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  • Review count
    228
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    702
  • First review
    July 30, 2012
  • Last review
    June 28, 2025
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  • Average rating
    4.5
 
  • Review comment count
    2
  • Helpfulness votes
    2
  • First review comment
    October 14, 2011
  • Last review comment
    June 28, 2012
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  • Answer count
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  • Helpfulness votes
    39
  • First answer
    April 25, 2013
  • Last answer
    February 17, 2021
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psyclopps's Reviews
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The BlueParrott M300-XT SE Bluetooth driving earpiece headset is designed for superior calls in high-noise environments. Featuring 80% noise cancellation with 2-mic tech, our earpiece for drivers provides 14 hours of talk time on a single charge for those who work long shifts. Our ultra lightweight earpiece weighs just 0.7 oz., making it an excellent option for those who work on the road delivering packages, food delivery drivers, taxi drivers, ride-share drivers, limo drivers, and anyone who drives for a living. In addition, our driving headset earpiece is reversible so that you can wear it on whichever side you prefer. With a wireless range of 300 feet (100 meters), our blue tooth headset for work ensures you can leave your phone in your vehicle as you're dropping off orders, ideal for local truckers, remote workers, or anyone on-the-go. Our hands-free call earpiece with mic provides IP54-rated protection against dust and water, making it a rugged and comfortable accessory for your work mobile phone. And while you're on the road, you can instantly mute calls, speed dial a preferred contact, or Push-to-Talk with your colleague using our customizable BlueParrott Button. Simply program it with your most-used function for instant access without taking your eyes off the road. The wireless earpiece pairs with up to 8 devices, with 2 simultaneous connections, and provides 420 hours of standby time.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Great for all day use. Sounds great!
on August 3, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
This is a great headset for road warriors and home office work. It is comfortable for long use and performs well. The sizing is good for most ears and comes in multiple ear tip sizes for wear on the ear (not in ear canal).
Pros:
Comfort
Size
Discreet
Battery life
Audio quality
Cons:
Styling is generic
App is very basic
Setup:
Setup is your usual Bluetooth setup process. My unit came with no charge so I had to charge for a little bit but once it was done it paired right away and ready for use.
Daily use:
I listen to a lot of podcasts. After a few hours of this and a few phone calls totaling 4-5 hours. I was only down to about 90% battery. I am very confident you can wear this all day on road trips and for office work. I would not trust it if your job relied on it though as there is no wired option.
Comfort:
I found a better fit on my left ear than the right ear personally but there are multiple ear tips included to try on. Once in my left ear it was extremely snug on my outer ear. It is not meant to go inside of ones ear canal and sits just outside of it. The ear hook is very comfortable for long uses.
Sound quality:
These are great for all day podcast listening! Phone calls are clear on the headset and when I asked the people on the phone how it sounded, they all said they didn’t know I was on a headset. When walking by a large truck conducting landscaping, I told the person on the phone to excuse they noise, they said they didn’t notice and just assumed there was a bit of static on the line.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Design meets function in the most powerful, premium cordless stick vacuum with auto empty. Bespoke Jet AI Cordless Stick Vacuum includes our most powerful HexaJet 2.0 motor, and delivers up to 100 minutes of runtime in a single charge. AI Cleaning Mode automatically senses floor type and optimizes suction whether on carpet or hard floor for efficient cleaning performance on any surface. Innovative design combines with the All-in-One Clean Station which auto-empties, charges, and stores your vacuum, for one show-stopping solution.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Lots of steps forward, a few steps back
on July 15, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
This vacuum is absolutely amazing. It takes many steps forward but a few steps back. I would say it is good for most households and is a conversation starter as it looks like a display piece in any corner.
Pros:
-Style
-Versatility
-Self cleaning
-Very effective
Cons:
-Heave handle
-No accessory cradle
-Vacuum head takes effort to push
Unboxing:
Inside the package you will find the unit, a storage/charging base, extra bags, the battery, a furniture accessory and a handheld cleaning accessory. Setup is a breeze. Simply attach whichever accessory you want; install the battery and you are basically good to go. I highly recommend setting it up via Wi-Fi though for full functionality.
Connectivity:
Setup is mainly done via Bluetooth quick pairing and Samsung SmartThings. The app is preinstalled on any Samsung phone and can be installed on other brands as well. After hooking it up to Wi-Fi, you can set it up to an assigned room. Information in the app includes charging status, status of the cleaning station, default suction power (normally AI), home care (device functionality/diagnosis), energy consumption, and emissions.
Use:
I first tried it out as a handheld vacuum to clean some corners. I was surprised to how heavy the device is to hold one handed. It looks like they added extra gear into the motor area of this year’s model. Though it might improve the device in some areas such as AI smarts and motor functionality, it increases weight and size.
Suction is amazing at all power levels. I love using this vacuum to clean my car as it gets to every corner. After installing the floor accessory, the device AI setting works amazingly well. The setting will keep a relatively low suction level on hardwood but will ramp up power when it goes over a carpet or messy area. Using it on a carpet it is almost always at a higher suction level.
Though the power control is great, I found that the floor accessory took a decent amount of effort to push and turn around corners for some reason. This could be cumbersome for larger houses. Maybe it just needs to be broken in over time but out of the box, it does require effort.
After cleaning, it did an amazing job of getting a large amount of dust from the floors. This is the greatest part of the vacuum. Upon plugging it back into the charging dock, the device will automatically engage in the self-cleaning function which will clean out the dust bin and run suction through the floor accessory to try to get out any remaining debris. I am not sure how long it will take to fill up the bag, but it barely changed the amount of time that I used it. Bags are available for purchase on the Samsung website.
The battery seems to hold a decent charge. On low setting, it would display around 55 minutes of vacuum time. On Jet mode, it would go down to around 17 minutes. AI settings will vary though use, but I seemed to see a readout of around 44 minutes or so. There was only one battery in the box so that might be worth considering if you keep your vacuum for a long time.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Annihilate your competition with this ASUS ROG gaming desktop. The Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM deliver rapid performance during fast-paced action, while the 1TB SSD provide plenty of storage for large files and downloads. This Bluetooth-enabled ASUS ROG gaming computer features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card for tear-free rendering of 4K games.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Great overall. Well built and great performance.
on July 7, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary: This PC is perfect for most gamers' needs. It is compact, well equipped, easy to upgrade, well built and looks cool! The only negative I have to say is that it comes with a last gen video card, but it is still plenty powerful for intensive gaming sessions. It is a well-rounded gaming PC great for the most intensive of games. I tested all games at 1440p.
Pros:
-Extras (headphone hook, handle)
-Easy access to interior
-Upgradable
-Plenty of ports
-Great performance
Cons:
-Older video card RTX 3070
-Some generic parts (memory)
-Doesn’t come with screws for upgrades (m.2)
-USB-C is only 3.2 Gen 1
-DDR4 RAM
Setup:
After unboxing the unit and plugging in the included keyboard, mouse, Wi-Fi antenna and power cord, I booted up the device. The included keyboard and mouse are very basic, so I recommend an aftermarket set. Setup is a typical Windows setup with the only extra login being for an ASUS account. After this I was up and running. I appreciated that they put a nylon handle in the back of the case to assist with picking up the unit. Of note, the Display Port is not active in the top of the unit as the Intel i7 12700KF does not have any integrated graphics. As such, you must hook up your video to the video card.
First impressions:
I was impressed by some of the extras. In addition to the handle, there is a hook on the left side that comes out to hold a headset. The glass panel is easy to remove as is the metal right side. Build quality seems high overall. The lighting effects are nicely thought out and fun to look at. Looking at the specs, the antenna is an Intel AX201 supporting 160MHz and Bluetooth 5.2. The memory is very generic and is an ASUS 03A08-00023200 model DDR4 PC4-3200 MHz 16GB total. The 1TB hard drive is a NVMe Micron 2400 but performs pretty well and has a heatsink installed. Some parts are outstanding such as the 750W power supply, the processor and cooling but some parts were basically cut corners such as the video card and RAM.
1440p Benchmarks:
CrystalDiskMark: Read 4687 MB/s Write 3606 MB/s
Halo 4 Ultra settings - 100 FPS avg
Overwatch 2 Ultra settings - 170 FPS avg with a range from 140-190
Port Royal - 8111
Time Spy - 13343
Fire Strike Ultra - 8607
PCI Express Feature Test - 21.01 GB/s
Geekbench 6 CPU - 2719 single core, 11793 multi core
Geekbench 6 GPU - 129906 OpenCL, 120806 Vulcan
Cinebench 21127 multicore
Lightroom - 104 12MP photos, 37 seconds; 155 24MP photos, 2:27 min
Horizon Zero Dawn Ultimate quality - 99 FPS
Assassins Creed Odyssey Ultra - 76 FPS
Gaming:
This desktop is great for long term gaming sessions. The fan is quiet even in Turbo mode. Checking the performance, I rarely saw any cases where the processor was bogged down. I rarely had any stutter in games as all the components work well together. Turbo mode does throttle the fan up and down very frequently, so I tended to keep it in Performance mode which keeps things quiet and cool. The GPU didn't get above 65C, and the processor topped off around 71C during sessions of Diablo IV. After a few hours though the fan did spin up a bit more and stutters started. I could not find the background process that was causing it.
Productivity:
With 16GB of DDR4 RAM, most tasks perform well. I would recommend an upgrade to the RAM if you intend to do any video or photo editing down the road. The PC is relatively quiet during normal tasks.
For file transfer, I was surprised that the USB-C ports on top are a slower 3.2 Gen 1 standard which only supports about 500 MB/s. To an external NVMe drive, I could only get transfer speeds up to 462 MB/s even though the drive supports 1050 MB/s. The USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports on the back support that full speed though. There are no USB-C ports on the back.
Expandability:
The video card is easy to replace as it has plenty of room to spare and a 750W power supply. There is a bracket on the right side of the video card to support some of the weight so that might get in the way of any upgrades.
There is an additional M.2 NVMe slot under the video card. There is no included M.2 screw so you will need to obtain one.
Only two of the memory slots are taken up so you can expand this to much higher capacities. Just keep in mind the motherboard only supports DDR RAM.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Introducing the world's first 49" OLED monitor, the Odyssey OLED G95SC. The 49" curved monitor with Dual QHD resolution and 110 PPI delivers maximum space to take in all the pin-sharp details. Neo Quantum Processor brings brighter whites, deeper blacks and near infinite color contrast. Its curved screen wraps around your field of view for truly engrossing gameplay in up to 32:9 aspect ratio. With a hair-raising 0.03ms(GtG)* on the 240Hz refresh rate screen, you can react to your opponent’s every move quicker than ever before. DisplayHDR True Black 400 allows you to see true black and dark colors on screen without pixel light bleed for supreme color and depth expression in every game. G-Sync compatibility keeps the GPU and panel synced up to eliminate choppiness, screen-lag and image tears. Fast-action and complex game scenes are stable and stutter-free with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for your competitive edge.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Great for gaming, good for productivity
on July 7, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Mind… blown. This is a dream monitor for gaming, business and media consumption. I did not nearly expect it to have so many features built in. I was also surprised at how usable it is even with the expandable resolution with a minimal performance hit.
Pros
-Styling
-OLED
-Massive gain to productivity
-TV like features
-Built in streaming for games
-Inputs
-Speakers
Cons:
-Size
-Widescreen not always useful
-Slow switching between modes
-Clunky menu system
-Oversharp text
Unboxing & setup:
The monitor arrived in a very long plain box, no frills here. Inside the box there is the monitor, a stand, a wall adaptor, power cord, DisplayPort cable, a USB-A to USB-C dongle, micro-HDMI to HDMI cable, documentation and a remote. Setup is not too hard but oddly enough the quick start guide does not tell you how the stand connects to the monitor. Here is what to do: There is a top lip that needs to slide in first. When the bottom lip touches press the button to retract the tabs which lock it in place. Be careful when handling it as this monitor is very large and bulky for one person and you do not want to hold it in a way that can damage the screen. Hold it from the bottom of the screen only.
I initially tested using Display Port on my PC. I was expecting it to boost straight to the PC, but it actually went to a setup screen similar to a Smart TV or Gaming console. You will go through a process of login to Samsung Accounts, setting up what services you want to use such as Amazon Video and Disney+, Wi-Fi, firmware updates and so on. It takes a few minutes but is overall not too hard as it offers QR codes and website logins you can do on your phone to speed up the process. Once I had it up and running, I jumped into the built-in features.
Smart TV features:
All your major services are built in such as Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Video, Apple TV, YouTube and more. There is a workspace section which offers Google Meet and Microsoft 365. For this you might want to hook up a keyboard directly if you plan on using it stand alone. There is also a Gaming hub which I thought was very cool which supports Xbox, Luna, GeForce Now, Twitch and a few others. I tried out Xbox which worked with minimal latency but often provided blurry resolutions on a fast 1gbps internet connection. As for GeForce Now, it works at a very smooth frame rate, but the resolution was limited to 1900x1200 at 60hz in the games I tried. The streaming options are convenient but do not utilize the full capabilities of the monitor.
I was very impressed by the ability to utilize split screen. It has limitations such as it only works with some functions (PC, internet browser, Microsoft 365, Samsung TV and webcams) but it is useful at times. It is somewhat clunky to switch between inputs.
As an OLED monitor, colors are perfect, and HDR-10 is supported for gaming. Samsung DEX is supported wirelessly on Samsung phones.
Gaming:
I was surprised that the impact to games at this resolution was somewhat minimal on a RTX 3070 paired with a i7 13700KF. Destiny 2 at full settings ran around 100-130fps. Forza Horizon 5 at max was around 60-70fps. The newfound immersion is amazing, especially in the first person. Forza Horizon provided some mind-blowing visuals inside the car, and it was even sometimes a bit dizzying in a good way. The only downside I found was that the screen is so large that at times, it can be a little disorienting in first person shooters. Since the perspective is more of a wrap-around style, items at the ends of the screen will be somewhat warped to sit the aspect ratio. As a result, movement is somewhat different at extremes of the monitor as opposed to the center. Samsung adds an ability to overlay its own reticle if needed to allow for some additional orientation. The issue goes away with practice though. Diablo 4 was a great game for large screens as you can leave menus open and still get full situational awareness as it makes great use of real estate. As playing at full resolution will take up more processing power, it is hard to fully utilize the 240hz support unless you lower the resolution.
Productivity:
The amount of screen space is perfect for my use. I tend to have Lightroom, a browser, Word, a calculator, email and explorer open at any given time. As Windows 11 allows for some great placement of apps, you can make amazing use of the space provided. Colors are spot on so far as I can tell, and I do not mind using this for photo editing. The only issue I came across is when connected to a PC via DisplayPort, the font has scaling issues. It appears best at 125% as when it is set to 100% the font feels over sharpened. It is a shame since 100% is the best use of the screen size but 125% looks best.
Office 365 which is built into the TV I could not get to work since when you login to Microsoft, it stated the built in browser is out of date. There is no way to update it or use Chrome / Firefox so it will likely require a future monitor update to fix.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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OpenFit continues the Shokz open-ear concept to let users enjoy all-day comfort and hear their own soundtrack while staying open to the world around them. OpenFit offers an ultra-lightweight, open-ear construction to hear both your own audio and every sound around you with crystal clarity. DirectPitch technology produces a full audio experience to immerse yourself in your favorite songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. A flexible ear hook design combines stability and comfort. Moments are precious, and OpenFit gives you the freedom to hear every one of them.
 
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Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Almost perfect. But I love em!
on July 1, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
I was somewhat skeptical of these headphones prior to receiving them but after about three days of use, they have become my new everyday headphones. Extreme comfort, good sound quality, amazing battery and the ability to hear the outside world are what put these on top of my list.
Pros:
-Battery
-Comfort
-Open ear design
-Bluetooth 5.2
Unboxing:
The package is a tiny bit larger than the unit itself. Inside you will find the case and headphones, documentation, and a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.
Setup:
I paired my via the Bluetooth menu on my phone then later downloaded the Shokz app for further finetuning. It was tested on two Android phones and a Windows Laptop.
Build quality:
The case is actually kind of large compared to most wireless earbuds. It is mostly flat but large in height and width. The black case feels somewhat generic with the Shokz logo front and center. There is USB-C in the back and a light indicator on the front. Upon opening, the two earbuds are stowed with the ear loops over one another.
The buds themself feel higher quality than the case. There is nice silicone all around and they are extremely light. They basically glide over your ears for a very natural feel when putting them on. The main driver part of the headphone hovers just above your ear canal and feels “right”. You basically can not feel the ear loop and battery in the back.
Sound quality:
I was impressed by the volume and punch of the sound when in its default settings. Bass was found to be a bit lacking as is when set up. I definitely recommend setting up the Shokz app as the amount of bass will be affected by how exactly they sit on your ears. For me, I preferred to have the Custom EQ making it to my liking. After setting up the EQ the bass is just right to add fullness but not overpowering. All my comments are using the will emphasize which I am using.
Standard EQ is best at higher volumes as it just sounds weak at 50%. There are no fancy Bluetooth codecs, just your basic SBC and AAC were supported with my devices. No sign of APTX or LDAC. Bluetooth range seemed pretty normal at 30ft.
Spoken word is perfect across all levels. It projects and focuses just the right amount of volume in the direction of your ear canal. There is a vocal EQ if desired.
“Karma” by Taylor Swift was kind of boring on the default EQ with just vocals coming through. On Bass Boost EQ, it emphasized her voice and the bass a little better but percussions were a little muffled.
“Entertainment” by Rise Against is very similar with good ability to hear the vocals and guitar on Standard, bass is mostly absent and percussion is weak. Bass boost seems to make everything somewhat equal.
The cover song “Torn” by First to Eleven was perfect in standard EQ with everything coming out balanced.
Last, “Steal the Show” by Lauv was good in Standard but really needs Bass Boost for that iconic bass sound.
The headphones can put out decent bass but needs to be set up for it. Highs tend to suffer but are not bad at all. Mids are where it stands out the most.
When you pump up the volume, they act more like normal headphones, at 50% volume you can hear the entire world around you no problem.
Battery:
I have been using these seemingly non-stop for three days and I have yet to recharge the case! The headphones themselves are rated at around 7 hours of battery with 28 hours in the case. There is no wireless charging which initially annoyed me but as long as these last, it turned out to be a non-issue.
Sleeping:
With the way these fit, I was curious how they would be for listening to music while sleeping. It turns out I could barely feel them all night as a side sleeper and woke up with them still on my ears and no discomfort. Great job Shokz! With battery life to last, they were still playing when I woke up.
Exercise:
They have an IP54 rating so going out to run with them was no issue. They stay on my ears requiring zero readjusting and allow me to hear any wild animals creeping up on me. With their rating they should be just fine for small amounts of dust and rain but I wouldn’t do a mud run or Spartan race with these.
Cons:
Some were already said but here are the only gripes I had with these.
-Large case
-Boring design
-Frequency range is only 50hz-16khz (most headphones are 20hz-20khz)
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The new, redesigned Revolve60 packs enough USB-C power to charge a full-size laptop. Nowadays, most smartphones need up to 30 watts and most laptops require a minimum of 45 watts with Power Delivery (PD). Yet most surge protectors with USB-C offer only 20 watts or less. The new Revolve60 kicks out a full 60 watts of PD-enabled charging through dual USB-C ports. Armed with super conducting Gallium Nitride (GaN), Revolve60 achieves high wattages safely and more efficiently than standard silicon. For added capability, four industry-exclusive rotating outlets help you customize your setup and guard your tech against power surges and spikes.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Practical and compact
on June 26, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
A very practical outlet that looks nice on the wall, fits any type of adaptor, provides surge protection and has USB-C. I like it due to the compact form and practicality of the device.
When setting up the device, you do not need to remove the wall place, just unscrew the screw of the wall plate and screw in the new plug. It will not likely go flush with the wall if you remote the outlet and you do not want any gaps for electrical items. Verify both lights are on when installed, the blue one shows it is protected and the green one shows it is grounded.
After installation, the plug works very well with small and large adaptors alike. As pictured in the review, I can plug all slots with larger adaptors and simply need to rotate the plug as needed to ensure a good fit. The instructions show that the top dent of the unit can be used as a shelf for your phone to charge on top of.
The USB-C outlets put a max output of 60 watts via PD and uses Gallium Nitride (GaN) which keeps heat levels low. As a result, if your phone supports higher levels, it should charge quickly so long as it supports the Power Delivery standard. As an example, my S23 Ultra seemed to charge at full speed (45W) based on the time estimated to charge but my OnePlus 11 did not as their 80W charging does not go over PD. The 60W is via an individual plug and it will split to 30W each if you are using both at the same time per the user guide. Most laptops support PD so unless you have a high-powered gaming laptop, your Ultrabook or MacBook should charge at decent speeds.
As most of these devices tend to do, they provide good surge protection up to 1080 joules and includes a large $100,000 warranted for any damaged equipment from a surge.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The REXING 78W Car charger quickly charges up to 2 devices simultaneously together via the USB-C or QC 3.0 USB Port. Our premium, ultra fast car charger can quickly charge phones, dash cams, tablets and laptops by efficiently converting the power from your cigarette port. The compact, thumb-sized, jet-black body perfectly blends with most car cigarette lighter ports. Your devices batteries are protected from over heating via Over-Voltage/Over-Current Protection features. Our device also comes with a specially madeTypc-C charging cable specifically made for the 78W.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Great value device with wide charging support
on June 13, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
This is a great little charger that I intend to use daily. It is a must have for road warriors and those whose devices support faster charging speeds. I tested it with a Pixel 7 Pro, S23 Ultra, OnePlus 11, Fitbit and Oura Ring.
Unboxing:
There is not much to speak of in the box other than the device, cable and warranty. The device is small and will not take up much space in your car. There is an LED light to show charging status and two connections for USB-A Quick Charge 3.0 (up to 18W) and USB-C PD (up to 60W).
Use:
This charger is great for most phones. I had to check out the main website to find supported speeds and it looks like it supports the following.
USB-C – 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (18W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/3A (60W)
USB-A – 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2A (18W), 12V/1.5A (18W)
This being the case, it charged my Pixel 7 Pro relatively fast for that device, it will charge a S23+ / S23 Ultra at 45W but it did not support the 80W/100W speeds that my OnePlus 11 supports. It charged that device rather slowly.
The USB-A port works with most devices that support it and it charges my Fitbit and Oura ring in normal times.
Design:
I rather like the simple design it comes in, but it looks like it should have another light in the glossy accent around the front of the unit. I would like to see that as I enjoy flashy lights. The build quality is sturdy, and I do not foresee any issues here down the road.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Make it epic. The XV800 wireless party speaker has amazing omnidirectional sound, ambient lights, an IPX4 rating for water resistance, up to 25 hours of battery life, and an X-Balanced speaker that delivers distortion-free lows. It’s a powerful all-in-one package.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Fun for home use or any event
on June 7, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
This speaker is great for personal use and for group events. I tried it just listening to music around the house, hooked up to the TV in the TV Sound Booster setting, in a family outdoor party running off battery, and it excelled in every situation.
Unboxing:
First off, the speaker is huge and heavy. You might need to tear the box apart to remove it from its packaging. There is not much inside the box other than the power cable, speaker, and some basic documentation.
Setup:
Easy as can be! For bluetooth you simply hold the bluetooth button to pair. I did not see an NFC logo anywhere. The device also supports Android Fast Pair so you might simply see it pop up to connect when you set it up. For TV Sound Booster, you will need to plug it in via optical cable then set up your tv for “TV speakers and Optical” output. I recommend you also download the Sony Music Center app and Fiesta table app as part of your setup process.
Sound:
I was happy to see that the speaker supports LDAC for Android phones for high resolution audio output. I did not hear any massive differences between a regular MP3 or a high res file but it is good to know it is there. Most of my testing was using Apple Music Lossless streaming with LDAC.
Testing the speaker with LoFi, Pop Punk, Pop, Classical and EDM, I was happy to see that this speaker will simply put a smile on your face with the amazing output. It is very heavy on the bass and loud, but you can tweak the audio via the Sound Center app for ClearAudio+, Mega Bass or a custom EQ. The six speakers work together very seamlessly with clear bass, clean voices, punchy details, and pending your Bass settings, an overall balanced output. I honestly left megabass off most of the time for home listening to balance it out a bit but for outdoors or large settings, megabass was welcome.
For my outdoor event, the music was mainly 90’s hip hop and ranchero music. This speaker will easily fill any outdoor venue with sound. Be careful not to annoy the neighbors! I was never worried about weather as it is water resistant up to IPX4 (vertical) and IPX2 (horizontal). You can even have it out near a pool and feel ok with an occasional splash.
I was surprised by how good it is to augment your TV with TV Sound Booster. Setup for this was easy but I realized you need to select both the “optical in” button and the “TV Sound Booster” button on the top of the unit or select it in the app for proper sound. The setting greatly tones down the bass so it doesn’t overpower the TV speakers but it greatly supplements it as a wonderful subwoofer and adds extra quality with the rear firing tweeters which fill the room with more detail than the TV alone can probably provide. The only downside to this I saw was it was somewhat identifiable what direction the speaker was in relation to the TV which was somewhat distracting.
Extras:
The speaker can provide power via USB to other devices. The battery runs FOREVER, our all day event barely put a dent in the battery level of the unit. The lighting is fun but not essential and you can turn it off. The kids like the lights. There are multiple inputs for optical, audio in, microphone, guitar, and settings to adjust those. I also suggest using battery care which limits charging to 90% since the battery will last a full day easily anyway. If you have any other Sony speakers that support the Party Connect Feature, you can connect them all together and have speakers everywhere.
Apps:
The Music Center app is very useful for overall control. It is a hub for any audio apps you might have installed too which is a bit redundant I felt. You should be able to conduct any firmware updates through the app as well if needed (none were available at time of writing).
The fiesta table app is fun but a bit trivial in my opinion unless you are having house parties often. The app allows you to control the lighting of the device in an interactive way and also create party playlists that people can contribute to.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Tackle everything. Worry about nothing. This laptop is co-engineered with AMD to adapt to you – peak performance when you need it, not when you don't.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
HP and AMD have a winner here!
on May 14, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
This laptop is AMAZING for work, portability and maybe some light entertainment. It is the closest thing to a MacBook I have seen in the Windows ecosystem. There are a few minor issues holding it back from perfection but it is well worth the buy.
Unboxing & setup:
The HP box is a minimalistic white box with pretty much nothing inside. You will simply find the laptop, the 96W charger & USB-C braided cable and a quick setup sheet between the keyboard and laptop.
My first impression was that the build was quality and weight was good for portability. I received the black model which has small bits of reflective material, nothing too obvious but it is there if you look close and adds a bit of personality. Otherwise the design is minimalistic with just the HP logo providing any contrast. There are only three ports. One of the left ones is a 10gbps USB-C right next to a 40gbps Thunderbolt port. I assume the smaller one was meant to simply be the primary changing port and will likely get the least amount of use for I/O. There is another 40gbps USB-C port on the right side.
Setup was your typical Windows setup. With an HP login to boot to add access to specific features and registration. It was nice to see WIFI 6e connectivity available and I was able to connect to 6 Ghz frequency. There is a setup for face recognition or fingerprint using Windows Hello. It is nice to have the choice since most laptops only have one or the other.
Keyboard & mouse:
This is an amazing keyboard in typical HP fashion. It simply feels right. After about an hour of playing with the laptop I was able to get to 90 WPM in a typing test with pretty good accuracy. The keys are a tiny bit offset due to the HP specific buttons on the right. The backlight on the keyboard has three settings; high, low and off and it is plenty bright.
I was very impressed by the mouse. This is the first Windows machine I have used that has a haptic touchpad similar to what you will find on MacBooks. You can click anywhere with an equal feel of clicking and it is near perfect. I would rate it to 90% of the feel of a MacBook trackpad.
Screen:
I do a lot of typing and photo editing. The screen is high enough resolution at 1920x1200, but by default it is set to 150% scale which on a 14 inch screen makes everything huge. I pushed it down to 125% which felt better for the screen space provided. The specs state it has 100% of sRGB and 99% of DCI-P3 color space but when trying a few image tests with good DCI-P3 photos, there was a decent amount of shades it was unable to display. No deal breaker but worth noting if that is important to you. I feel confident doing photo editing on this device on the go. Blacks are also good enough to watch movies on even though it is a LCD IPS screen but it is definitely not as good as an OLED for that purpose. I give the screen an 8 out of 10. It does have a touch screen layer but I rarely use it and think HP should have come with a pen to use it with for signing documents. The display is limited to 60fps and is not HDR.
Audio:
There is no headphone jack here so you will have to use a dongle or Bluetooth for that purpose. The included B&O speakers are great though, one of the better ones I have heard on a Windows laptop. They are a bit lacking on bass but there is an EQ in the myHP app which can offset this. The speakers support 24bit 48000hz. They are great for music and movies alike.
Software:
There is not a whole lot of bloatware installed and anything included is useful. There are four full sized buttons on the right of the keyboard. One for the myHP control menu, one for the myHP support menu (more later), and one for another control menu in the same software. The last one is a programmable key which is nice. I thought it was weird they all point to the same software and would like the ability to map some of the keys to other uses since it feels redundant. Also, I have to hold the key down to trigger the software, a simple press often does nothing.
Performance:
I am greatly impressed by the Ryzen 7 7736U, integrated Radeon graphics, 16gb of LPDDR5x memory and 512 GB of NvME storage. This thing is crazy fast and runs cool consistently! You will easily be able to do this for pretty much everything but heavy gaming.
In Adobe Lightroom, I exported 104 RAW photos from a cell phone to 100% JPEG in about 1:02 mins. For comparison I exported the same set of photos using an Asus ROG G14 with a much better video card in almost the same time.
In CrystalDiskMark I was blown away with the 7016 MB/s read and 4792 MB/s write.
For graphics, I was able to achieve a score of 3428 in Wild Life Extreme and 3372 in Extreme Unlimited. I did try a few games out of curiosity. I was able to play Starship Troopers Terran Command at 1080P at about 30 fps in low/medium settings. This should be good for light strategy games, Fortnite and CS go if you wish. The Radeon graphics are a good step above Intel Xe and can be used for light video editing as well.
I also tried mining some Monero. I was able to achieve an average of 2398 H/s. For comparison My Ryzen 9 6700 is able to get 4567 H/s and my intel 1360P is able to achieve 3003 H/s.
Battery & heat:
This laptop is great for traveling and working on the road. Off of its charger, it runs cool as can be and rarely uses the fans. This is a much more efficient processor than the intel P series. The battery easily lasted me two to three days between charges with typing, music, videos and surfing the internet. If you are using it all day at the office, coffee shop or class, you likely will be able to get home easily before you need a charge. I did not notice any degradation in performance while on battery whereas the Intel P series often slows down quite a bit off of the charger. I think AMD has a hit here with this generation. Of note, perhaps due to the hardware configuration, my copy of windows never gave me an expected remaining battery time, just percentage.
Repairability:
Though there is not much of anything that can be upgraded, this laptop appears designed to be repaired if a part goes bad. The RAM is soldered on so choose your configuration wisely. The system manual on the HP website has full tear down procedures for pretty much every component as well as part numbers for order. The bottom cover requires no removal of rubber pads to get to screws, they are all (5) accessible. The plate is held on only with magnets so there is no need to pry it open. Photos are included of the interior. Just be careful with the ribbon cables for the fan.
HP support:
Of note, the four buttons on the right keyboard are designed to provide quick access to personalized support. I had no issues so did not test it but supposedly it provides 24/7 professional support for road warriors. The service is free for the first year.
Issues:
Nothing is perfect. Though this laptop is amazing. I had two instances in my five days of testing where the system shut down for no reason or would not wake out of standby resulting in a reset.
The lid to the laptop is stiff when opening. It is not a one handed open. Also, typing often puts my palms against the sharp corners of the device frame which can be uncomfortable at times.
The screen corners are “rounded” but it feels like HP took a shortcut to make it feel more premium. Instead of any actual rounding, they just put a straight diagonal edge on the corners\
(pictured).
That is pretty much all I could find that I did not enjoy about the device.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Pro-level results, easier than ever. Our best-seller, only better. The first Anova Precision Cooker launched in 2014 and started a home-cooking revolution — bringing sous vide to the masses and making Anova a household name in the process. This third generation of our flagship sous vide circulator adds key improvements, making perfect results easier to achieve than ever before.
 
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Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Great device for so many uses! Cooks to perfection
on April 26, 2023
Posted by: psyclopps
Summary:
This thing is a game changer! I have only had it a few days and only cooked a few items, but I see it as a common use item in the house as it makes cooking extremely easy and adds time to total meal prep but saves time since it cooks in the background and the food comes out perfect every time.
Unboxing / Setup:
There is not much in the packaging, simply the unit and documentation. The unit is rather large but at first glance is uncomplicated. After plugging it in and setting it up via the Anova Culinary App (Android and iOS), connecting it to Wi-Fi and updating the firmware, I was good to go. Of note, it only supports Wi-Fi 802.11 B, G and N so ensure you have a 2.4ghz network set up.
Use:
The first recipe I tried out was some chicken tenderloins. I found a simple recipe (there are also lots of recipes in the app) consisting of salt, pepper, and oregano. After mixing those together, tossing with the chicken I placed them in zip lock bags as I forgot it normally needs vacuum seal bags. I cooked it at a lower temp for about an hour and a half then took it out to sear it in some olive oil in a pan to crisp the outer sides of the meat. WOW! This food tasted amazing and was very juicy! The first bite will turn you into an instant believer.
I also made some potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder. After an hour of cooking at 190 degrees, these are some super good potatoes cooked to perfection!
The instructions for the unit explain how to use it with zip lock bags as well as with vacuum seal. Using zip lock bags, all you need to do is fil a pot of water, dip the bag in the water which will displace the air, and seal it when all the air appears to be out. It works well!
Issues:
The unit itself is large and requires a large stock pot. I used a 12” one which means you will use a lot of water to cook. I thoroughly suggest finding some recipes where you can cook multiple items at the same temperature to maximize efficiency. You can probably cook entire meals in this.
The device uses a lot of plastic whether it is zip lock bags or vacuum seal bags. There are some reusable silicone ones you can purchase if you do some research and I highly recommend this.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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psyclopps's Review Comments
 
SynopsisThe last time the earth was ravaged, animals were saved two by two in a massive ark, peacefully sailing to a new beginning, or so the story goes. This time, we're not so lucky. With a massive asteroid hurtling toward the planet, a select few were chosen to inhabit modern-day arks — pods buried deep within the earth's core. You were chosen. You were buried alive. And you rose from the ground to face your worst nightmare. Hordes of mutants killing without a thought, bandit gangs wreaking havoc throughout the already defunct wasteland, a looming Authority seizing maniacal power and holding secrets — this is what remains of humanity. The world as you know it is gone, but if any world is to stand in its place, there's only one person left who can raise it up from the ashes — you. That is, if you can survive the Rage.Step up to the challenge and climb into the wasteland in the first-person shooter that flings you to the edge of the earth and the brink of extinction. Rage pits you against the odds in a desolate world in which you were selected for survival — just to face death at every turn. To redeem humanity, you must master a massive arsenal of exotic wingsticks, sentry bots, bomb cars and other powerful weapons and fearlessly wage war against the evil forces overtaking your planet. Fire through heart-pounding first-player shooting action, rip through the wasteland in high-octane vehicle chases and turn your car into your most deadly weapon — you have to play dirty if you want to live. Experience the mass decay with every painfully realistic detail with the id Tech 5 engine and Megatexture technology, firing at 60 frames per second to make you feel as if the world has crumbled around you. And when you take the battle online, the devastating action really does stretch around the world. You've survived the apocalypse. Now comes the real battle.
 
Overall1 out of 51 out of 5
Game was not tested properly
By skullboy88 from Los Angeles, CA
First of all the reason for such a low rating is that the game is not playable. Right out the box. Now, I have been building pc's for over 10 years and have sunk hundreds of dollars into my rig to play the most demanding games. And I do. The problem is that ID software sent out a game to the public that is not finished. Google, rage graphics problems and you will find a magnitude of arcticles about poor graphics bad drivers and other issues. AMD and Nvidia have been working for a driver patch but reports from many say they do not work to fix the tearing and poor rendering . People are paying $60.00 for a pc game. Dont you think it should work right away without having to wait for a patch?
Customer Avatar
psyclopps
San Diego, CO
Updates
October 14, 2011
To be fair, a patch has since been release which fixes many of these PC problems including better support for video cards and settings.
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Rock out during your workout with these Sony Balanced Armature Sports XBAS65 earbud headphones that feature water-resistant housing with a waterproof film to stand up to sweat, rain and rinsing. Balanced Armature drivers deliver clear, detailed audio.
 
Overall2 out of 52 out of 5
Horrid Sound
By DELienz from Delaware
I had pair of Sony Headphones that I bought a few years ago for approx. $50 dollars... Sounded Amazing, but I recently ran then over with my car... Anyway bought these assuming the sound would be similar and also compensate for my only complaint with my other heardphones which was falling constantly out of my ear during workouts. Turns out these are more expensive but that sound terrible. Tried changing the setting on my IPOD and there is no overcoming the lack of bass. I am a auidiophile and I do listen to music a lot of double bass and drums so bass is something I must have in a headphone. If that's what you looking for don't buy these. I'm confident cheaper headphones with the same quality sound can be obtained so I would not recommend these to anyone...
Customer Avatar
psyclopps
San Diego, CO
Balanced Armature
June 28, 2012
Balanced Armature headphones are designed to sound like the original recording. Most headphones these days are "dynamic armature" which are designed kind of like a hardware equilizer where bass is usually most important. Any of these balanced armature headphones are aimed specifically at audiophiles as they repoduce very true to original sound with detailed mid ranges and highs.
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Lenovo y500?

Ok so I was really looking forward to buying the lenovo ideapad y500 i5 version for $889.98. It said it was sold out but I wasn't worried, figuring it would be restocked in around a week. However, today I looked and it's been taken off the site. It's a shame because it was an amazing laptop, and I couldn't believe it was taken off. I was also wondering WHY it had been taken off. It seemed to make no sense. I would see if it had bad reviews and problems, but the lenovo had 2 ratings, both 5 star! I was very dissapointed and it looks like I'll have to go to TigerDirect and try to find it. If there's something I might not know, please tell me.
Thanks
Though I could not answer any specifics as the reasoning, I might be able to speculate. I have seen the Y series as very well configured for amazing prices in places. After reading reviews, a common trend mentioned of sub par build quality, most notably the touch pad would sink into the chassis. This would be enough to anger me after purchase. For the price, it might still be well worth it though.
12 years, 2 months ago
by
psyclopps
   San Diego, CA