TechEnthusiast's stats
- Review count182
- Helpfulness votes843
- First reviewAugust 16, 2014
- Last reviewMay 28, 2024
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.1
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- Answer count13
- Helpfulness votes17
- First answerAugust 25, 2016
- Last answerJanuary 22, 2022
- Featured answers0
- Best answers2
Secure your loved ones with this Logitech Circle 2 security system, which uses smart alerts to keep you informed. Full 1080p HD along with 180-degree capabilities and night vision record high-quality video so you can see what's going on. Advanced Motion Filtering on this Logitech Circle 2 security system keeps you apprised when unexpected activity occurs, eliminating endless viewing.
Customer Rating
2
I hope my unit was defective
on August 3, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
Let me start by saying that I think that my unit may be defective. Live streaming shows a nice, relatively clear picture; but most recorded video is almost pitch black with warbly, incomprehensible audio. This is true of video taken in both bright light and dim conditions. I reached out to Logitech to try and troubleshoot this or see if I was doing something wrong, but it’s been three days; and they haven’t gotten back to me.
The camera itself is relatively small and allows for a wide variety of mounting options. You can set it down on a table using the included pedestal stand, you can mount it to the wall using the included wall mounting hardware, or you can leave it plugged into an electrical outlet using an outlet adapter (sold separately). The camera is designed for both indoor and outdoor use, but its stark white exterior is going to show dirt and wear very quickly outside.
The camera can be adjusted to tilt up or down, but I found that trying to tilt it downward caused it to just topple forward. It’s too top-heavy to support its weight when positioned this way. This is unfortunate as I wouldn’t have minded placing it on a high shelf by my door.
The camera is advertised as a 1080p camera, but honestly it doesn’t look that sharp to me. The picture is perfectly adequate for a security camera, but it’s still pretty grainy. Still, for identifying individuals entering your home, it works well. The viewing angle is a very wide 180 degrees. The camera also includes a nightvision mode that displays in very nice grayscale image (though again, only in live view for me).
The included documentation was abysmal. The quick start guide references an app for iPhone and Android, but it doesn’t refer to it by name or give a QR code to find it. I found it on the Play Store, but it took me awhile as the app provider was listed as “Logitech Europe S.A.” (I’m in North America and wasn’t sure if region made a difference). I also had two false starts as Logitech Europe had two other apps on the Play Store named in such a way that they might have been the app I needed that came up in the search results first. That being said, the box does have the URL for the web app listed on the back. If you’re concerned about downloading the wrong app, I’d suggest that you just use the web app instead.
The camera comes with a trial membership in their cloud storage plan. No details are given regarding costs or what the plan does and doesn’t include. I suspect that the video won’t record once my trial membership lapses (just as well given the recording issues that I’ve encountered). You can take still shots in live mode, and they appear to save to a folder named “Logi Album” buried on your phone (they show up in my gallery though, so this works). You can download recorded video by clicking on the three dots to the bottom right of the video. This saved to my downloads folder on my PC.
Waking the camera up to view live mode is a slow affair. I found that it took about a full minute to enter live mode. Unless you have the camera positioned to monitor the entire room, you’re likely going to miss seeing whoever passed within its field of view.
The push notifications are erratic. I found that it kept sending motion trigger alerts at random throughout the day (I have it aimed right at my apartment door, and nobody came or went in the span that the alerts came in). The alerts quite suddenly stopped this morning, and even dancing in front of the camera did nothing to trigger them again. I didn’t change any settings, they just stopped happening.
I really hope that this unit was defective. Typing this review was difficult as I have long been a fan of Logitech. The hardware seems nice, and I like the concept, but the execution seems very incomplete and buggy.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: False
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Share this review:
+9points
9of 9voted this as helpful.
Upgrade your listening experience with these JBL Everest wireless headphones. The Bluetooth connectivity lets you stream music from compatible devices, and the ergonomic design fits the unique contours of your ears. Its built-in battery on these JBL Everest wireless headphones provides 20 hours of playing time with only 2 hours of microUSB charging.
Customer Rating
5
I'm liking these headphones
on July 12, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
The headphones are comfortable. It doesn’t seem like it’s padded very much, but it was padded well enough for a comfortable extended listening experience. Overall, the headphones feel plasticky but are solidly built.
The headphones came with an awesome, molded hard shell case. They also come with a USB charging cable and an aux cable. The charging cable was bright orange like the JBL Harman logo on the box. Not my first choice in color, but it’s certainly eye catching.
Pairing was quick and seamless.
The headphones advertise 20 hours of use per charge. So far I’ve been using them infrequently for two days, and they haven’t required charging yet.
The sound is loud and crisp. Bass is good, and the sound was nice and full.
Overall, I’m liking these headphones.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+3points
3of 3voted this as helpful.
Work and play beautifully with this 13-inch 2-in-1 Dell XPS convertible laptop. Its InfinityEdge display and FHD resolution provide a portable home theater viewing experience, and it handles high-bandwidth multitasking thanks to its Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM. The 512GB solid-state drive of this Dell XPS convertible laptop secures stored applications and files. Learn more.
Customer Rating
5
A lot of laptop in a small package.
on July 10, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
This laptop brings a lot to the table in a surprisingly tiny package.
The laptop has a 13.3 inch screen, but the body is only a little bigger than a typical 11.6 inch laptop. This is accomplished by having teeny tiny bezels framing the screen. The end result is a laptop with lots of display and very little footprint.
The laptop has a 13.3 inch screen, but the body is only a little bigger than a typical 11.6 inch laptop. This is accomplished by having teeny tiny bezels framing the screen. The end result is a laptop with lots of display and very little footprint.
The laptop has two USB type-C ports and comes with a type-C to type-A adapter. One of the two type-C ports does support Thunderbolt. The only other ports on this device are a micro-SD card slot and a headphone jack. The laptop supports pen input, but it doesn't come with a stylus (unfortunately).
It's really hard to open the lid. You kind of have to pick it up and hold it like a book to pry it open. Trying it just lift the lid as it’s sitting flat on a table is an exercise in futility. The power button is a little hard to find by touch. It’s tiny and situated just up from the middle of the right side of the keyboard. As with anything this thin, it feels a little fragile. Premium build materials give it a fair degree of rigidity, but I’d still be careful when handling this screen as it doesn’t look like it could take too much abuse.
The keyboard is buttery smooth with a rubberized, soft touch feel to the keys. This feel continues on across the palm rest as well. The rubberized texture on keys feels nice, but I keep worrying that my fingernail is going to scratch it (and I have short fingernails). The keyboard is well spaced, and it has a nice satisfying key press. It does sit a little flat for my taste though. I absolutely hate the positioning of the arrow keys. I keep on hitting page down when I want to move my cursor within a document. Keyboard backlight is subtle. Settings are backlight completely off, faint backlight, and . . . really faint backlight. The touchpad glides very smoothly, but it does pick up a ton of fingerprints.
Speaking of fingerprints, the fingerprint unlock is a beautiful thing.
The battery indicator button doesn’t seem to do anything while the laptop is on and open. Battery life is a little hard to gauge. Battery life typically goes down as screen brightness goes up. The battery estimates from Windows for this laptop make no sense whatsoever. According to Windows, the estimated battery life at 40% brightness was 3.5 hours, Battery life at 60% brightness was 5.5 hours, and the battery life at 100% brightness varied between 7.5 and 10 hours and at one point dropped to 6 hours. At 60% brightness, you should be able to squeeze out around six to seven hours with moderate usage (word processing and music streaming in my experience).
Putting the screen flat back will NOT put it flush to the table top. There will be a good centimeter or so of space between it and the table. Pushing it back farther results in the screen sloping backward or the keyboard lifting up slightly. This is somewhat unfortunate for those of us who often work while standing and wouldn’t have minded using pen input on the touchscreen with the screen sitting flat and with the physical keyboard still accessible.
Screen quality is great at 1080p. Out of the box, the screen has a faint yellow / green cast to my eye. Calibration would probably go a long way to resolving this though. The laptop has a nice wide screen. Wide screens are great for media consumption, gaming, and graphic design work if you like to move your tools off of your work area. They are not ideal for working in tablet mode, eBook reading or web surfing (still perfectly adequate for these purposes though).
At the default 150% scaling, some of the fonts looked jagged and pixelated within application menus. My desktop and Microsoft Edge defaulted to 150% out of the box. I changed my desktop to 125% and Edge to 100% after playing with this for a while. Dropping down to 100% for the desktop made icons uncomfortably small. This also appears to have resolved some of the font scaling issues within applications. Icons and buttons in applications are small but usable at this scale.
The camera is unapologetically bad. I can honestly say that I will never ever use it. The angle is awkward and unflattering (up my nose or examining the bottom of my chin), and the quality is awful. If you don’t mind putting the laptop into tent mode (honestly, this mode puts my teeth on edge so I will never use it), the camera is then oriented in a position that isn’t too bad. That being said, you will lose access to the physical keyboard in this mode. Still, with wireless keyboard and mice and/or the touchscreen, this isn’t impossible to work around.
Overall operation of this laptop is smooth and enjoyable.
The laptop ran hot enough to cook an egg when I first turned it on. I downloaded some updates and some additional drivers and that issue seems to have resolved itself nicely. The laptop now operates at a comfortably warm ambient temperature.
There are apparently known software issues with the integrated graphics. The issues caused an odd white dot to appear in the upper left-hand corner at times (smack dab in the middle of the recycle bin with the default desktop positioning). Updating the Intel graphics driver seems to fix this completely.
Dell’s support site was great. I ran an auto-diagnostic to update all drivers and scan for various issues. It needed very little input from me to run.
The laptop came with the usual assortment of Microsoft bloatware. It has icons for the usual Word, Excel, Note, and PowerPoint. It also has icons for Access, Outlook, and Publisher. None of this software appears to be pre-activated for any kind of promo period though. Oddly there are two different instances of Note with different icons in the start menu. The system has one icon for “Note” and another for “Note 2016.” Otherwise system is fairly light on bloatware.
As far as performance goes, it should be noted that this comes with an i7-Y processor and not an i7-U processor. Intel recently changed their naming conventions and rebranded their Core M chips as Y processors. The processor doesn't have quite as much raw power as its U counterpart, but it's more than adequate for daily tasks. The only time I noticed any dips in performance were when I tried doing some gaming and light video editing. It managed both tasks well enough, but performance was not up to what I would consider to be i7 standards. It should be noted though that this laptop isn't intended for either of these purposes.
Hooking up to an external graphics card enclosure using the included Thunderbolt port may dramatically improve performance for these two tasks in the future.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this laptop and would recommend purchasing it if you need a premium general duty laptop for word processing, light design work, and social media.
It's really hard to open the lid. You kind of have to pick it up and hold it like a book to pry it open. Trying it just lift the lid as it’s sitting flat on a table is an exercise in futility. The power button is a little hard to find by touch. It’s tiny and situated just up from the middle of the right side of the keyboard. As with anything this thin, it feels a little fragile. Premium build materials give it a fair degree of rigidity, but I’d still be careful when handling this screen as it doesn’t look like it could take too much abuse.
The keyboard is buttery smooth with a rubberized, soft touch feel to the keys. This feel continues on across the palm rest as well. The rubberized texture on keys feels nice, but I keep worrying that my fingernail is going to scratch it (and I have short fingernails). The keyboard is well spaced, and it has a nice satisfying key press. It does sit a little flat for my taste though. I absolutely hate the positioning of the arrow keys. I keep on hitting page down when I want to move my cursor within a document. Keyboard backlight is subtle. Settings are backlight completely off, faint backlight, and . . . really faint backlight. The touchpad glides very smoothly, but it does pick up a ton of fingerprints.
Speaking of fingerprints, the fingerprint unlock is a beautiful thing.
The battery indicator button doesn’t seem to do anything while the laptop is on and open. Battery life is a little hard to gauge. Battery life typically goes down as screen brightness goes up. The battery estimates from Windows for this laptop make no sense whatsoever. According to Windows, the estimated battery life at 40% brightness was 3.5 hours, Battery life at 60% brightness was 5.5 hours, and the battery life at 100% brightness varied between 7.5 and 10 hours and at one point dropped to 6 hours. At 60% brightness, you should be able to squeeze out around six to seven hours with moderate usage (word processing and music streaming in my experience).
Putting the screen flat back will NOT put it flush to the table top. There will be a good centimeter or so of space between it and the table. Pushing it back farther results in the screen sloping backward or the keyboard lifting up slightly. This is somewhat unfortunate for those of us who often work while standing and wouldn’t have minded using pen input on the touchscreen with the screen sitting flat and with the physical keyboard still accessible.
Screen quality is great at 1080p. Out of the box, the screen has a faint yellow / green cast to my eye. Calibration would probably go a long way to resolving this though. The laptop has a nice wide screen. Wide screens are great for media consumption, gaming, and graphic design work if you like to move your tools off of your work area. They are not ideal for working in tablet mode, eBook reading or web surfing (still perfectly adequate for these purposes though).
At the default 150% scaling, some of the fonts looked jagged and pixelated within application menus. My desktop and Microsoft Edge defaulted to 150% out of the box. I changed my desktop to 125% and Edge to 100% after playing with this for a while. Dropping down to 100% for the desktop made icons uncomfortably small. This also appears to have resolved some of the font scaling issues within applications. Icons and buttons in applications are small but usable at this scale.
The camera is unapologetically bad. I can honestly say that I will never ever use it. The angle is awkward and unflattering (up my nose or examining the bottom of my chin), and the quality is awful. If you don’t mind putting the laptop into tent mode (honestly, this mode puts my teeth on edge so I will never use it), the camera is then oriented in a position that isn’t too bad. That being said, you will lose access to the physical keyboard in this mode. Still, with wireless keyboard and mice and/or the touchscreen, this isn’t impossible to work around.
Overall operation of this laptop is smooth and enjoyable.
The laptop ran hot enough to cook an egg when I first turned it on. I downloaded some updates and some additional drivers and that issue seems to have resolved itself nicely. The laptop now operates at a comfortably warm ambient temperature.
There are apparently known software issues with the integrated graphics. The issues caused an odd white dot to appear in the upper left-hand corner at times (smack dab in the middle of the recycle bin with the default desktop positioning). Updating the Intel graphics driver seems to fix this completely.
Dell’s support site was great. I ran an auto-diagnostic to update all drivers and scan for various issues. It needed very little input from me to run.
The laptop came with the usual assortment of Microsoft bloatware. It has icons for the usual Word, Excel, Note, and PowerPoint. It also has icons for Access, Outlook, and Publisher. None of this software appears to be pre-activated for any kind of promo period though. Oddly there are two different instances of Note with different icons in the start menu. The system has one icon for “Note” and another for “Note 2016.” Otherwise system is fairly light on bloatware.
As far as performance goes, it should be noted that this comes with an i7-Y processor and not an i7-U processor. Intel recently changed their naming conventions and rebranded their Core M chips as Y processors. The processor doesn't have quite as much raw power as its U counterpart, but it's more than adequate for daily tasks. The only time I noticed any dips in performance were when I tried doing some gaming and light video editing. It managed both tasks well enough, but performance was not up to what I would consider to be i7 standards. It should be noted though that this laptop isn't intended for either of these purposes.
Hooking up to an external graphics card enclosure using the included Thunderbolt port may dramatically improve performance for these two tasks in the future.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this laptop and would recommend purchasing it if you need a premium general duty laptop for word processing, light design work, and social media.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+26points
27of 28voted this as helpful.
Fill your space with rich surround sound by using this 7.1.2 channel Sony Dolby Atmos sound bar. Its S-Force PRO front surround and wavefront technology distribute dynamic, three-dimensional audio details via the included coaxial speakers. This Wi-Fi-enabled Sony Dolby Atmos sound bar supports high-definition A/V components with its four HDMI ports.
Customer Rating
4
More sound bar than I know what to do with.
on July 6, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
I’m not worthy.
This Sony Sound Bar is absolute overkill for my TV setup. I have a 43” 4K, Smart TV, and it doesn’t even feel close to being able to take full advantage of this device.
The sound bar arrived in an enormously heavy and awkwardly shaped box. Dragging it to the elevator to get it up to my top floor apartment was not a pleasant experience.
The sound bar extends a good five inches past the edge of my pedestal style TV stand. I opted for a pedestal style stand since I’m not comfortable hanging expensive electronics from my cheap plaster walls, but that proved to be a detriment with this sound bar (side note: the sound bar comes with a mounting guide and instructions to mount it if you’re more daring than myself). Placing the sound bar directly beneath my TV on the top of the pedestal ended up blocking the IR port for the remote on my TV. I ended up moving it to the shelf directly beneath that where it awkwardly extends beyond the edges of the pedestal and blasts sound into the support rails (producing a faint but noticeable buzz as the metal vibrates on heavy bass). I plan on eventually buying a new TV stand with an integrated riser to get around this problem.
The accompanying wireless subwoofer is huge. It’s actually larger than my home theater PC tower that I have sitting next to my TV stand. I’ll confess that I’m not even sure if the subwoofer is working. The light turned green indicating that it’s on and connected, and turning the subwoofer volume up and down using the included remote does indeed affect the total output volume. That being said, I am literally drowning in sound and can’t gauge the direction that all the sound is coming from. Suffice it to say, this sound bar makes for an immersive experience.
TIP: Make a note of where the HDMI input and output are BEFORE installing the sound bar somewhere awkward and hard to reach. The ports are positioned at an odd angle, and trying to wire the bar up with it wedged on a shelf and shoved up against a wall proved difficult. Also, make sure that you’re using the appropriate HDMI cable for your devices. HDMI standards have changed, and you now need a new 4K compliant cable if you’re switching from something like a 720p TV to 4K. Your devices should still work without the new cable, but you won’t be getting the best quality that your device is capable of. Fortunately, this sound bar came with a single 4K compliant HDMI cable.
Another side note: Your TV has to support HDMI ARK to take full advantage of this sound bar. If you don’t have HDMI ARK, then you can use an optical audio cable to get improved sound quality as well.
The user interface requires a display to setup and use. The sound bar has a small digital readout, but it really only tells you what menu you’re in. It doesn’t list the options themselves. The interface is quite intuitive and easy to operate.
The sound bar comes with both Chromecast Audio and Bluetooth. I do utilize both systems, but it seems a little redundant to have them both in the same device like this.
As far as web services go, this sound bar is compatible with Spotify Premium . . . the end. There is no support for Pandora, Google Music, or any other service at this time.
I have a media server for my movies, but the sound bar didn’t appear to even see it. This is probably because it only contains movies and not any compatible audio files. That being said, I didn’t test this extensively, and it’s entirely possible that additional setup was needed to access media from network storage. That being said, it did automatically identify my Blu-ray player as a network attached device.
This is a great sound bar, but I would recommend making sure that your setup is configured to work with it before taking the plunge.
Highlights:
- 43” TV too small for this.
- Pedestal style TV stand could prove problematic.
- Make sure to use 4K compliant HDMI cables, and make sure to note port positions before installing.
- HDMI ARK or optical audio are needed to get full quality with this sound bar.
This Sony Sound Bar is absolute overkill for my TV setup. I have a 43” 4K, Smart TV, and it doesn’t even feel close to being able to take full advantage of this device.
The sound bar arrived in an enormously heavy and awkwardly shaped box. Dragging it to the elevator to get it up to my top floor apartment was not a pleasant experience.
The sound bar extends a good five inches past the edge of my pedestal style TV stand. I opted for a pedestal style stand since I’m not comfortable hanging expensive electronics from my cheap plaster walls, but that proved to be a detriment with this sound bar (side note: the sound bar comes with a mounting guide and instructions to mount it if you’re more daring than myself). Placing the sound bar directly beneath my TV on the top of the pedestal ended up blocking the IR port for the remote on my TV. I ended up moving it to the shelf directly beneath that where it awkwardly extends beyond the edges of the pedestal and blasts sound into the support rails (producing a faint but noticeable buzz as the metal vibrates on heavy bass). I plan on eventually buying a new TV stand with an integrated riser to get around this problem.
The accompanying wireless subwoofer is huge. It’s actually larger than my home theater PC tower that I have sitting next to my TV stand. I’ll confess that I’m not even sure if the subwoofer is working. The light turned green indicating that it’s on and connected, and turning the subwoofer volume up and down using the included remote does indeed affect the total output volume. That being said, I am literally drowning in sound and can’t gauge the direction that all the sound is coming from. Suffice it to say, this sound bar makes for an immersive experience.
TIP: Make a note of where the HDMI input and output are BEFORE installing the sound bar somewhere awkward and hard to reach. The ports are positioned at an odd angle, and trying to wire the bar up with it wedged on a shelf and shoved up against a wall proved difficult. Also, make sure that you’re using the appropriate HDMI cable for your devices. HDMI standards have changed, and you now need a new 4K compliant cable if you’re switching from something like a 720p TV to 4K. Your devices should still work without the new cable, but you won’t be getting the best quality that your device is capable of. Fortunately, this sound bar came with a single 4K compliant HDMI cable.
Another side note: Your TV has to support HDMI ARK to take full advantage of this sound bar. If you don’t have HDMI ARK, then you can use an optical audio cable to get improved sound quality as well.
The user interface requires a display to setup and use. The sound bar has a small digital readout, but it really only tells you what menu you’re in. It doesn’t list the options themselves. The interface is quite intuitive and easy to operate.
The sound bar comes with both Chromecast Audio and Bluetooth. I do utilize both systems, but it seems a little redundant to have them both in the same device like this.
As far as web services go, this sound bar is compatible with Spotify Premium . . . the end. There is no support for Pandora, Google Music, or any other service at this time.
I have a media server for my movies, but the sound bar didn’t appear to even see it. This is probably because it only contains movies and not any compatible audio files. That being said, I didn’t test this extensively, and it’s entirely possible that additional setup was needed to access media from network storage. That being said, it did automatically identify my Blu-ray player as a network attached device.
This is a great sound bar, but I would recommend making sure that your setup is configured to work with it before taking the plunge.
Highlights:
- 43” TV too small for this.
- Pedestal style TV stand could prove problematic.
- Make sure to use 4K compliant HDMI cables, and make sure to note port positions before installing.
- HDMI ARK or optical audio are needed to get full quality with this sound bar.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+5points
13of 21voted this as helpful.
Ensure maximum comfort from this Logitech mouse. The precise ergonomic design ensures you stay comfortable throughout the day even if you're a power user, and the additional side button lets you create a custom setup. Smooth gliding is assured from this Logitech mouse thanks to the low-resistance base that slips over any surface.
Customer Rating
5
This mouse is a joy to use.
on July 4, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
I absolutely love this mouse, but it kinda threw me for a loop when I first started using it.
I first started using this mouse while I was on a break at work. I didn’t have internet access at the time, so I just hooked up the mouse to my computer via Bluetooth and went to town with it.
I did some light graphic design work with it, and I marveled at the smoothness of the side scroll wheel and the comfortable ergonomics (Side note: this mouse is clearly designed for right-handed people. This is fortunate for me, but maybe not so much for you). At first I thought that the thumb pad wasn’t seated properly, but then I discovered that it was in fact another button. After about fifteen minutes of use, I was very impressed with the mouse.
I then went home to download the Logitech configuration software to try out flow and to see what options were available for remapping buttons.
This is where things got weird.
Upon connecting to the internet and downloading the software, my button mapping changed without notice. Suddenly, the side scroll button no longer performed a vertical scroll, it was strictly horizontal. The thumb pad button stopped performing an “alt+tab” application switcher and instead opened Windows 10’s task view (which to be fair, I greatly prefer).
After taking some time to re-acclimate myself to the mouse’s new default button mapping, I still love this mouse; but I have some caveats.
I’m not loving the top scroll wheel. The side scroll wheel has a wonderful oily smooth feel to it that makes for a very comfortable scroll. The top wheel has a “clicky” feel to it that reminds me of a playing card stuck between bicycle spokes. It isn’t terribly smooth, and if you scroll too fast; it feels like a ball bearing drops into place and the scrolling suddenly accelerates. I suspect that this was designed intentionally as a “feature” and is not a design flaw. I’m not loving it though. Ironically, you can’t remap the side scroll to scroll vertically after downloading the configuration software. This is a shame since (as counterintuitive as it may seem with it being on the side) it was by far the superior scrolling experience.
The thumb pad button is a really nice touch, but I don’t like how far up on the button you have to press to trigger a click. I get that this was probably done intentionally to prevent accidental clicks, but it makes pressing the button somewhat difficult. I do love Windows task view though, and I appreciate having a single button to trigger it.
The forward and back buttons are awkwardly positioned so that they overlap each other in a “yin / yang” style shape. It’s easy enough to feel along the button to determine where to press, but if you’re working quickly it seems like an unnecessary opportunity for a mis-click. I almost never use these buttons on a mouse, so it doesn’t really impact me all that much. I may still remap these buttons to work as volume control though.
The ergonomics are just awesome. This mouse is very comfortable in the hand. I love the larger size of the mouse, but I do have to acknowledge that this diminishes its portability quite a bit.
The mouse came with very sparse instructions (a single sticker on the mouse itself illustrating how to turn it on and how to switch between devices). The mouse can pair with up to three devices via Bluetooth or the included USB dongle. Pairing was triggered the moment that I turned the mouse on, and it was largely intuitive. That being said, I do worry some about being able to change out connected devices down the road (i.e. what’s the process for swapping out Bluetooth device number 2 while keeping 1 and 3?).
Logitech Flow is far more awesome than I’d expected. I’d thought it was just a nifty way to copy on one computer and paste on another. I had no idea that it integrated so seamlessly. Using Logitech Flow, you can set it up to automatically switch from one computer to another just by going to the edge of the screen. This is great if you want to pair a laptop and desktop together for a pseudo dual monitor display. They also claim that certain keyboards will automatically switch over when your mouse switches from one computer to another. Best of all, this works on both Mac and PC. If your workflow requires that you work on both platforms simultaneously, you no longer have to have two separate sets of mice and keyboards for each computer and you can copy and paste freely between each machine. I really wish I’d had this at work back when I was juggling two machines.
All in all, I am VERY impressed with this mouse. If you do any kind of design work, this mouse is a no brainer.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+5points
7of 9voted this as helpful.
The Nunchuk controller and the accelerometer contained within help you do more in your favorite games. Enjoy immersive gameplay that lets you rely on natural motions for success.
Customer Rating
4
Great accessory
on June 16, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
Verified Purchase:Yes
I love this nunchuck. The 3rd party ones are all hit or miss. The OEM nunchuck is by far the best. I strongly recommend picking this up.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
Mobile Submission: True
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Prepare a wide variety of foods with this nonstick DeLonghi Livenza digital grill. It includes grill and griddle plates that can be switched out depending on the type of food being cooked. This 14.5-inch DeLonghi Livenza digital grill has a hinged top so you can make delicious panini, and it pairs with a digital cookbook app.
Customer Rating
5
Don't neglect the app!
on June 9, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
This DeLonghi Livenza Grill comes with an app (What doesn’t these days?). Not one for using apps with appliances, I opted to wing it without the app.
Oops.
That proved to be a mistake. This grill has a lot of options and settings, and without the app you may find yourself floundering some.
I later downloaded the app off the Google Play Store and installed it on my android phone. I found it a little worrisome that this app needed to know my identity and needed access to my photos. The app itself is useful though. You select the type of item that you’re looking to cook, answer a handful of questions about your specific piece (type of cut, size, etc . . .), and it gives you cooking instructions including temperatures and cooking times for that piece.
The grill comes with flat skillet plates and grill plates. The plates are well-constructed and remove and install easily. The plates and grease tray are both dishwasher safe, which is a huge bonus, in my mind.However, the plastic cleaning tool that comes with this grill is a joke. It’s a thin piece of poorly machined plastic with little plastic filaments coming off of it at the edges. Mine was already warped out of the box.
The instructions warn not to use this tool on the grill while the grill is hot as excessive heat may melt the tool. I would go further and add that this tool probably shouldn’t even be near the grill while it’s operational lest it melt into a puddle of plastic on your counter. I opted not to use the cleaning tool at all, and I let the grill cool completely and used a soft non-abrasive cloth to clean it instead. It took some vigorous scrubbing, but the grill seems to have cleaned off nicely.
The grill doesn’t come with any cooking utensils. The instructions clearly state not to use any metal tools with this grill (always a good rule of thumb with non-stick surfaces), so I opted to use a silicone spatula.
I don’t like cooking with oil because of the high fat and cholesterol content, and I was surprised that the instructions recommended liberally oiling various meats for best results. One of the big selling points of contact grilling has always been that it’s healthier and drains off more fats and oils than other cooking methods. This instruction seemed to fly in the face of that.
I used a modest amount of olive oil spray while cooking, and my food turned out okay. I’m relieved to report that the olive oil spray did not seem to have any negative impact on the grill plate. I’d had some concern about it burning in and leaving a permanent gunk stain on the plate the way some cooking sprays do.
I was surprised by the amount of moisture coming out of the front of this grill. I’d assumed that all of the drippings and the like would exhaust out of the back. That being said, I experienced a significant amount of condensation on the front of the grill. Given how cleanly it cleaned up, I suspect that this was just water vapor; but I thought it worth mentioning as it did catch me by surprise.
I’m fairly happy with this grill and the app that comes with it. I would recommend this grill to a friend.
Oops.
That proved to be a mistake. This grill has a lot of options and settings, and without the app you may find yourself floundering some.
I later downloaded the app off the Google Play Store and installed it on my android phone. I found it a little worrisome that this app needed to know my identity and needed access to my photos. The app itself is useful though. You select the type of item that you’re looking to cook, answer a handful of questions about your specific piece (type of cut, size, etc . . .), and it gives you cooking instructions including temperatures and cooking times for that piece.
The grill comes with flat skillet plates and grill plates. The plates are well-constructed and remove and install easily. The plates and grease tray are both dishwasher safe, which is a huge bonus, in my mind.However, the plastic cleaning tool that comes with this grill is a joke. It’s a thin piece of poorly machined plastic with little plastic filaments coming off of it at the edges. Mine was already warped out of the box.
The instructions warn not to use this tool on the grill while the grill is hot as excessive heat may melt the tool. I would go further and add that this tool probably shouldn’t even be near the grill while it’s operational lest it melt into a puddle of plastic on your counter. I opted not to use the cleaning tool at all, and I let the grill cool completely and used a soft non-abrasive cloth to clean it instead. It took some vigorous scrubbing, but the grill seems to have cleaned off nicely.
The grill doesn’t come with any cooking utensils. The instructions clearly state not to use any metal tools with this grill (always a good rule of thumb with non-stick surfaces), so I opted to use a silicone spatula.
I don’t like cooking with oil because of the high fat and cholesterol content, and I was surprised that the instructions recommended liberally oiling various meats for best results. One of the big selling points of contact grilling has always been that it’s healthier and drains off more fats and oils than other cooking methods. This instruction seemed to fly in the face of that.
I used a modest amount of olive oil spray while cooking, and my food turned out okay. I’m relieved to report that the olive oil spray did not seem to have any negative impact on the grill plate. I’d had some concern about it burning in and leaving a permanent gunk stain on the plate the way some cooking sprays do.
I was surprised by the amount of moisture coming out of the front of this grill. I’d assumed that all of the drippings and the like would exhaust out of the back. That being said, I experienced a significant amount of condensation on the front of the grill. Given how cleanly it cleaned up, I suspect that this was just water vapor; but I thought it worth mentioning as it did catch me by surprise.
I’m fairly happy with this grill and the app that comes with it. I would recommend this grill to a friend.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+2points
3of 4voted this as helpful.
Get high-fidelity audio with these wireless Audio-Technica headphones. Mic and volume switches are built into the earcup for convenient control, and its NFC functionality enables touch pairing to connect with your favorite Bluetooth wireless devices. Memory foam earpads on these over-ear Audio-Technica headphones offer sound isolation and a comfortable fit.
Customer Rating
4
Stylish and well constructed. Sound is adequate.
on May 26, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
The Audio-Technica headphones are stylish, well constructed, and comfortable. The volume range isn’t terribly impressive, but the sound clarity is quite nice.
The headphones came beautifully packaged in a cloth lined box. The headphones come with a faux leather carrying case, an aux cable with mic, and a micro-USB charging cable.
The instruction manual is quite literally a small book. I’m not one to use instruction manuals (preferring to just start pressing buttons and figuring it out myself), but you may want to actually use this one. The pairing process was simple but somewhat unintuitive. The headphones have what appears to be a 3-stage power button. The icons show “off,” “Bluetooth,” and “on.” This is a lie. The button is only 2-stage with off and on functionality. Bluetooth pairing was triggered automatically upon first turning the headphones on. One complaint that I have is that you don’t hear any kind of notification from the headphones when the headphones have successfully paired. Aside from a little blast of music when you first turn them on, the headphones are silent except for when in use.
The headphones are well constructed and definitely have a premium look to them. The headphones are unbelievably comfortable. The ear pieces and top are thickly padded, and the headband is adjustable. I could easily spend several hours wearing these comfortably. The controls are a little difficult to find by touch.
The volume range is somewhat disappointing. The headphones reach a “conversational” volume at best. I understand that the range was probably limited for safety sake, but I would personally like to have had the ability to liquefy my brain if I felt like it. Still, the volume is adequate, and I had no trouble hearing the video that I was watching while using these in a crowded coffee shop.
I would recommend this product to a friend.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+2points
4of 6voted this as helpful.
Take your jams anywhere, rain or shine, with this LifeProof AQUAPHONICS speaker. Bluetooth connectivity provides wireless performance over up to eight devices, and this durable sound device conveniently attaches to a backpack or belt with the built-in carabiner. This LifeProof AQUAPHONICS speaker is waterproof and resistant to dirt and drops.
Customer Rating
2
Design needs some work
on May 15, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
The Lifeproof AQ9 portable speaker works fairly well . . . when you can get it to work.
I had the worst time trying to get this device to pair with anything. It took me six attempts across two days to get this to pair with my Android smartphone (a relatively recent model running Bluetooth 4.0). The first four attempts my smartphone couldn’t even see the speaker. The fifth attempt (the next day) it saw the speaker, but I got an error about an invalid pin. The sixth attempt, I got an error about an invalid pin; but it suddenly connected anyway.
It took me two attempts to get this to pair with my older Android tablet (with the pin error on my first attempt and no error on my second).
The difficulties that I faced are ironic given the fact that the device touts itself as being able to connect to up to 8 devices. Once connected, my devices don’t seem to have any problem finding the speaker again.
Sound quality is “meh.” The volume is fair, but the sound seems to be missing quite a bit in the mid ranges. For the most part, music sound tinny. But when you get to a part of a song with a lot of bass, the bass kicks in pretty strongly (just for the duration of that part though). There is no middle ground. The bass is either going strong or not at all.
Connection range is good. I had my phone at the opposite end of my one bedroom apartment, and the speaker played without buffering or distortion.
The clip is a nice touch, but the speaker’s size renders it somewhat awkward. It’s too big to casually stuff into a pocket or have dangling from a backpack (in my opinion). It’s just a little smaller than a handheld cassette player from the ‘80s-‘90s. If you're in a dorm room or camping, and space is an issue, this speaker could be a good fit for you as a compact desktop speaker. For my needs though, its size hampers its portability.
The device may be water and shock resistant, but you should expect it to show wear. The exterior is (mostly) a hard stiff plastic that looks like it will scuff fairly easily. Individual elements like the charging port cover and buttons are rubberized and will likely hold up better.
All in all, I’m afraid that I wasn’t terribly impressed with this speaker. With a little more work to refine the design and fix the connectivity issues, this could be a good concept. As it stands, it's not quite ready yet.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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+3points
4of 5voted this as helpful.
Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer: Achieve your perfect style with this versatile blow dryer's 2 speeds, 3 heat settings and 3 included nozzles. Nanoe technology adds volume and infuses moisture for dry hair that won't dry out.
Customer Rating
4
It's a quirky and fun blowdryer
on May 9, 2017
Posted by: TechEnthusiast
The Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer is a truly unique device.
Beyond just being a basic hair dryer, the Nanoe claims to use a unique technology to charge the water droplets in your hair in such a way to promote drying without frizzing. The manual is nice enough to include a very scientific explanation for how this works (which I didn't really understand at all). I didn't personally experience it, but the manual warns that this process may result in water discharging out of the back of the device. I got a good chuckle out of that.
The unit is fairly hefty and comes with three different nozzle attachments. It has a styling head, a diffuser head, and a "quick dry" head. It also comes with three different temperature settings (cool, warm, and hot), and it has a "quick-shot" cool air button that can give a quick burst of cool air while operating on the warm or hot settings.
Honestly, I noticed very little difference between the "quick dry" head and operating the device without a nozzle attachment. But to be fair, my hair is fairly short and tends to blowdry rather quickly as it is. The diffuser attachment did a great job of drying my hair without disturbing my hair style. That being said, this attachment is huge (almost as large as my head itself), and I'm sure it was a comical site watching me dry my hair with it.
I like the versatility of this blowdryer, and the range of options it provides. I'm not exactly a connoisseur of hair dryers or other hair care products, but I would recommend this to a friend.
Beyond just being a basic hair dryer, the Nanoe claims to use a unique technology to charge the water droplets in your hair in such a way to promote drying without frizzing. The manual is nice enough to include a very scientific explanation for how this works (which I didn't really understand at all). I didn't personally experience it, but the manual warns that this process may result in water discharging out of the back of the device. I got a good chuckle out of that.
The unit is fairly hefty and comes with three different nozzle attachments. It has a styling head, a diffuser head, and a "quick dry" head. It also comes with three different temperature settings (cool, warm, and hot), and it has a "quick-shot" cool air button that can give a quick burst of cool air while operating on the warm or hot settings.
Honestly, I noticed very little difference between the "quick dry" head and operating the device without a nozzle attachment. But to be fair, my hair is fairly short and tends to blowdry rather quickly as it is. The diffuser attachment did a great job of drying my hair without disturbing my hair style. That being said, this attachment is huge (almost as large as my head itself), and I'm sure it was a comical site watching me dry my hair with it.
I like the versatility of this blowdryer, and the range of options it provides. I'm not exactly a connoisseur of hair dryers or other hair care products, but I would recommend this to a friend.
My Best Buy number: 2115535767
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+1point
2of 3voted this as helpful.
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Orbi Whole Home WiFi System delivers up to 3.0Gbps high-performance WiFi. Sleek, modern design with high-gain internal antennas for up to 5,000 square feet of coverage. FastLane3 Technology creates a dedicated Tri-Band WiFi for seamless 4K streaming and gaming everywhere in your home. Keep a single WiFi name for uninterrupted connections as you move from room-to-room. Circle Smart Parental Controls runs on Orbi Routers for a smart way for families to manage content and time online, on any connected device. Provide internet access to guests without sharing your personal network password. Orbi is ready right out of the box and compatible with your ISP. Just use the Orbi app to get started with better WiFi, everywhere in minutes.
Can you use with comcast.
Yes. I'm using it with Comcast myself.
You plug the Ethernet cable from your modem to the Orbi router the same as you would any other router. The big difference between the Orbi and other routers is that it comes with a separate satellite unit to extend your wireless range. The satellite unit hooks up to the router wirelessly. Installation and pairing takes about ten - fifteen minutes to complete.
You plug the Ethernet cable from your modem to the Orbi router the same as you would any other router. The big difference between the Orbi and other routers is that it comes with a separate satellite unit to extend your wireless range. The satellite unit hooks up to the router wirelessly. Installation and pairing takes about ten - fifteen minutes to complete.
7 years, 8 months ago
by
TechEnthusiast
Orbi Whole Home WiFi System delivers up to 3.0Gbps high-performance WiFi. Sleek, modern design with high-gain internal antennas for up to 5,000 square feet of coverage. FastLane3 Technology creates a dedicated Tri-Band WiFi for seamless 4K streaming and gaming everywhere in your home. Keep a single WiFi name for uninterrupted connections as you move from room-to-room. Circle Smart Parental Controls runs on Orbi Routers for a smart way for families to manage content and time online, on any connected device. Provide internet access to guests without sharing your personal network password. Orbi is ready right out of the box and compatible with your ISP. Just use the Orbi app to get started with better WiFi, everywhere in minutes.
So if it comes with two, I'm assuming you have one that internet is linked to by cable and the other is used as a extender? Or do you have to have both units hooked to cable?
The router portion is connected to your modem via an Ethernet cable, but the satellite / extender unit links up to the router wirelessly. The only wire that you need to have connected to the extender is the power cord.
7 years, 8 months ago
by
TechEnthusiast
Nothing puts a vacuum to the test quite like a home with pets. That's why the BISSELL® Pet Hair Eraser® was developed from the ground up by pet parents for pet parents. Whether it's shedding season for your dog or your cat tracks kitty litter all over the house, this revolutionary vacuum is designed to make cleaning up after pets and the people who love them a breeze—from beginning to end. Say goodbye to hair wrap with its Tangle-Free Brush Roll, remove embedded hair everywhere with specialized pet tools, help capture allergens and eliminate odors with the SmartSeal™ Allergen System, and when you're finished cleaning, enjoy a hands-free tank empty with our patented Cyclonic Spooling System™.BR>
How load is it? I've used an Oreck XL upright and a Eureka Mighty Mite and would hope it's no louder as those. I prefer bagged vacuums but want to try the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser because of its claims of not getting hair tangled on the roller.
I haven't tried the two vacuums that you mentioned, but I can say that I was surprised that this vacuum wasn't terribly loud.
Given it's size and the number of vents coming out of it, I expected it to be deafening. Upon turning it on, I was surprised by just how mild the sound was. It'll definitely drown out a television or radio some, but you'll still be able to hear people talking over it.
Given it's size and the number of vents coming out of it, I expected it to be deafening. Upon turning it on, I was surprised by just how mild the sound was. It'll definitely drown out a television or radio some, but you'll still be able to hear people talking over it.
7 years, 9 months ago
by
TechEnthusiast