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    January 21, 2011
  • Last review
    December 18, 2023
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    3.1
 
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  • First review comment
    November 3, 2014
  • Last review comment
    July 18, 2016
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    July 18, 2016
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    April 1, 2019
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darien87's Reviews
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  • Tech Insider Network
Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Great for the price
on December 18, 2023
Posted by: darien87
I've had a Samsung monitor for years that I use with my HP desktop computer. It worked fine but I found that when I worked from home using my work laptop and my desktop monitor, I found that the color on my Samsung monitor was so far off from my laptop screen that it was distracting. I tried messing with the settings but I could never get my monitor to match with my laptop screen. The text on my Samsung monitor was hard to read because the picture was so blown out. So I decided to purchase this monitor to replace the Samsung.
When I got the monitor out of the box and went to install it in my computer desk, it BARELY fit under the shelf attached to my desk. And when I say barely, I mean barely. I had to tilt the monitor back a bit for it to fit.
An annoying trend in the electronics industry is that no one seems to want to provide an owner's manual anymore. LG is no different. No manual comes with this monitor. You have to go to the LG website for that. I needed a manual because this monitor has no buttons on it. I was feeling around the back and sides and couldn't find anything. What this monitor has is a little button/joystick thing on the back side. You have to reach around the back and press or move the joystick up, down or side-to-side to change settings. It's a little weird at first but once you get used to it, it's pretty easy to use.
As far as picture quality, I would say this monitor is very good. I mean it's nothing like my Samsung TV in my living room but this is just a computer monitor so I don't need it to be reference quality. I don't game on my PC so I can't give any review of its' latency. But if you need an inexpensive computer monitor that is crazy big, you can't go wrong with this one.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
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The Roomba Combo j5 robot vacuum & mop is designed for both wet and dry floor cleaning—converting our most popular Roomba j7 vacuum to a vacuum & mop solution with the simple switch of a bin. Unleash powerful, accurate cleaning when, where, and how you want. The Roomba Combo j5 robot vacuum and mop packs not only Power-Lifting Suction, but also unique intelligence that learns your home and your routines to give you custom cleaning control. With PrecisionVision navigation, your robot knows to avoid objects like pet waste, cords, socks, and shoes for worry-free cleaning.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Better than my previous robot
on November 25, 2023
Posted by: darien87
Can't we just be like the Jetsons already?!?! Where is my flying car and robot that cleans the whole house for me? Oh well. At least we have vacuuming robots.
So this Roomba is my third robot vacuum. My previous 2 were both by Neato Robotics. I don't remember the model number of my first one, but my most recent one was the D8. The Neato's were fine, WHEN THEY WORKED. But I kept having intermittent problems with them. Most often they would seem to lose the stored map and disregard the "no-go" areas I had set up. I would sometimes come home to find the robot stuck in some area it wasn't supposed to be in the first place.
Since Roomba is the name that you think of when you think of robot vacuums I figured I'd give this one a shot to see if it was better. * SPOILER ALERT * It is. If you've never used one of these types of vacuums, they work like this: You set the robot up by putting it's home base somewhere in the room where it is going to live and you have it do its initial cleaning run. Now you are most likely going to have some places in your room where you do not want the robot to go. Unfortunately the robot has to complete this first run before you can set the keep out areas. Like in my situation, I have a tarp on the floor below my parrots' cage to catch food and droppings. Of course I don't want the robot to try and go over the tarp and get stuck, so I put books and other solid objects around the tarp so the robot can't go there. Then after the robot has created the floor map, I place a keep out square over this area so the robot knows not to go here.
One thing I don't like about setting the robot up is that it only comes with an instruction card that tells you how to set up the base and then tells you to download the app. It is so annoying to me that NO company seems to want to pay the money to print out an instruction manual anymore. It's always, "Scan this QR card for instructions". The app doesn't really tell you anything about how to set up the robot or create keep out areas. Luckily this Roomba works pretty much the same as my Neato so I was able to figure it out. But if you've never had a robot vacuum you might find the set up process a little confusing.
This robot also has a mopping feature. Honestly I think this is a little silly as the robot just has a little microfiber pad attachment that you have to swap out from the regular vacuuming dust bin and add solution to. So all it does is drag this little wet pad around the floor. I wouldn't really call this mopping as the robot isn't really putting any pressure on the floor or doing any sort of scrubbing. Again to harp on the lack of instructions that come with this robot, it doesn't say any where on the app what sort of cleaning solution you are supposed to use. Water? Pine-Sol? Combination of the 2? I had to Google it to find out.
I will say though that the Roomba seems to do pretty much everything better than my Neato did. It runs a little faster and is easier to use. Since IRobot has been at the vacuum robot game the longest they seem to have the engineering down. However the Neato robots "D" shape works better for getting into corners. Even with the Roombas large sweeping brush it still misses the corners.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
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Spearheading the Wi-Fi 7 revolution with cutting-edge technology and unimaginable power, the NETGEAR Nighthawk RS700 harnesses the power of Wi-Fi 7 to unleash speeds up to 19 Gbps. With 320MHz channels and multi-link operation, experience lower latency and dramatically enhanced Wi-Fi performance. Leveraging NETGEAR's over 25 years of Wi-Fi expertise, the RS700 features a sleek body with high-performance antennas and a significantly smaller footprint. A 10 Gigabit Ethernet port unlocks fast speeds of today and tomorrow. Experience the next-generation gaming, AR/VR, and 8K video - all streaming flawlessly in your home.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Can internet ever be fast enough?
on October 20, 2023
Posted by: darien87
Is it too much to ask to have lightning fast internet? I just want to be able to stream movies in 4K HDR with lossless audio with no buffering or lag. Just a pipe dream? Yeah, pretty much. But in my search to make my dream a reality or at least get as close as I can, I saw this router that on paper looked to be an absolute beast, and thought, "Could this finally be the one?" At $700 the BE19000 is certainly not a cheap solution and is probably out of reach of all but the most hardcore speed freaks. And let's be honest, there's nothing out there that can even take advantage of the Wi-Fi 7 spec that this thing boasts. But I figured this router would get me the best speeds possible and hopefully future-proof me so that I can be ready when Wi-Fi 7 does finally become a reality.
My previous router was a Eero mesh system that got me the 500mb speeds that I was paying for with Spectrum internet. Unfortunately the coaxial hookup for internet in my house is up in one of the upstairs bedrooms but my home theater and gaming devices are downstairs in the living room. Hooking up the BE19000 upstairs and using Wi-Fi didn't get me speeds any better than I was getting with the Eero's so I decided to have Spectrum come out and install a cable hook up in the living room. Once that was done, I connected the devices I wanted the fastest speeds with, (Nvidia Shield TV and PS5), to the BE19000 via Cat8 ethernet cables. I also upgraded my internet service to 1gig. With my devices hard-wired to the router I saw speeds of about 940mb from the Nvidia Shield and about 830mb with the PS5. However the PS5 has always shown download speeds that seem slower than what it should be seeing so I think the speed test on the PS5 is inaccurate.
So the BE19000 seems to be giving me about the best speeds I can get from my ISP. Set up was fairly easy. I just plugged the BE19000 in and connected it to my Spectrum modem and downloaded the Nighthawk app. I had to go through the installation process twice, (for some reason it didn't finish the first time) but it only took about 10-15 minutes total. Unfortunately the app is pretty much bare bones. If you want to fine tune the settings of the router, like changing the Wi-Fi channel settings, you have to do that via the internet.
The router has something called "Smart connect" which will supposedly choose the best Wi-Fi channel for whatever device is connected to it, (2.4Ghz, 5Ghz or 6Ghz). I'm not sure how well this works as the devices I connect via Wi-Fi are fairly old like my Samsung S9+ phone and Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. So I'm not sure if these devices can even work on 5 or 6Ghz Wi-Fi. But this router seems to do exactly what it was designed to do and looks pretty cool doing it. It kinda looks like a device you would see in a Star Wars imperial installation.
Is this router worth the $700 price tag? That depends on how important being on the bleeding edge of technology is. As previously noted, you can't take advantage of Wi-Fi 7 yet. But you could buy this router and be ready for it when it becomes available.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
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Lightweight and designed for comfort, the INZONE H5 is ready for long gaming sessions. Coupled with immersive spatial sound and a crystal-clear microphone, victory is just a moment away.
 
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Customer Rating
2 out of 5
2
Another "Meh" Sony headset
on October 16, 2023
Posted by: darien87
I will preface my review by stating that I am not the biggest headset guy. I currently play video games on my PS 5 through my 5.2 home theater system. But my buddies swear by headset gaming. Their endorsements along with how quickly the original Pulse headset sold out had me thinking that maybe I was missing out on something. I bought the Pulse but wasn't really impressed so I returned it. I decided to give headsets a second chance with this newer Sony model. I figured that even if it didn't work out for me with gaming at least I could use it for playing music.
The headset arrived and I quickly unboxed it to try it out. As is so often the case with electronics these days, there are only rudimentary instructions included with the unit. It basically just shows you to plug in the dongle, turn on the headset and that's about it. Granted with a pair of headphones set-up should be pretty simple. But I'm really not happy with this trend of companies wanting to save a little money by NOT printing instructions. I guess they figure it's better to just let customers figure it out on their own or go online to get a manual.
Anyway, the first thing I did was to plug the headphones in with the charging cable and charge the headset for an hour or so. Then I plugged the dongle into the front of the PS5 and turned the headset on. The PS5 did immediately recognize the headset as an icon showed up in the upper right of the screen of my TV. But while playing Jedi Survivor I had no sound from the headset. I went into "settings" on the PS5 and could see that the headset was set up as the input and output device for sound so that wasn't the problem. After trying to troubleshoot the issue, I called Sony customer service and the representative tried to stumble through solving the issue. First problem was that these headphones are so new, the Sony rep had some trouble even finding information about them. Then once he did he basically just had me do a factory rest on them and still there was no sound. After being on the phone with the guy for about 20 minutes he finally gave up and said that there must be a setting in the PS5 that was causing the issue. Unfortunately he didn't have knowledge of the PS5 and he wasn't able to transfer me over to them because of some sort of internal technical issue. But he said that he would have the PS5 tech people call me back. Surprise, surprise but that phone call never happened.
I went back into the PS5 audio settings and finally found that the headset audio was set to "chat". What it needed to say was "all audio". Once I made that simple change, I got the headphones working. So how do the headphones sound? Meh. They sound OK. I wasn't impressed with the sense of space or directionality of the speakers. The sound basically just sounded like stereo. I didn't really get the impression of 3D or objects around me in space. My home theater speakers do a much better job of conveying realistic sound. So then I decided to try listening to music with the headphones. Again the sound was "meh". They basically just produce mid-range tones. They don't produce a lot of bass or treble. Very middle of the road, lifeless sound.
At least the headset seemed to be very comfortable to wear. They're relatively light and they didn't hurt my ears. Wearing glasses with them was a bit of a pain though. One drawback to them is that you have to use the dongle with them so that means that you cannot use these headphones and charge a controller at the same time as the PS5 only has one USB connection on the front.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
 
Mind all your manholes with MANSCAPED Power Duo Plus Package with everything you need to look good from every angle. The Lawn Mower 4.0 takes any man’s groin and body grooming game to the next level while the Weed Whacker 2.0 makes those dangling ear and nose hairs disappear without the ouch factor. To make sure you smell the part, MANSCAPED Crop Cleanser will keep your groin zone so fresh and so clean with a luxurious lather.
 
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Customer Rating
3 out of 5
3
Good clippers, bad nose hair trimmer
on March 8, 2023
Posted by: darien87
Keeping up with grooming is always a pain. I hate shaving but have been unwilling to spend the money on getting laser hair removal. I like to keep the hair on my arms and legs trimmed, so I use a full sized set of clippers. This works great for large areas like the arms and legs but getting those large metal blades anywhere near my nether regions is a scary proposition at best. It is also frightening to take a razor to these areas as well. So when I saw this product I thought my prayers had been answered.
With this kit you get a set of mini clippers and a nose hair trimmer. The clippers are actually a little smaller than I would like but their size does allow you to get into tight areas. The device is mostly plastic but has a good amount of weight to it so that it feels sturdy. It also fits well into the hand and is easy to hold on to. The ceramic blade of the clipper aids in the safety of the device as you don't have to worry about getting a metal cutting surface right next to your skin. Unfortunately I found that I had to go over the same area multiple times to make sure that all the hairs I wanted cut got cut. But I guess this is a small price to pay for the safety.
The nose hair trimmer is kind of a joke. I found that it didn't really cut hairs very well and pretty much stopped using it after the first few tries.
I would give the clippers 4 stars and the nose hair trimmer 2 stars. So I averaged the 2 and gave the set 3 stars.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
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Capture video of the road ahead and your vehicle interior with this Rexing 4K front and cabin dash cam. The ultra-wide-angle lenses capture more of the surroundings and the infrared night vision lets you capture clear footage any time of the day. This Rexing 4K front and cabin dash cam features a parking monitor that automatically begins recording after detecting vibrations.
 
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Customer Rating
3 out of 5
3
A little quirky, but a solid camera
on November 14, 2022
Posted by: darien87
I had a Nextbase dash cam on one of my previous cars and I really liked it. There were a few times that someone cut me off or did something stupid in front of me and it was cool to be able to pull up the footage and see what happened just in case I needed some evidence for an insurance claim. But that car got total'd and I didn't think to remove it. So when the opportunity came up to try out this Rexing camera, I jumped on it.
This camera also comes with a camera that covers the interior of the vehicle. I don't use this feature but I could see it coming in handy for someone that does Uber or Lyft in case you get someone doing something crazy in your car. I had this installed for me at Best Buy so I can't really speak to the ease of installation but it didn't take them more than an hour or so and I had mine hard wired.
Note this camera only comes with a cigarette lighter power source. If you don't want to see a wire going from your center console up to the camera, (I don't think anyone wants that), then you will need to purchase a separate hard wire kit. Rexing sells their own, (I believe they are about $30), but I bought one from Amazon that was recommended to me by the installer at Best Buy. It would be nice if Rexing included this but the cost to buy one isn't excessive.
The camera has a parking monitor feature to record if your car gets hit while it is parked. If you want to use this monitor feature you can either have the camera turn on when it senses an impact to your vehicle, (not sure how well this works), or you can just have it record all the time. The issue with the latter option is that you run the risk of the camera draining your car battery. The nice thing about the hard wire kit I bought from Amazon is that it comes with a voltage meter to monitor the output of your battery. If the voltage drops below 12.5 volts, it shuts off the camera. This should keep the battery from getting drained. I'm a little leery of this though. If something goes wrong with the hard wire kit then you might not be able to start your car if it sits for a long time. But having the camera always recording will ensure that if your car gets hit from the front, (or the back if you install the optional rear facing camera), then it will definitely get recorded.
To view files recorded on the camera you use the Rexing app. The app is a little bare-bones but works well enough. You have to turn the cameras Wi-Fi on EVERY time you want to look at or download files. It is mildly annoying to have to do this every time but honestly you probably aren't going to be looking at your files all that often.
One issue I have with the camera is that some of the settings aren't very intuitive. For instance the LCD screen saver has 3 options on it, (Off, 1 min, and 3 min). I have my camera mounted directly behind my rear view mirror so there is no reason for the screen to be on, on the camera other than when I am changing settings. So I had selected the "Off" setting thinking that would keep the LCD screen turned off. But when I noticed it was on all the time, I called Rexing support to find out why. It turns out that "Off" means turn the saver feature off, not turn the screen off. Also, the camera only displays the time as "military time". So 5pm is 17:00. Not a huge deal but something I wish you could change.
All in all this camera works well and is at a decent price point. It records in 4k but since most of the time I look at files via the app on my phone, I don't really see a need for the extra resolution. I've called Rexing support a few times with questions and getting someone on the phone is a bit hit or miss. Sometimes I've been lucky and gotten through to someone right away, other times I've left a message and not had it returned. But the people I've spoken to were very friendly and helpful.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
 
Shark HydroVac Cordless Pro XL 3-in-1 multi-surface cleaner vacuums, mops and cleans itself with powerful suction & hydro mopping at the same time. It deep cleans hard floors and cleans area rugs. Includes a self-cleaning, antimicrobial brushroll* to help prevent odors & bacterial growth on the brushroll; 2-tank system to separate clean & dirty water; extra large clean tank; headlights; LED display and multi-surface concentrate with odor neutralizer technology. *Brushroll treated with antimicrobial substance to preserve roller and resist bacterial odors on the brushroll.
 
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Customer Rating
3 out of 5
3
Works pretty well
on October 6, 2022
Posted by: darien87
Sweeping and mopping is a huge pain. I have a Neato D8 robot vacuum that I run twice a week. My floors are LVP. Even with running the D8 and vacuuming on the weekend, the floor is still very dirty when I mop. So I was hoping that this machine would help speed up this process.
It does do a fairly good job of vacuuming and mopping at the same time. In regards to the mopping, it does a decent job of getting my floors clean. Just to see, I tried using my regular mop after using the Hydrovac. I was still able to pick up more dirt with the mop but not a huge amount. In fairness I also have a Hoover Floormate machine that cleans about the same amount but that machine is much harder to use and clean.
With the Hydrovac, you simply charge it up, put water and cleaning fluid in it and get to work. My downstairs of my house is about 1,000 sf and the battery and cleaning fluid last just about that much. So the battery life isn't that good and I wish it held more fluid. I can't clean both upstairs and downstairs of my house on a single charge.
The Hydrovac is motorized so it pulls the machine forward to make cleaning easy. However when you pull the machine backwards it tends to get a little squirrely. The Hydrovac is pretty manuverable and turns easily.
Clean up is pretty easy. You just unsnap the recpetacle and spray it out and drain. But I did notice that the receptacle had a good bit of my wife's hair in it with no way to get it back out. I'm not sure but I would think that this dould become a problem in the future if it becomes clogged with hair.
Bottom line is this machine does a pretty good job of cleaning and is easy to use and clean. Does it replace sweeping and mopping? I'm not so sure. Also I prefer to clean the brush by hand. The auto clean feature uses quite a bit of cleaning fluid.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+6points
6of 6voted this as helpful.
 
Get ultra-fast speeds and powerful productivity with the LaserJet Pro 4001ne with HP+ included at no additional cost. Get laser quality black & white printing for all your business documents. Includes HP+ smart office features so you can set up and manage printers in multiple locations with a single dashboard. Never run out of toner with an optional subscription for Instant Ink for lasers.
 
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Customer Rating
1 out of 5
1
Ethernet only? Really???
on September 19, 2022
Posted by: darien87
So I decided to pick up this printer to replace my old Brother Inkjet printer. Got the printer out of the box and proceeded to hook it up to my computer. For some reason this printer can only be hooked up to your computer via a LAN connection. I thought the printer was wireless but unfortunately it is not. Also there is a USB port on the back of the printer but it is covered with a sticker telling you to not use USB. So the ONLY way you can connect this printer is via an Ethernet cable.
I tried connecting an Ethernet cable from my computer to the printer but the setup would not finish. To set up this printer you have to download the HPSmart program and then follow the steps on screen. The program would see the printer but the final step in setting up the printer is to input an 8 digit code that is supposed to print out of the printer. My printer never printed this code. I called HP support and after talking to multiple people and spending about 5 hours on the phone over the course of a couple of weeks we came to the conclusion that the only way I could get this printer to work was to connect an Ethernet cable from my router to the printer. The problem with doing this is that my router is in a different bedroom than my computer. So I had to have the Ethernet cable going down the hall and around the corner. This is just ridiculous.
Whatever happened to the good ol days of just hooking up a USB cable to a printer and being done?!?! Whoever designed this printer at HP should be fired. You have to download a program, go online and then input a code??? It's a printer not some black box for launching missiles. There is no reason why a printer needs to be hooked up to a network to print. Seems like HP is just trying to use this printer to data mine.
Guess I'm going back to my Brother inkjet printer.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+3points
3of 3voted this as helpful.
 
You can't use circles to clean a square corner. That's why Neato introduced the D-shape to the industry more than 15 years ago. That D-shape allows for a brush right at the edge of the vacuum, instead of in between wheels like those round robots. This D-shape also fits an extra-large dirt bin that holds more during a cleaning session. The result? Corner-to-corner and edge-to-edge cleaning in a short amount of time. The Neato D8 has 30%+ longer runtime than the D4. That's 100 minutes of cleaning on a single charge. If your robot needs more time to finish a long cleaning run, it will auto-recharge and resume from exactly where it left off to finish the job. You don't have to babysit your robot while it's cleaning—with Neato, you can just let it run. The powerful performance you have come to expect from Neato continues with the D8. Combined with a High-Performance filter that traps up to 99% of allergens and dust particles, this is one vacuum you'll want to use every day. Switch from energy-saving Eco Mode for general vacuuming to high-performance Turbo Mode for a more powerful clean. The Neato D8 uses LaserSmart powered by LIDAR, the same technology found in self-driving vehicles, to map and navigate your home with precision, even in the dark like under furniture. Using lasers to understand where it is in your home, Neato methodically cleans from room to room in straight lines for a quicker clean, leaving your carpets with that satisfying just-vacuumed look. Worried about stairs? There's no need to be with Neato. Drop sensors automatically detect stairs to avoid falling down them and continues to learn your floorplan as you use it. Get cleaning in minutes with Neato’s hassle-free, Bluetooth-enabled setup. Using the MyNeato app, create No-Go Zones to define areas your robot should avoid like your pet's eating area and schedule Routines to clean when you want. It's an experience that makes Neato the clear choice for clean.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
This thing works!
on April 27, 2021
Posted by: darien87
from CA
I previously had the Neato D4 robot a few years ago. The unit worked well but it had an issue staying connected to my Wi-Fi network and had to be re-setup pretty much every day. It drove me nuts so I sold it. So when I got the opportunity to try the D8, the first thing I did was call Neato to ask them is their software had been changed since the D4. I didn't want to spend the money on this machine if I was going to have the same issue, ($700 for a vacuum is not exactly cheap). Their customer service person told me that the software had indeed been improved and that I shouldn't have any connection issues this time.
So I decided to give the D8 a try. The first thing you need to do is get the app. Make sure you get the "MyNeato" app and not the regular Neato app as they are different. The Neato app only works with models up to D7. Of course I originally got the regular Neato app and couldn't figure out how to set up my robot. A quick call to Neato customer service got me sorted out. Once I had the correct app it was pretty easy to set up the robot. I got that done and had it do it's first cleaning. We have LVP flooring in our kitchen and dining areas and those are the only places I wanted the robot to go. Because I had, had the D4 and knew that if you have places you don't want the robot to go, you are going to have to physically block them off for the first cleaning as you cannot set up the No-go areas until AFTER the robot has done it's initial cleaning and mapped out your floorplan. So I just put some boxes and books on the floor to make some barriers.
The robot did its thing and then went back to base and docked itself when it was done. I viewed the floorplan and set up my No-go areas. The robot has 2 cleaning modes, Eco and Turbo. Eco is quieter and helps the battery last longer. Turbo mode makes considerably more noise and doesn't pick up that much more dirt in my experience. So I'm fine with the Eco mode.
The second time I tried using the robot, it didn't seem to follow the No-go areas I had set up. We have a parrot and our cage has a tarp under it to keep bird poop off of the carpet. The robot went up on to this tarp and got stuck. The app told me that the rollers were blocked. So I picked up the robot and checked everything underneath and there was nothing blocking the rollers and they spun fine. I tried to get the robot restarted but the error wouldn't go away. I called tech support and they walked me through resetting the robot but then for some reason it couldn't download the floorplan. I thought to myself, "Here we go again with Neato and the connection issues." Nothing we tried got it going again so I ended up having to delete my floorplan and even had to delete my robot and set it up again. Even after all this it was still no joy with the floor plan. I called tech support again and we tested my Wi-Fi speed and I had over 100mbps where the robot was at so speed wasn't the issue. The tech asked me if I have mesh Wi-Fi extenders, which I do, (Eero). The tech suggested that I contact Eero and have them set up a static IP address for the robot. I had no idea how to do this but luckily Eero was able to do this for me over the phone. Couldn't have been easier.
It's been about a week since I set up the static IP address and the robot has not had any problems staying connected. So it looks like Neato has indeed sorted out my previous connection issue.
As far as cleaning, this thing does a really good job. The shape allows it to get pretty close into the corners. Of course it won't get all the way in there but I would say it gets to within an inch or so of our base boards. It also does a good job navigating over the floor mats we have in front of our stove and sink. I also really like being able to set up No-go lines with the app. However you can only make box shapes. For some reason you can't make diagonal lines which is a bit of a bummer for me as we have 1 spot in our living room where the transition from LVP to carpet is on a diagonal. So I have to let the robot go onto the carpet a little bit where the No-go boxes do not touch.
The cons with this unit are its price, (like I said, this unit isn't exactly cheap) and the fact that it has no internal memory and thus needs to be connected to your Wi-Fi to be able to work. I wish the robot could store your floorplan and be able to work offline. If you have Wi-Fi extenders you may need to do the static IP address thing.
But other than that, this machine is very good at it's job. It cleans remarkably well and in Eco mode is relatively quiet. It won't replace you needing to sweep your floors on a regular basis, (at least to get into the corners), but it will certainly make your sweeping chore easier.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+11points
11of 11voted this as helpful.
 
The JAXJOX Dumbbell is a digital dumbbell set offering two adjustable dumbbells ranging from 8-50 pounds each. Select your weight with a touch of a button.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Best adjustable dumbbells I have used
on February 17, 2021
Posted by: darien87
from CA
In the age of Covid, getting a good workout in at home is definitely a challenge. I've used a few different sets of adjustable dumbbells in the past and they each vary in looks and ease of use. I currently have a set of simple ones that I just put plates on the ends and spin a threaded metal collar over the plates to secure them. These are about as inexpensive and low-tech as you can get. The drawbacks are that it takes forever to switch weights and I have to have different sized plates all over the floor.
Now the Jaxjox dumbbells simply have a display with + and - buttons built into the plastic base that holds them. Changing the weight is done with a press of a button. The handles have some sort of locking piston inside them that expands or contracts when you are decreasing weight. You can acutally hear it move when it is doing its' thing. Changing weight only takes about 5 seconds, very quick and easy. They also look pretty cool. Other adjustable dumbbells look like some sort of alien torture device.
The only issues I have with these dumbbells is that I feel that the handles are a little too thick. They are not hard to grip but if they were a little thinner, they would be more comfortable. Maybe I just have small hands. Also, plate aligment can be an issue at times when you are putting the dumbbells back into the base. Sometimes one of the plates will not line up correctly so you have to be somewhat careful when putting them away, (see photo). This can be problematic when you are fatigued after a heavy set.
Something I found strange is that the set comes with charging cables but not chargers so you will have to use one from your phone or other device. Not a huge deal and honestly most people should have some of these lying around but it can be inconvenient if you have to unplug your phone to charge these dumbbells. Battery life is pretty good though. A full charge on these lasted me about 2 weeks.
I wish the dumbbells went higher in weight. 50 lbs just isn't enough to work the big muscles effectively. But they work well for most of what I do. Also, picking 50 dumbbells up off the floor might be an issue for people with back problems. It would be better to put these on some sort of stand or platform.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
User submitted photo
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darien87's Review Comments
 
Have you ever wondered what you would do if you woke up one day to find the world transformed to one full of horrors? Lots of people have apocalypse survival plans, but do they really ask themselves how they would cope? It's hard to gauge how well you would deal with a life that consists of nothing but fear, because you've never really experienced it. But one thing is for certain — if you let the fear win then you don't survive. If you don't keep the evil within chained up under lock and key, then the horror will overtake you and drag you under.Dive into a world crafted by the father of survival horror, Shinji Mikami in The Evil Within. In a game that embodies the meaning of terror, you have no choice but to gather your courage, shut down the fear and let your adrenaline carry you away. Explore highly crafted environments full of the stuff of nightmares and contend with the horrifying anxiety of constantly fighting to survive. An intricate storyline weaves together to build an engrossing experience that will make your palms sweat and your heart race. Do you have what it takes to overcome the tension and withstand the deadly terror?
 
Overall4 out of 54 out of 5
a mind-bending and keep you on your toes style gam
By Jerome2679
a kind of game that'll keep you on your toes, death and mystery around every corner. must decide whether to go for the extra experience or save your and my own parts to get through the game. boss battles at challenger mind
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darien87
CA
Huh?
November 3, 2014
This review makes no sense.
0points
0of 0voted this comment as helpful.
 
Polar Loop Activity Tracker: With a custom-fit bracelet, this tracker can be worn comfortably on your wrist, allowing you to monitor your activity levels and receive helpful guidance and motivation. The rechargeable battery offers up to 5 days of continuous use.
 
Overall3 out of 53 out of 5
Pretty good but lacking a couple of features
By darien87 from CA
This is my 5th fitness tracker now. The others I have used are the:
Withings 02 Pulse
Adidas Fit
Garmin Vivosmart
Samsung Gear Fit
I think this is the one I will be sticking with. It does just about everything I want my fitness tracker to do but it lacks a couple of features I liked in others. Of all the ones I've tried so far I think the Garmin Vivosmart is the best. But I ended up returning that one because it would constantly lose sync with my phone and had to be manually re-paired. It would happen multiple times a day and I just got tired of having to go through the pairing process again every time. It was very frustrating.
The Polar Loop has quite a few things going for it:
* Looks good - I originally had the basic black model but exchanged it for the purple, (Black Currant).
* Comfortable to wear - I wear the band loose enough that it slides around a bit on my wrist so I barely know it's there.
* Connects easily to the HR6 or HR7 Polar heart rate strap. I wanted a tracker with heart rate function because I do more weight lifting than cardio so I wanted a device that would give me accurate calories burned while lifting.
* No problems pairing with my phone.
For the cons:
* Wrist band must be cut to size - I found this process to be very tedious. I'm not a watch maker. Using the tiny tool to remove and reinstall the retaining pins was very frustrating. I actually lost one of the pins because it immediately shot across the room when I took it out of the buckle. Luckily Polar provides you with a spare pin just for this issue.
* App is still in Beta and is pretty basic.
* Proprietary charging cable - I don't know why all of these tracker manufacturers can't just use a standard USB charging cable like on Android phones. I've had 3 or 4 different brands of phone in the last couple of years and every one of them had the same charging cable. The Polar one connects to the back of the device and it is a bit of a pain feeding it around the buckle to connect it.
Overall I like this tracker but if not for the pairing issue with the Garmin Vivosmart I would have stayed with that one.
Customer Avatar
darien87
CA
More info
January 9, 2015
EDIT - 1-9-15
So I've had the Loop for a few weeks now and it's still pretty decent. I wish that you could see how much battery life is left other than by plugging the Loop in to charge. It would be nice if you could see it on the display.
Also, there have been a few network outages where I have not been able to sync my Loop with their site. This is pretty frustrating. Polar's customer service is horrible!!! I have called them 3 times and each time eventually hung up after waiting on hold for about 10 minutes. The 3rd time I got my questions by using their online chat so I guess they don't completely suck. But with Garmin I got a live person on the phone right away every time. I really wished the Vivosmart had worked better with my phone because that seems to be the best of all the trackers I've tried.
+2points
2of 2voted this comment as helpful.
 
Accomplish fitness goals with this Samsung fitness watch. IIts smart notifications let you receive alerts and respond to calls from compatible Android and iOS smartphones¹ and a curved display makes it easy to view activity progress. Featuring a music player with access to countless songs, this Samsung fitness watch lets you jam to your favorite tunes.
 
Overall3 out of 53 out of 5
Great fitness tracker, but limited...
By Nicolly05
After owning this device for about 10 days I decided to return it. Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice device. I like the fitness features, and there are so many exercise choices to choose from. I like that you can add music to the device and listen to your tracks with out having your phone on you. (However it does require Bluetooth headphones) The screen is vivid and I never had to turn the brightness up to 10 even when outdoors. Step counter seemed to work fine (although sometimes I noticed it stopped counting steps randomly through out the day).
I really only have 2 major complaints about it. While you can pair this device with any Android smartphone, you are severely limited in the apps/watch faces that show up in the Samsung store. With my Nexus 6P I had only 8 watch faces to choose from. When I paired it with the Samsung S7, there were over 30. Apps were the same way, about 4 showed up in the store for the Nexus, but many more appeared once it was connected to a Samsung phone.
Most importantly: (my major reason for returning the device) The band design on this thing is clearly flawed. I cannot tell you how many times the band popped out of place almost causing the device to fall off. Sometimes I noticed when it happened, but other times I just noticed something felt off and looked down to see the device hanging off my wrist. Thankfully the band has a built in loop or this thing would have dropped a ton (and I only wore it for 10 days!). Until Samsung makes an option to replace the band I really cannot recommend this product.
This device really is an improvement over the original Gear Fit but the band and limited app/watch face options on non Samsung phones outweighed all the positive things that I liked about this device,
Customer Avatar
darien87
CA
July 18, 2016
Mine popped off numerous times also, (about 4 times in a week). I returned mine for the same reasons you noted as well as the atrocious battery life. I could barely get a day and a half out of mine and that was with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off.
+1point
1of 1voted this comment as helpful.
 
darien87's Questions
 
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darien87's Answers
 
Enhance your exercise sessions with this Samsung Active smartwatch. Advanced auto workout tracking detects up to seven exercises and tracks up to 40 more, while proactive health monitoring sends real-time alerts in case of irregular heartbeat. This Samsung Active smartwatch can pair with your smartphone, Android tablet and select iOS devices.
 

Can you change the watch faces like you can with the "Gear" watches? Also...is this watch smaller than the Gear S2?

Yes and Yes.
4 years, 11 months ago
by
darien87
 
Play party music with this three-box Sony audio system. Its Digital Sound Enhancement Engine and S-Force Front Surround technology produce high-quality sound, and the built-in microphone input lets you engage in karaoke-style singing. This Sony audio system offers wireless streaming from Bluetooth devices, and its USB port and CD player provide extra connectivity to music sources.
 

Are the included Speakers hardwired? Or Bluetooth?

Hardwired. Very thin wiring.
5 years, 4 months ago
by
darien87
 
Accomplish fitness goals with this Samsung fitness watch. IIts smart notifications let you receive alerts and respond to calls from compatible Android and iOS smartphones¹ and a curved display makes it easy to view activity progress. Featuring a music player with access to countless songs, this Samsung fitness watch lets you jam to your favorite tunes.
 

Can you get text messages and play music on it.

Yes you can.
7 years, 8 months ago
by
darien87
 
Accomplish fitness goals with this Samsung fitness watch. IIts smart notifications let you receive alerts and respond to calls from compatible Android and iOS smartphones¹ and a curved display makes it easy to view activity progress. Featuring a music player with access to countless songs, this Samsung fitness watch lets you jam to your favorite tunes.
 

Is it only compatible with Samsung phones or can it be used with any Android phone?

Worked just fine with my LG G4.
7 years, 8 months ago
by
darien87