storage with 15-, 25- and 40-degree nozzles, turbo nozzle, and soap nozzle tips, it’s versatile, portable, and powerful.
Does a great job cleaning with a few quirks
Customer Rating
4.0
Images for this Review
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The Greenworks - 3000 PSI Pro Electric Pressure Washer has plenty of power and flexibility to handle a number of jobs. My primary use for pressure washing is vinyl siding, walkways, concrete surfaces, my small deck, and my vehicles. The unit ships with five nozzles. Each nozzle provides a different amount of pressure and spray width. Unfortunately, the user’s guide will only tell me the angle of each nozzle and what job the nozzle was designed for. So, I cannot give you an exact PSI output rating for each nozzle. I’m assuming the full 3000 PSI is present but the nozzle width dampens that pressure so as not to overpower the project. What I can tell you is that the Turbo nozzle will provide the maximum pressure possible. More on that later. The pressure washer is easy to assemble, hoses are easy to connect, the motor is quiet for a compressor motor, and the unit is easy to move around and store.
Setup:
Setup took about half an hour. Unpacking the box was like unpacking a puzzle. The parts were well packed and protected. They just won’t go back into the box the way they came out. The main body ships as a single piece. The easiest way to unpack the main body is to open the bottom of the box and then lift the box up over the part.
Some assembly is required. See photos for a layout of all the parts. The only tool you will need is a Philips screwdriver. The handle slides into two pipes on the end of the Greenworks Pro Jetflow’s frame. There are two bolts and knobs that secure the handle. The deck that holds the five nozzles, hose, and gun connect to the handle via four screws. There are four threaded housings counter sunk into the handle. This gives the deck a solid, flat surface to mount to. It also allowed me to make a good tight fit. I prefer this much better than the normal through hole designs that tend to loosen over time or add additional rattle to the frame. There are two handles at the back of the frame that allow for the power cord to wrap around for easy storage. The handles attach to the frame using the same counter sunk threads as the deck. These two screws come with a washer and lock washer to unsure these screws don’t loosen up as the pressure washer vibrates.
First use:
First, read the directions from end to end. They are not long but they are important to the proper operation of this unit. It took me about 10 minutes to connect all the hoses, check for leaks, power it on, and clear the lines of air. I played around with the different nozzles until I found the one I wanted. The provided nozzles are 15º, 25º, 40º, Soap Soaker, and turbo. The degrees correspond with the measure of the cone or flat fan that the nozzle produces. The degree corresponds with the overall power output of the nozzle. For example, my very first project was my cement tile walkway. The cement tiles are one foot by one foot and make up a walkway that is three tiles wide by 20 tiles long. The path fills with debris and sand all winter long. I figured this would be a good place to start. I started with the 15º nozzle since this was rated for foliage and debris. Well, this turned the dirt to mud super-fast and threw mud through the air away from the water stream. Any lichen or moss that was on the tiles simply flew away. Any piles of mud or small rocks that had built up over the winter took a few passes to liquefy before flying away.
Did the Greenworks Pro Jetflow do a good job? Yes and no. It is late winter/early spring where I live. So the water tends to pool instead of being absorbed into the ground. The muddy water pooled and flowed back onto my nice clean tiles. Before that happened, the tiles did look nicer than they did before. It was still fun blowing dirt, pine needles, and moss around. I changed up my game and focused on a single tile that was away from the pooled water. I did manage to capture a before and after photo of one of the tiles spared the dirty water overrun. And yes, the tile went from dullish grey to it’s original color.
My second job was an 8-foot by 8-foot concrete slab that the previous owners used for a hot tub. Today, I use it as a small patio. I started with the 25º and then followed up with the 15º nozzles. The 25º nozzle did a good job of pushing away the loose debris. The 15º nozzle did a good job of blowing away the built up soil, grass, and plants along the edges. I had to turn to the Turbo nozzle to clean away the stains. The turbo removed 15 years of built-up stains. It looks almost new. I attached a photo of before and during to illustrate my point. The difference between clean and deep clean is stark. Also, be careful with the turbo if you are working along an edge. It will decimate any soil, lawn, or plants you have along your cleaning path.
My third project was my truck. I used the 45º nozzle with the truck. This removed any loose debris and dirt. The 45º nozzle does not produce enough pressure to remove the hard stuck on grime like dead bug goop and stuck on brake dust. There were issues with this project that I noted below under “Issues.”
My wife chose to spend the day pressure washing the front of the house. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any before and after images to share. I have white siding that turns shades of grey, black, and green over the winter months due to chimney smoke, car exhaust, and algae. My wife tells me she used the 15º nozzle for the siding to clean everything off. No cleaner was used. The manual does not list vinyl siding as safe for the 15º nozzle. It did a good job cleaning away the winter grime. Her next step is to add a cleaner to the reservoir and do another pass on the house next month when we will have consistent warmer days. I just hope she can use a wider nozzle while using a detergent.
Issues:
I chose to wash off my truck. I added a small amount of car soap to the reservoir and then filled the reservoir with water. This is where things got a bit wonky for me. First, the compressor seemed to have a very difficult time getting up to pressure or keeping pressure. The compressor would start at full power, the pitch would change indicating I had full pressure, I would pull the trigger for 10 seconds, and then the motor would go into some kind of idle mode. Idle mode got me maybe 1/3 normal pressure. Then it would suddenly kick back on. After about five minutes of this back and forth I was able to maintain full pressure for the remaining 20 minutes it took me to clean the truck. I did notice a small amount of water leaking from my garden hose around the nozzle. I wrapped it in silicon tape to stop the leak, but it did not immediately solve the problem. I do know that there was a lot of popping and hissing from the spray wand right before the power was regained. This may indicate air is getting into the system from somewhere else.
The next day, as noted above, my wife pressure washed our home’s vinyl siding. She had zero issues. So, I am unsure what happened the previous day.
Second issue. The garden hose connect is located just beneath the front handle. This makes it difficult to tighten and loosen the nut that secures the hose. A few times I scrapped my knuckles on the mixing assembly. The tight space also forces my twisting leverage around my wrist instead of allowing me to use my full arm. More than once I have had to use both hands to turn the nut. And even then, it was difficult to get the correct leverage. See included photo for a sense of what I am talking about.
Operations:
First, attaching the spray wand to the spray gun took more force than I expected. I had to brace the spray gun against the ground while attaching the spray wand and changing out nozzles. Be sure to turn off the pressure washer and lock the trigger safety before making any changes to the spray gun. Use the safety! It may save an eye or two.
Second, be sure the water is running and passing through the spray gun for about 30 seconds before turning on the motor. It is possible to damage the motor if run with air in the line. Allow the motor to build pressure for about five to ten seconds before pulling the trigger. I did experience some moments of power loose when pulling and releasing the trigger in quick succession. I did this when getting too close to an edge or when trying to be delicate. I waited for about 10 seconds for the motor to stabilize before starting up again. This time, I was able to pull the trigger multiple times in a row without losing power. In hindsight, this may be a symptom of air getting into the line somewhere along the way.
Powering the motor on and off was a snap. One button-press and the motor was running. About 5 seconds later the Greenworks Pro Jetflow was up to full pressure. I turned off the washer between nozzle change outs, moving between project locations, and anytime I left the unit unattended. My foreman, A.K.A, my wife, kept asking me questions and making comments while I was using the pressure washer. She had to raise her voice a little to be heard over the compressor but was easily heard.
There are two ways to store this pressure washer. It can be stored horizontally aligning with the wheels and the feet at the bottom of the frame. My small shed holds a full-size snow blower, lawn mower, a grill, propane tanks, and is used for seasonal storage. I do not have a lot of horizontal space left for much of anything. The Greenworks Pro Jetflow’s frame allows for vertical storage. Flip the unit on its front roll bar/handle and the unit will stand stable in a vertical position.
Overall, I am happy with the GreenWorks Pro Jetflow Pressure washer. I am concerned that air may be getting into the system and robbing me of performance. Since I cannot find an absolute culprit, at this time, I cannot give this a full four stars. If it was not for this one issue I would have award the Greenworks Pro Jetflow five stars.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Precision head-to-toe trimming and grooming are easy with the Ultimate Trim Precision 18-Piece All-in-One Metal Groomer by ConairMan. Four interchangeable magnetic attachments click onto the professional-grade metal handle with a secure hold that lets you go from hair and body cuts to beard, mustache, nose, and ear trims. The Japanese stainless steel blades and foil shaver stay sharp, giving you clean lines and an ultra-close finish. The lithium-ion battery provides up to 4 hours of runtime, so you can do full-body maintenance with cordless ease in or out of the shower. Between uses, mount the handle on the rapid charging station for a fast 3-hour charge that lasts for up to 4 hours of use or give it a 20-minute quick charge for 40 minutes of powerful cordless use. Alongside the handle, the attachment heads mount securely on the charging/storage station with a nonslip magnetic hold that keeps them neatly organized. Get a custom cut with the face and body guide combs that include a 6-position stubble comb, 2-position eyebrow comb, 2 body combs, 3 hair combs, and 4 beard combs. Adjust them to the perfect position for precision cuts. Look your very best with the kit that comes complete with all the tools you need for quick and easy cuts and trims. ConairMan. Respect the Ritual.
Ear hair delete key!
Customer Rating
5.0
Images for this Review
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Unpacking and Setup:
Unpacking and setup are simple enough. The Conair Man Ultimate Trim Precision comes with a charging base that holds the clippers and three of the four swappable head attachments. The fourth head attachment will be stored on the clippers themselves. The clipper heads and the clipper base are triangle shaped. Both the heads and the body have alignment grooves that ensure that the two always make the correct connection. Aligning the head and the body can be a little trying at times simply because the triangles are little wonky in shape. Magnets hold the head to the body once properly connected. The connection is very strong. Conair did a good job here because the unit feels like a solid piece with zero wobble between the body and head.
The grooming attachments also fit on easily and without any force. Removal of each attachment is also very easy. The only issue I have with the attachments is the lack of a bag to store them all. Conair included a fancy display base, power supply, and charging cable but you will need to provide your own travel bag.
An LED along the side of the trimmer body lights up with a fancy battery level meter. The longer the blue line the longer the charge. I believe Conair said that the trimmer will operate for approximately four hours on a single charge. The blue LED bar also lights up when charging so that you can easily gauge the charge level. I own several trimmers and electric shavers and none of them tell me how charged the battery is. This is a welcome feature.
The trimmer itself feels solid. Not cheap by any means. The trimmer also has a good weight. Overall, the trimmer looks, feels, and handles with a level of quality better than other wireless trimmers I have used.
Nose and ear hair removal:
What is seemingly the least interesting feature of the Conair trimmer is actually the coolest. The Nose and Ear hair trimmer mows through ear and nose hair like a lawn mower. I normally use the $20 “as seen on TV” style mini trimmer for my ears and nose. It takes about ten minutes to do the work because the cutting blades are so cheap. The Conair did one ear in about 10 seconds. And it did a fantastic job!
Beard Trim:
I keep my beard short and tight. I used the Precision Beard and Mustache trimmer with the multi-position trimmer attachment. The attachment has a little switch on it that adjust the distance between the trimmer blades and the end of the attachment. The attachment allowed me to trim my beard short and tight. The plastic trimmer attachment allows adjustments of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 mm lengths. That’s size trimmer attachments in one. Unfortunately, the teeth of the trimmer attachment’s comb are sharp and not beveled. There are a few times where I poked myself while moving along those tough spots between my chin and lower lip and again between my upper lip and my nose. This is not a deal breaker. However, with the quality of this item, I am surprised that Conair did not go the extra few inches to make sure every aspect of this product screamed luxury.
There was no hair pulling. The were zero partially cut hairs. And very few hairs had little barbs on the end from partial cuts. I took the trimmer attachment off and used the trimmer head to clean up my lines along the top and bottom of my beard as well as my mustache. I also used the trim head to even out the lines along my lips. The cutting blades are well aligned with the guide to prevent any pinching of the blades on my bare skin.
I followed up with the Detail Foil Shaver. This did an okay job. It did cut hair but failed to pick up anything but the stiffest and shortest stubble on my face and neck. I still need to go over the spot with the beard trimmer to clean everything up. The Detail Foil also left my skin irritated. However, I expect some irritation with this blade because essentially it is acting like an electric razor.
Neck Hair:
Finally, I used the Haircut and Body Trimmer to clean up the sides and back of my neck. Again, the blades and the blade guard are perfectly aligned to as to protect my skin while trimming the hair.
Eyebrow trimmer:
I did try out the eyebrow trimmer attachment. Like the beard trimmer, this attachment allows for multiple depth. The comb on the attachment is narrow to allow for a precise trim. For me, the trimmer did not make any difference. I have very thin and straight eyebrow hair. My wife has thicker eye brows than I do. But, like me, her eyebrow hair is well ordered. Essentially, this trimmer had no impact. I am guessing that someone with crazy out of control eyebrow hair will benefit the most.
Charging:
The Conair ships with a USB cable, wall adapter, and a tray that both charges the trimmer and holds/displays three of the four heads. And, make no mistake, the charging base is meant to show off your grooming tool kit. However if you are like me, and have limited counter space in your bathroom, then you will want to get a bag to hold all your gear. Fortunately, Conair was wise enough to foresee the challenges associated with charging without the charging base. The bottom of the trimmer has a USB port that allows charging without the base.
Closure and recommendation:
Overall, I am very happy with the Conair Man Ultimate Trim Precision. Three of the trim heads are useful, well made, do not pinch or pull hair, and do a fantastic job of trimming my beard. The jury is still out on the detail trimmer head. I would have liked to see some beveling of the plastic attachments to reduce how sharp they are. And I would have liked to see a storage container of some kind come with the Conair. The trimmer looks and feels luxurious in the hand. It is very easy to maneuver over my face and neck. The heads swap out easily. The trimmer can be put under the faucet for easy clean up. And there are plenty of attachments to allow for a multitude of hair trimming activities.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+1point
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Enjoy the versatile headset for Hybrid work and beyond with the Voyager 4320 Wireless Noise Cancelling Stereo Headset with mic. It's everything you need to stay productive and connected to all your devices whether at home or in the office. Long day of calls made easier with all-day comfort and dual-mic Acoustic Fence technology that eliminates background noise. Phenomenal flexibility, connectivity, and freedom.
My New Next Office Headset
Customer Rating
5.0
For my job, a high quality, reliable headset is part of my dress code. I am on the phone between four to eight hours a day. I moved to work from home several years ago and was given a wireless Plantronics headset for my home office. The Plantronics headset is still running like a champ five years later. Except the battery can no longer operate the headset for more than four hours before requiring charging. My choices were to buy a new battery, if I could find one, or replace the headset. I chose to go with the Voyager 4320 UC mostly because the styling and the headset controls were very similar to my original Plantronics headset. And so far, I feel like I made a great choice.
First, the headset is lightweight and very comfortable. The headband is made up of several parts. The band is a combination of plastic sleeves, metal, and a vinyl wrapped cushion. The plastic sleeves contain armatures that extend and retract to fit a head size up to about 9” in diameter. The armatures are notched so they will stay put when set. The ear cups can move about 5 to 10 degrees off axis in every direction, and the mic boom is flexible enough to allow almost any position you find it the most comfortable for use. The attention to detail regarding comfort and adjustability is really first class in my opinion. Probably the best I have used, for business, in my 20+ year career.
So how do the Voyager 4320 UC sound? They sound excellent! My primary use is Microsoft Teams. MS Teams calls were clear and without disruption on my end. The headset will not magically make someone with a junk connection sound any better or clear up any static. But, it also did not change the way anyone sounded.
Poly reports that the microphone employs a technology they call an Acoustic Fence. Essentially, this feature filters out background sounds like people talking or making other bothersome noises in the background while you are trying to conduct a meeting. The background noise for my environment includes random road noise, breathing (yes, this is an actual concern), and typical work from home noises such as TV, talking, and radio. Now, I did not go as far as flush a toilet, cook lunch, or wash my hands while un-muted. Those are sometimes referred to as “career ending” moves and not something I am going to risk for a review. But feel free to give it a try if you want. I did ask several times how I sounded. I was told that my voice was strong and clear. What more can I ask for?
The controls are on the right ear cup. The vinyl covers on the ear cups have an R and L cut out with a red background for easy identification. If you are using the Voyager just for phone calls and conferencing, then there is no reason to worry about which ear cup is for which ear. It’s all mono. The right ear has volume controls, a Phone/MS Teams button, and a combination Power/Bluetooth pairing switch. The volume buttons are essentially a giant, round rocker switch tactile plus and minus symbols. The MS Teams/phone button is a separate button and is dead center on the right ear cup. The MS Teams/Phone button also has tactile symbols on the surface for easy identification.
Mute is a little red button at the base of the mic boom. The headset will give you an audible warning if you try speaking while muted during a MS Teams meeting. The mic boom will also rotate 270 Degrees around the right ear allowing you to wear the headset with the mic boom on the left or right. This maximizes comfort and customization.
The included dongle is small, has an indicator light, and was instantly identified and configured by Windows 10 when I plugged it into my work computer. Pairing the heads with the dongle was instantaneous. Windows also set the headset up as the default sound and recording device. Finally, MS Teams found the headset and set up the Voyager as the preferred recording and listening device. The light on the dongle is green when transmitting and red when on mute. I also have a wireless dongle for my mouse in the USB port next to the dongle for the Voyager 4320 UC. Zero issues with this configuration.
So, what don’t I like about the Voyager 4320 UC? First, I do not totally understand the Microsoft Team’s button. There is a 50/50 chance that pressing the button will bring up the Join Meeting screen in teams if the Outlooks provides the pop-up reminder. If there are competing meetings (like no one reading this review has ever been double or triple booked) then the Teams button does nothing. The button works with incoming calls. Then, so does lowering my mic boom from straight up to its normal listening position. This button may be more useful when leverage with a cell phone or office phone. I just have not found any good use for it.
Second, the integrated verbal and non-verbal prompts can get loud if you are not careful. For whatever reason, the prompts do not move in lockstep with the call volume. For example, I may have the meeting volume turned down to a comfortable level but the beep when pressing the mute button blows out my ears. I found that the only way to adjust the volume is to disconnect from wireless and then use the volume buttons on the right ear to adjust the Voyager’s prompts to something comfortable. It can be done. But it was a bit of a guessing game to figure this out.
Finally, I wish the headset shipped with the matching cradle. Poly sells several matching cradles so I can always go buy one. The Voyager 4320 UC does ship with a USB A to USB C cable for charging from either the USB port on my computer or from a separate USB equipped power supply. I also have a headset stand that I use for my gaming headset. I have since repurposed it hold the Voyager. The good news is that the headset will hold a charge for a few days of usage. So, inconvenient yes, but the long battery life offsets this a bit.
Final thoughts: I am really liking this new headset. It checks all my boxes. There are some minor issues that are relatively easy to work around. The speakers and headband are comfortable. Transmitting and receiving are crystal clear. I can adjust the headband to pretty much any position I need to. And the Voyager 4320 UC screams quality. Transmission quality is excellent. The headset is so light that I often forget that it is hanging around my neck when not in use. I highly recommend giving these a try.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Meet the CORSAIR K100 AIR Wireless RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, an ultra-thin keyboard that places outstanding performance and productivity in a sleek brushed aluminum frame. Its unbelievably thin profile – just 11mm at its slimmest point – makes the K100 AIR the stylish centerpiece of your entire desktop and workspace. Hyper-fast, tactile CHERRY MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical keyswitches deliver a responsive, satisfying mechanical keyboard experience – you will want to use the keyboard for everything.The K100 AIR offers three ways to connect to your PC, Mac, and devices for optimal, hyper-fast wireless versatility: sub-1ms SLIPSTREAM WIRELESS, Bluetooth, or USB wired. Connect to multiple devices wirelessly and switch between them with the press of a button, with secure AES 128-bit encryption. Wired mode enables CORSAIR AXON Hyper-Processing Technology to transmit keystrokes up to 8x faster than standard gaming keyboards, helping you stay one step ahead of opponents during competition. The K100 AIR offers endlessly customizable lighting and workflows for total control over your setup. Four dedicated G keys are fully programmable to perform custom actions, shortcuts, and macros to elevate your productivity. The K100 AIR shines with brilliant per-key RGB backlighting, for nearly limitless customization for up to 20 lighting layers simultaneously, powered by AXON. Unlock full control over lighting, key remapping, and more with powerful CORSAIR iCUE software. With up to 200 hours of wireless battery life and all the premium features in CORSAIR’s thinnest gaming keyboard ever, the K100 AIR enables you to play elevated.
Fantastic ultra-thin gaming keyboard
Customer Rating
4.0
Gaming is excellent! Response times are immediate on both Slipstream and wired. I did test Bluetooth but not for gaming. According to Corsair, I can set max poll rates of 1000hz for Bluetooth, 2000hz for slipstream, and 8000hz over high-speed USB. 8000hz equates to near instantaneous response to for every key press. Even better, the keyboard has full key rollover with anti-ghosting. This essentially means that my keyboard is most likely not the cause of me stinking at my game. I am not a hyper competitive FPS player. But, I a very fast typist who can bury a keyboard when I get warmed up. As is, the keyboard can keep up with my 100+ word a minute typing, including mistakes and corrections, without a single dropped character or keyboard command. If this can keep up with my typing without showing any drops or hesitation, then competitive gaming response should not be an issue for anyone. Just keep in mind that anything over 1000hz polling rate will require additional processing power.
In game, every key, including the G-keys, worked flawlessly; both wired and over Slipstream. Through the iCUE software, I was able to color code my keyboard for the WASD keys, jump, weapon controls, and any special thematic affects. For example, one of my games allows for artillery strikes and UAVs. My profile presents this with blue and red blinking lights. This way, if I need to glance at my keyboard the special keys will jump out from among all the other color coding I do.
In general, I am not a very big macro user. But, I do like having the G keys available to reassign certain commands without taking my hands off the mouse or WASD keys. Unfortunately, Corsair moved the G1-G4 keys from left edge of the keyboard, like other K100 keyboards, to the far right just above the number pad. This effectively makes them useless for the games I play. I suspect this design decision was made to allow the keyboard to comfortably fit in your average gamer’s backpack. Portability and flexibility is what this keyboard is all about.
The Cherry MX Ultra Low profile keys require 65 grams of actuation force. Actuation distance is 0.8 mm with a full travel of 1.8 mm. In contrast, Cherry MX Red requires 45 grams of force and a total travel of 4 mm. 65 grams makes for a stiff key. And it takes some getting used to. Cherry also managed to include tactile feedback to each key. The key click is satisfying without being obnoxious loud. The key caps themselves are very comfortable. This is mostly due, in my opinion, to the concave shape of the keys. I also found that the shape of the keys prevent my fingers from slipping between keys. I always knew where my fingertips were.
Size:
The K100 Air is like my laptop keyboard without the laptop. The chicklet style keys are maybe a millimeter or two above the surface of the aluminum base. There are two foldout legs on the bottom of the keyboard that provide two levels of tilt. Using the longer leg setting does not dispel the feeling that I am typing directly from my desktop’s surface. This ultra low profile also makes it impossible to use a wrist rest. Any wrist wrest I have seen is already twice as tall as this keyboard. For typing, this keyboard will force you to keep your wrist up when typing. No lazy typing!
Connectivity:
The Corsair K100 Air Wireless comes with a wireless dongle that allows for instant connection to any of my windows 10/11 computers and laptops. This is Corsair’s Slipstream wireless technology which purports to offer the best wireless experience for the K100 Air; 2000hz polling vs 1000hz polling for Bluetooth. But, if you have more than one computer then the K100 Air can make a Bluetooth sync relationship with three other devices. The K100 also ships with a USB A to USB C braided cable. The keyboard can jump wireless connections from device to device by use of the G1 – G4 functions keys located above the number pad. Each key has a pre-defined function printed on the key. G1 is for Slipstream, G2 through G4 are for Bluetooth connections 1-3. As mentioned earlier, I did not test gaming via Bluetooth. I did spend some time switching wireless connections between my laptop, using Slipstream, and my MS Surface Pro. Just for fun, I edited a MS Office document through Office 365 online. Using FN+G1 and FN+G2, I was able to seamlessly jump between computers and pick up editing my test document without missing much of a beat. I still had to deal with cursor repositioning every time I switched connections. But this was a function of the software and had nothing to do with the keyboard.
Last word on wireless connectivity. Bluetooth setup requires a code be entered into the keyboard before the sync relationship is established. This adds a layer of security to the wireless connection and ensure that the correct keyboard is connecting to the correct device.
RGB and iCUE:
First, RGB for the K100 Air has a clean presentation. There is almost no light bleed from around the keys. This has more to do with the low-profile design of the keyboard than it does with the brightness of the RBG lights. The lights are plenty bright and should satisfy anyone who is into RGB.
iCUE does not currently unify lighting profiles between the iCUE software profiles, wireless profiles, and the Hardware profiles stored on the keyboard. This does make for a muddy experience if you plan on using the keyboard with iCUE wired, or wirelessly without iCUE running, or wirelessly, or wired without iCUE running. They are all different things as far as iCUE and the keyboard are concerned. For example, there is no way to port a profile created in iCUE Software mode to wireless or hardware modes. Additionally, if the keyboard is running in wireless mode with iCUE turned on, then the keyboard lights will simply go out. According to Corsair, iCUE requires the kind of bandwidth that only USB 3.0 can provide in order for iCUE to drive the lighting effects. Hence, why there are hardware profiles that can be leverage when iCUE is not in use or cannot be used. If your custom profile use is modest then it probably is not a big deal to simply recreate the same profile more than once. The more complex the profile, the more burdensome it becomes. The silver lining in all this is that I heard that Corsair will be addressing profile transfers between modes so a single profile can be transferred between the different modes.
Axon, Corsair’s embedded Hyper-Processing technology, allows for up to 50, 20-layer profiles. Of course, the number of profiles depends on the profile’s complexity. For example, lighting the WASD keys one color, the number keys another, and the reload key a third color is far less complex than an animated profile that combines elements of the above with strobe affects, visor affects, and keys that cycle through specific colors at specific intervals. Axon is also the technology that allows the K100 Air to achieve an 8,000hz polling rate over USB 3.0.
If all you want are the basic lighting effects like Rainbow, Wave, Rain, and other default type profiles then they are built into the keyboard. FN+1 through 10 will activate the built-in profiles. It is also possible to set the speed and lighting intensity of each built-in profile using the FN key with other key combinations. You will want to read the manual for more information. Pressing the button at the top left of the keyboard with the image of the person will cycle through your saved lighting profiles. Finally, it is possible to program macros from the keyboard itself. Again, you will want to consult the manual for specific instructions. Just keep in mind that while in wireless mode iCUE must be turned off or you will be locked out of the preset lighting effects, any hardware profiles you uploaded, and you will not be able to create any macros from the keyboard.
Final thoughts:
This is a very nice keyboard. It is the thinnest gaming keyboard I have ever seen or used. The keys are tactile and make a satisfying click when they bottom. Response to key presses is fantastic. The product and the experience using the keyboard is premium. The weird combination of iCUE, wireless/wired modes, and the different types of profiles can make for a clunky, complicated experience to work through. Overall, I think this is a fantastic ultra-thin, portable, wireless gaming keyboard that will give me years of fantastic service.
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.
Great Gaming Experience!
Customer Rating
5.0
Images for this Review
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What do I like:
Solid build quality. The Razer Basilisk v3 Pro does not feel like cheap plastic. The Basilisk is light as far as gaming mice go and still manages to feel solid in my hand. The sides of the Basilisk are covered with a rubberized grip that is substantial enough to give me full control over the mouse but subtle enough to vanish into the background during gaming sessions. The left and right mouse buttons are bare plastic with a texture that reminds me of fine grain sandpaper. I am not sure if I am a fan of this texture. However, just like the side grips, the texture on the buttons vanishes into the background rather quickly when gaming or performing other general mousing tasks.
The pads on the bottom of the mouse are extremely low resistance. The mouse simply slides across my Corsair MM700 mouse pad better than any other gaming mouse I own. The buttons also feel very substantial. They have a slightly longer travel than what I am used to. However, the force to depress each button is less than other non-Razer gaming mice I have used. The travel may be longer, but the responsiveness is very fast.
The scroll wheel feels excellent! I really like the wheel texture. There is zero chance of my finger sliding off the wheel regardless of how sweaty my hands get. Scrolling in clicky-mode is smooth, offers little resistance, and is tactile enough to keep me locked in on my current setting. If that makes any sense. The Basilisk v3 Pro wheel’s free-spinning mode is super smooth and amazingly low resistance. The thing will spin forever if you let it. The only thing I do not like about the mouse wheel is with the button that switches between clicky and free-spin modes. The button is located directly in front of the DPI switch and is about a millimeter or two taller than the DPI button. I regularly switch DPI modes on the fly and have hit the scroll wheel button a lot more than I am comfortable with. Before I lambaste Razer for this feature, I do need to point that other manufacturers do the same thing. For some reason this has proven to be an issue for me with this particular mouse. Not only has this cost me precious time in game when a quick DPI change was warranted but it also forced me to change the scroll wheel back to clicky-mode from smooth mode. I suspect my issue may have more to do with the spacing of the buttons and the size of my hands more than anything Razer did wrong. It is annoying for now but I will eventually compensate for it.
The bottom of the mouse has a three-way switch which controls power and how the Basilisk v3 Pro connects to your system. There are three ways to connect: Bluetooth, Hyperspeed wireless via an included 2.4 Ghz dongle, or via USB cable. Razer includes the dongle, a USB A to USB C, and a mini-dongle dock that can be used with both the included cable and the Hyberspeed dongle. This gives you the flexibility to place the dongle wherever you get the best wireless reception. Finally, there is a profile button on the bottom of the mouse. I like this idea and wish other manufacturers would do this. First, you can create different mouse profiles through Razer’s Synapse software, easily port these over to the mouse’s memory, and then use the mouse’s profile button to easily switch between profiles. Windows will even display, on screen, what profile you switched to. Just note that these pop-ups are suppressed during gaming.
My gaming sessions were good. I paired the Basilisk v3 Pro with my Alienware M15 R4 gaming laptop. This laptop is no slouch by any measure and rips through any game I have thrown at it. The Basilisk v3 Pro did not show any signs of hesitation or latency in any game I threw at it. I was able to get the fine detail movements required for my strategy games. Fast paced movements for my FPS games were smooth, accurate, and low latency; even when making a lot of fast paced twitch movements. And everything in between was perfect. The Basilisk v3 Pro delivered the goods every time.
Finally, the Basilisk v3 Pro has multiple charging options. The Basilisk v3 Pro can be charged directly via USB cable, included. The Basilisk is also compatible with Razer’s charging puck and mouse dock, sold separately. There is a round cover on the bottom of the Basilisk v3 Pro to store the 2.4 Ghz wireless dongle. There are six copper pins under the door. The optional charging puck replaces the cover and makes contact with the charging pins. The puck then allows wireless charging with either a optional charging base or with any Qi-charging compatible devices. Personally, I would have preferred an option that included the entire wireless solution but that’s just me.
Luckily the Basilisk v3 Pro has a long battery life. I have been running the Basilisk v3 Pro with RGB lighting turned on for four days as of this writing for both gaming and work. The battery is currently at 45%. That’s impressive. By this measure I should be able to go a whole week on a single charge!
What don’t I like:
First, the Sensitivity Clutch button is too far forward for me. I have small hands thus I tend to use smaller mice. The Basilisk v3 Pro is a longer mouse than what I am used to. Essentially, I tend to use a claw grip and depress the mouse buttons just shy of the tips of my fingers. The Basilisk v3 Pro forces my hand into a shallower grip than I am not used to. Thus, I now have to press the buttons with the pads of my fingertips. This is not much of an issue. Just something I will either get used to or not. However, the Basilisk v3 Pro forces me to depress the Sensitivity Clutch button using the very tip of my thumb where my thumb is already pressed up against the side of them mouse. It just does not work for me.
Second, the mouse did not ship with a charging dock or puck. More of a personal gripe than an actual con though. The absence of the dock does not impact the quality, functions, or experience of the Basilisk v3 Pro.
The Razer software, like everyone’s software, has a bit of a learning curve. And it has a lot of features and confusing interconnects between a suite of companion programs that make me wonder when Razer will redesign their systems to be a unified application. At the end of the day, I was able to program my mouse for several games and easily ported the whole profile, as a single action, from the configuration screen to mouse memory. My only advice is to download Razer Synapse directly from Razer and do not allow Windows 11 to auto install it for you. The version that Windows deploys does not detect this mouse. This may change with a future update to Windows. But for now, do yourself a favor and go get it yourself.
Final thoughts: If you have not looked at Razer for a while then you may want to check out the Basilisk v3 Pro. I own several wired and wireless gaming mice that fit in a similar price range as the Basilisk v3 Pro but I had completely dismissed Razer as an option. The build of the Basilisk v3 Pro is simple, has a quality feel to it, and is very responsive in all gaming situations. The RGB lighting is subtle and does offer more than other similar mice. The Basilisk v3 Pro has 13 lighting zones; 11 of which are on the bottom of the mouse! Most gaming mice have two. The mouse is lightweight when compared with other gaming mice I own. The Basilisk does not ship with weights or a mechanism to add weight. And the form factor is a little large for my smallish hand but still very usable.
I am pleasantly surprised by the Basilisk v3 Pro.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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JBL - FREE True Wireless In-Ear Headphones Gen 2 - Black
Perceive every detail of your music with this pair of JBL wireless headphones. The 10Hz to 22kHz frequency response lets you enjoy the full range of sound, while the in-line microphone provides an effortless switch to hands-free calls. Featuring 5.6mm dynamic drivers, these JBL wireless headphones supply rich, resonant bass for your enjoyment.
Are these noise cancelling for gyms that play really loud music?
No, they are not noise cancelling. They do come with three silicon ear canal adapters: small, medium, and Large. You can block out some sound if you use a connector that fits snuggly in the ear canal. This will muffle and not canceling outside noise.
6 years, 5 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
Acer - Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - AMD Radeon RX 560X - 1TB Hard Drive
Enjoy engaging simulations and immersive visuals with this Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop. The Radeon graphics card offers 4GB of dedicated video memory for efficient rendering performance, and the 2.GHz AMD Ryzen processor and 8GB of RAM provide ample computing power. This Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop has a 1TB hard drive for your collection.
Not computer savvy. Love playing games but also surfing the web and photos. Just looking for a "standalone" that I can take anywhere...outside or in my room with no wires and connections. Is this good for that? And can I connect to a printer? Thanks!
If I understand you correctly, you want to know if you can surf the web, view photos, and connect to a wireless printer. Correct?
You can use this computer to surf the web, view photos, and connect to a wireless printer. You will need to a wireless network, of some kind, in order to surf the web without a wired connection. The printer could be connected to your wireless network or you could connect over bluetooth. It depends on your printer. My Acer Nitro 5 is connected wirelessly to my network, the internet, and my printer. If you are unsure of how to setup a wireless network, connect your laptop, or connect wirelessly to your printer, then I you will want to speak with your local Best Buy Geek Squad representative. They should be able to get you going. Hope this helps!
You can use this computer to surf the web, view photos, and connect to a wireless printer. You will need to a wireless network, of some kind, in order to surf the web without a wired connection. The printer could be connected to your wireless network or you could connect over bluetooth. It depends on your printer. My Acer Nitro 5 is connected wirelessly to my network, the internet, and my printer. If you are unsure of how to setup a wireless network, connect your laptop, or connect wirelessly to your printer, then I you will want to speak with your local Best Buy Geek Squad representative. They should be able to get you going. Hope this helps!
6 years, 8 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
Envy x360 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - HP Finish In Dark Ash Silver
Optimize your productivity and entertainment experience with this 15.6-inch HP Envy convertible laptop. Its AMD Ryzen 5 processor and 8GB of RAM provide smooth performance, and its AMD Radeon graphics loads stunning gaming visuals. This HP Envy convertible laptop has 1TB of storage, and its Windows Ink feature lets you work with a digital pen. Learn more.
What is the full name of the cpu?
The CPU is a Ryzen 5 2500u. It is a four core, eight thread CPU with integrated Vega Graphics in a 15W TDP. You can find more information from AMD's website here: https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-5-2500u
7 years, 6 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
Envy x360 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - HP Finish In Dark Ash Silver
Optimize your productivity and entertainment experience with this 15.6-inch HP Envy convertible laptop. Its AMD Ryzen 5 processor and 8GB of RAM provide smooth performance, and its AMD Radeon graphics loads stunning gaming visuals. This HP Envy convertible laptop has 1TB of storage, and its Windows Ink feature lets you work with a digital pen. Learn more.
Does this laptop have a display port?
No. It has an HDMI output and a USB C connector that can do video with the right connector. Do a search on BB's site for: USB C to display port. There are several options listed.
7 years, 6 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
Pioneer - 980W 7.2-Ch. Network-Ready 4K Ultra HD and 3D Pass-Through A/V Home Theater Receiver - Black
Learn moreabout Magnolia PremiumInstallation Connect to a range of Web-based music services via this Pioneer Elite VSX-44 receiver's built-in Ethernet LAN. Includes HDMI 4K Ultra HD and 3D pass-through technologies for compatibility with 3D TVs, Blu-ray players and gaming consoles and 4K Ultra HD TVs.
What sub woofer matches up well with Pioneer Elite VSX-44?
That really depends on your other speakers and your room. I'm using the ESW-C10 with B&W 685 Bookshelf speakers and couldn't be happier with the arrangement. The ESW-C10 is a bit big for my small room so I keep the volume turned down but it does a great job shaking the room during movies and mixes well with any music or TV programs I've thrown at them.
10 years, 4 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
from
Maine
Microsoft - Surface - 32GB - Black
Microsoft Surface Tablet: Do more on the go with the productivity of a laptop in the compact size of a tablet. Create documents with Microsoft Office RT, sync files between Windows devices and video chat with friends and family. The built-in kickstand props up your tablet at just the right angle for easy viewing.
do i have to get a network package to buy the surface?
ive been told i need to buy a network plan with a monthly charge. Or can i just use wifi?
No Surface product has native support for a Cell carrier such as ATT, Sprint, etc.... All you have is WiFi. If you have internet in your home with a WiFi router or some other device to server your WiFi enabled devices, then you have everything you need. Just make sure your connection is password protected and encrypted. You can also turn off the WiFi on the tablet, Airplane mode, and use it offline. I hope that answers your question.
11 years, 6 months ago
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Posted by:
ITJim
from
Maine
Microsoft - Surface - 32GB - Black
Microsoft Surface Tablet: Do more on the go with the productivity of a laptop in the compact size of a tablet. Create documents with Microsoft Office RT, sync files between Windows devices and video chat with friends and family. The built-in kickstand props up your tablet at just the right angle for easy viewing.
Can I download PFD files from Internet Explorer to the Microsoft Surface RT?
Can I download PFD files from Internet Explorer to the Microsoft Surface RT, then view them without internet connection?
Yes you can. First go to the Microsoft Store and pick up the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader application. Then you can open PDFs from your flash drive, desktop, network locations, or even the web. Do keep in mind that your ability to open some PDFs from the web is also dependent upon the source of your PDFs. Finally, the surface, as I have experienced with most tablets, do have a difficult time with very large PDF files sizes and very complex PDFs. This is typically an issue with the small amount of RAM you have on a tablet as compared to a modern PC. (2GB on Surface RT and up to 64 GB on a PC). The amount of RAM does make a difference.
11 years, 6 months ago
by
Posted by:
ITJim
from
Maine
Samsung - Galaxy Note 2014 Edition - 10.1" - 16GB - Black
Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 Edition - 10.1" - 16GB: This sleek, stylish tablet comes with a 10.1" Full HD touch screen to display movies, Web sites and more with impressive visual fidelity. The included S Pen is pressure sensitive and allows you to draw, write, edit and more as easily as if you were using a real pen.
Syncing with a Windows 7 Laptop.
Will this version of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition be able to sync with my laptop and thus allow me to control it from the laptop, like the Samsung Tab 2 allows? This also mean I would be able to view content like pics and music from my laptop to my tablet and vice or verser.
I've found that the Galaxy 2014 edition doesn't sync well with anything. Or I haven't found the app or the feature or the best kept secret desktop app that will allow it. I'm thinking of something like iTunes that will sync everything for me and backup my device.
I have found a few work arounds the may interest you.
1) You can upload all of your photos and files to an SD card. You can then move the SD card between the computer and the tablet. Kind of 10 years go I know but there you go.
2) You can plug your tablet directly into the laptop with the USB cable that is connected to your power cord. Then you can easily move items between the tablet and your Laptop using the very useful Windows Explorer App. Thank you Microsoft.
3) If you want to take control of your laptop from your tablet then you can download another nifty Microsoft tool called Microsoft Remote Desktop. You will also have to allow remote connections in Windows on our laptop to make this work. I've already taken over my desktop to edit photos from my tablet. It works very well. However, there is no pinch and zoom. So if you can't read a word when you pull it up on the screen then there isn't anything you are going to do about it. There are other remote desktop apps that may give you additional features. X2 is one I used for my Ipad and is also available on Google Play.
4)Laptop taking control of the Tablet? I haven't heard anything about this. I do know, however, that Samsung saved all the best software for this own devices. Sync easily between your Samsung laptop and your device. However, this is only software and Samsung could be a hero and release it to the rest of their paying customers. I've seen the Samsung Laptops. I won't be buying one anytime soon.
I have found a few work arounds the may interest you.
1) You can upload all of your photos and files to an SD card. You can then move the SD card between the computer and the tablet. Kind of 10 years go I know but there you go.
2) You can plug your tablet directly into the laptop with the USB cable that is connected to your power cord. Then you can easily move items between the tablet and your Laptop using the very useful Windows Explorer App. Thank you Microsoft.
3) If you want to take control of your laptop from your tablet then you can download another nifty Microsoft tool called Microsoft Remote Desktop. You will also have to allow remote connections in Windows on our laptop to make this work. I've already taken over my desktop to edit photos from my tablet. It works very well. However, there is no pinch and zoom. So if you can't read a word when you pull it up on the screen then there isn't anything you are going to do about it. There are other remote desktop apps that may give you additional features. X2 is one I used for my Ipad and is also available on Google Play.
4)Laptop taking control of the Tablet? I haven't heard anything about this. I do know, however, that Samsung saved all the best software for this own devices. Sync easily between your Samsung laptop and your device. However, this is only software and Samsung could be a hero and release it to the rest of their paying customers. I've seen the Samsung Laptops. I won't be buying one anytime soon.
11 years, 7 months ago
by
Posted by:
ITJim
from
Maine