Guy Low Price Electronic: 17 Jan 2010

Sunday, 17 January 2010

Quadruple Combination - joseph smith, latter day saints

all of these reviews are about religion and argueing mormonism? What about the kindle version of the book? how it's presented? whether it's searchable? Whether it is indexed chapter and verse? What about Kindle's publication? Is it any good?

Who cares about arguing religion in a book review! Mormon Church's (LDS) Sacred Texts: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price (Mobi Spiritual)

I was using this in churh and went to the Joseph Smith section and was surprised to find antimormon stories about JS being a treasure seaker and generally really slamming the Prophet. I has to remove this book from my Kindle right away becuase it was so distrubing. Purchase a different version if you want to use this in church.

I love my Kindle and Amazon Books. Amazon is the premire book seller not just in the US, but in the world! It is hard to review every book that they sell. This has holy writ mixed with anti-Moromon literature. I bought a set of scripture for less than $10 and I love them. Some poor writers have defiled this set of sriptures, buy something else!Mormon Church's (LDS) Sacred Texts: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price

The links and layout of the works are nicely done and it is a good collection.

My only complaint is that, as best as I can tell, this is not the 1830 edition of the text as the work claims. This won't matter for your average reader, but as a graduate student of Religious Studies this is very frustrating. I had to buy the other edition that actually is the 1830 edition, "The Book of Mormon: 1830 Original Edition."

I'm so very happy that I can now get my favorite LDS texts on kindle, on audio download and read them electronically online. I can carry with me at all times my favorite stories on my kindle and on my iPod. I love this new technology. I'm also very, VERY glad the church has released the texts to Amazon's kindle to make this available to all.

This is wonderful.

This book is boring, racist, poorly written, full of chronological inconsistencies, plagiarism, outright lying, and an utter work of fiction. Don't waste your time reading it. Get the cliff notes or something if you must.

ugh. it's only use is possibly helping you to fall asleep.

Without this book and what it represents I would be lost in life. It has given me meaning and purpose to continue through hard times. Through it I have come to know that God knows and loves me, that I am His son and that He has a plan for all of us: We are here on earth to learn and to grow to be more like Him. But he knew we would make mistakes and sin and therefore, He provided us a way to be forgiven through the eternal sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. By repenting and accepting Christ as our Savior we can be purified and return to live with our Father in Heaven after this life. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God as recieved and written by prophets of old in the Americas. I know that it was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith and through Joseph Smith, God established His true church in our day: The Church of jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - Latter Day Saints - Quad Combination - Joseph Smith - Lds Hymns'

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Sdhc Extreme - photography, memory cards

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Background you can skip

I purchased a new DSLR, an upgrade from my trusted Nikon D50: the D90.

I wanted to get the fastest and most suited 8GB card to accompany my shoots and needed something that would keep up with the Nikon's 30MB/s capability.

After wandering the web for the best card I found the following information: "the cards offer a 50 percent speed boost from 20MB/s cards, and the Nikon D90 is the industry's first dSLR to take advantage of the speed.

That means that with the 30MB/s Extreme III, the D90 can record 39 6MB JPEG images at 4.5 frames per second in continuous shooting mode. Getting them off is almost as fast, too, when used with SanDisk's new ImageMate Multi-Card USB 2.0 reader/writer."

Note that some reviewers on here gave the card a bad rating because of lack of speed. However, it is his own equipment that is the bottle neck so that is not the best of sources to judge on.

This card is fast fast fast in my D90 and I have since purchased a spare one.

In short:

PROS

- LEADING EDGE IN SPEED

- PERFECTLY COUPLED WITH NIKON D90

CONS

- EXPENSIVE

CONCLUSION:

For the serious prosumer this is a must have for your D90 or other capable camera. Sandisk 8GB Extreme SDHC Card-Class 10 (SDSDX3-008G-A31)

I had an "older" version that was not 30mb speed and i was sceptical about the claim of extra speed, but wow a big difference.

when shooting camera is ready for next shot and the big deal is when you upload to your computer, now there is where i really noticed the speed and cost difference. uploads like a snap.

good card for the price on amazon and of course very fast delivery with amazon.

DO NOT ORDER, this is mis-advertised on the Amazon site. I just received this card, and even though Amazon advertises it as the Extreme III card in the description, it is actually an earlier version Extreme card from SanDisk. I put the card in my Canon Vixia HF200 video camera, and the camera claims the card can only write at a max of 12 mb/s, despite the claim on Amazon and on the SanDisk packaging that it can read at 30 mb/s!!! I have a 4 GB Extreme III card, which the Canon can write to at 24 mb/s, so I know the problem is with the card, not the camera.

My old card was an 8GB class 6 card. I am using a Nikon D90. I bought this card so that I could shoot at 4.5fps for longer. It does make a difference, but not that much of one. Once the buffer on my camera fills up, my high speed shooting is over until the buffer can empty. Obviously this card helps the buffer empty faster, but it won't let me start shooting again until it is too late. If you are shooting at high speed because if you don't then you will lose your shot, then you will lose your shot your buffer fills up, even with this card.

Most of this would probably change from camera to camera. The card is good, but I haven't done any benchmarks to see if it really lives up to what it claims.

I bought this card to go with my new Canon Rebel and am 'extreme'ly pleased with it. I don't have the technical equipment to check actual write speeds but honestly, does it matter to most of us? Not really. It has a super fast write speed, I can shoot in continuous without skipping a beat. I have had no problems with it at all.

Be careful when purchasing cheaper SD cards for a Digital SLR. Having purchased the new Canon Rebel T1 to replace my XT, I thought I could get away with a Transend card. However, the size of the image files when taking a burst of photos would bog the camera down preventing me from taking other shots. The Write Speed was just way too slow... enter the Sandisk Extreme III. All I can say is wow, the card is fast, very fast and I was able to shoot over 170 pictures of may daughter golfing yesterday with 0 delays.

SanDisk Extreme series cards have been the best since they came to the market. These are the only cards I will rely on. 16/8/4 GB 30mb/s cards you can be confident in. I carry 2 8GB cards and 2 2GB 20mb/s cards as a backup. If something were to happen these cards come with recovery software that works. I've actually used the software on a Transcend card I occasionally use when I'm too lazy to empty these to my computer. I've never had to use recovery on the SanDisk itself though.

This card easily keeps up with a D90 w/o battery grip. You may notice a slight pause after 12-13 shots equal to maybe 1 full missed frame while shooting in fine jpeg. You will probably miss a frame about every 6-8 shots if shooting in RAW. If you're shooting RAW+JPEG you don't care about speed anyway :p

I posted my inital review for the right product under a different supplier. My bad sorry, but I did purcase this card as you can see with the verified purchaser tag.

I have an Nikon D90. I purchased the 8G San Disc Extreme III card 30MB/S and a Transcend 16G class 6 card at the same time. The San Disc Extreme 3 card is incredibly fast. I get 100 pictures (4.5 frames per second) at fine resolution before the camera stops to buffer in 24 seconds. The Transcend card gets 17 photos on the same settings then pauses to buffer. If you have the camera that can take full advantage of this write speed this fast card is worth the investment. No more cringing while I wait for my camera to clear its buffer so I can take more pictures.

I like to shoot at 4.5 frames. It gives me a lot to pick through when I edit, but a lot can happen in a fraction of a second that can make a photo good or bad. Having the capability to hold down the shutter release and rattle off large bursts of photos is important to me.

I have found that 8G is a good size for SLR Photography. In my opinion bigger cards are putting a lot of eggs in one basket.

I posted a video test demonstrating this products incredible write speed. You can find it by clicking on my name and searching for this product. I'd repost it here but I deleted from my computer.

I have been using the card for several months. I have about 10 different cards that I use and I can honestly say that this is my favorite. In addition to writing fast it emptys a lot faster which comes in handy when I'm in a hurry to leave the house with my fastest card and it's full of pictures. I have not had any write/read errors. I'd get another one, but I know the price on this model will continue to fall. - Photography - Memory Cards - 8gb - Sandisk'

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Smoke Detector - home safety, alarms

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Folks,

Ionization detectors DO NOT protect you. The results and test methods are false due to the fire industy's cozy relationship with smoke detector manufacturers (yes, direct kick backs, look it up) and money for lobbyists in Sacramento and Washington DC. The profit margin on ionization detectors is much higher than photoelectric. Only photoelectric (required in commercial buildings - why not residential?) WORK. 75% of ionization detectors did not sound AT ALL in smoke filled rooms lethal to humans and have failed repeated independent tests. I'm a 20 year veteran of the fire service and a paramedic. I can guarantee you will DIE from smoke inhalation before an ionization alarm EVER goes off. No one dies from being burnt, you die from asphyxiation due to smoke and poisonous gases. Read this and only buy photoelectric. There's too much information for me to go into it here. Be sure and follow the World Safety Fire Foundation link. If that doesn't convince you to go photoelectric you're playing with death. Email [...] and if you send a SASE I will send you a dvd proving much of these assertions to you. It includes a show from Canadian TV that is ILLEGAL to show in the US as well as other information. BE SAFE! My dept's Chief's message is below:

BD

Chief's Message

Warning: Your smoke alarm may not detect smoke

Currently, there is great confusion regarding the topic of smoke alarms. There are two types of smoke alarms used to protect residents in the event of a fire; photoelectric and ionization smoke alarms- both respond differently to smoke and flame.

Ionization smoke alarms react poorly to deadly smoke but faster to flames while photoelectric alarms react much faster to smoke. Ionization alarms are present in over 95% of homes in America and have a high failure rate when it comes to detecting smoke. The problem is, most deadly fires are smoldering fires and not fast flaming fires. By now, most people understand it is deadly smoke and heat that kills you before the flames even reach you. Ionization alarms should be labeled flame alarms and not smoke alarms.

An example of a fast flaming fire would be a Christmas tree fire, which certainly have claimed their share of resident's lives, but nowhere near the number of lives claimed by smoldering fires. Other fast flaming fires would be kitchen fires, which are the leading cause of residential fires, but rarely do they claim lives. I implore you to watch the following videos and audio clips: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4 (University of Cincinnati presentation), audio clip 1.

Arguably, a greater problem with the ionization alarm is the number of false alarms it renders, thus leading to residents disconnecting the alarm all together. I must include an interesting story - a couple of years ago, with my infinite knowledge, I installed a combination ionization/photoelectric smoke alarm in my living room. Because my home is not large, the house is heated by a wood burning stove. After numerous false alarms (initiated by the invisible smoke) started by my stove, I gave up using the hush button (as it did not silence long enough) and disconnected the battery and remained disconnected until I went to bed. Finally after one season, I placed the combination alarm in my bedroom (replacing the older alarm) and placed a new photoelectric alarm in my living room. Do I need to tell you the results? Not one false alarm. So my point is, how many residents (worldwide) give up and just permanently disconnect the ionization alarm and expose themselves to a potential lethal smoldering fire? Moreover, there have been many fire deaths worldwide with working ionization smoke alarms present but failed to detect smoke. Regrettably, the fire industry has yet to take an official stand to eliminate ionization smoke alarms once and for all.

Sincerely,

Marc McGinn

Albany Fire Chief

P.S. I urge you to immediately replace your current ionization smoke alarms that do not detect smoke, with photoelectric smoke alarms, and for more extensive information please visit [...]. If you have any additional questions or need assistance I welcome your phone call at [...].

[...] First Alert SA720CN Smoke Alarm Photoelectric Sensor with Escape Light

I didn't think it'd work, but gave it a try after reading the reviews.

Works *amazingly* well in an area near the kitchen that was really frustrating w/ false alarms. The light is also very useful in that stairwell area.

Great smoke alarm with photoelectric sensor that is more sensitive to smoke than the more typical ionization smoke detectors. It's recommended to have both in your home, but for some reason these photoelectric types are harder to find in stores near us. This once comes with a spot light that will be very hand at the end of our hallway in case of a fire.

This one's like most as far as ease of installation, and comes with a battery.

I had an older alarm that was near my Kitchen that would continuously go off when we cooked on the stove. Drove me nuts!. I finally dropped kicked the old unit and replaced it with this one. No more alarms from Cooking.

Good unit.

This replaced an old detector that was installed near the kitchen. The old detector went off every time I cooked, which was quite annoying! This new alarm was placed in the same location as the old detector. The steam and smoke emitted by the stove or oven DOES NOT trigger this alarm. Very pleased!

I received 2 of these. One was fine. However, the second one did not work with the supplied battery. We thought maybe it was a bad battery so went out and bought another battery. Still no luck. This of course was after we had brought the clamshell packaging materials to our local recycling facility. We had never had an issue with smoke alarms not functioning when they were new. So...I'm stuck ordering a new one from Amazon because we already have the bracket on the ceiling. - Smoke Detector - First Alert - Alarms - Home Safety'

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Nursing Tank Top - nursing, breast feeding

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I absolutely love these tank tops. I had previously only been using a nursing bra, and a cousin told me to buy the tank. I now wear only the tanks. The tanks fit well under all my clothes, and give me more discretion than the bra alone. A very good investment! Gilligan & O'Malley® Womens Side Sling Nursing Tank - True White M - Nursing - Glamourmom - Nursing Tank Top - Breast Feeding'

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Telescopic Fishing Rod - fishing gear, fishing rod

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I purchased this rod/reel combo for the convenience of having an outfit that would fit inside my checked baggage when I travel on airlines. The initial performance was good; I used it to catch a dozen or so rainbow trout while fishing in the Donner Lake region of California. The padded bag survived the trip quite well, and storage is more than adequate. The only flaw I encountered was some loosening of the rod sections after several casts. If you don't pause to push everything in tightly periodically, the rod tip (or even the whole rod) will separate and get flung into the lake with your lure. Okuma VS-605-20 Voyager Spinning Travel Kit

I recently purchased a Okuma rod and reel travel pack. I used it a couple of times to make sure it worked ok before my trip. It is a very nice combo that casts easily and has a light enough action that I enjoyed using it to catch small panfish. The whole pack is a bit bulky but worth the space to make sure your rod and reel get to your destination in good shape.

Don't plan on whipping this out of the case in a hurry and dipping your hook in the water. It takes some setup and tear-down time, as it does not easily come apart to fit in the case with the reel attached and the line strung. Look somewhere else if you want a quick solution for back country fishing where compact is key. To its credit, the rod has nice action and the reel seems well built. Comes with no line and only one spool. It is not telescopic.

I got this item for a Christmas gift and it was perfect for the beginner fisherman. It was safely packed so nothing could get broken and was easily assembled. I strongly recommend this item for a gift for someone whose trying to get their fishing kit together.

I purchased this fishing rod for my grandson. He was thrilled with the case that the fishing rod came in. He can carry everything that he needs in the case and go fishing. He takes his bike so the case works very nice.

I've used this rod 2-3 times a week for the past three months and am, for the most part, satisfied with the purchase. The rod/reel combo is of good quality and there's room enough in the case for a basic set of tackle. The case fits very nicely on a mountain bike tail rack and has proven to be very durable.

Now the reel is not nearly as smooth as my $120 Shimano and the rod tip will occasionally come loose on a very energetic cast. Still, the action is much better than a typical telescopic travel rod and the price is definitely right. The trout seem to like it too.

I purchased this item about a month ago and had it shipped out to my FOB here in Iraq. I am deployed deployed in an area that has a small lake and there are some trout sized fish all the way up to 5 foot long carp and other species of related "freshwater" fish. I have used the pole about 10 times and nothing has went wrong with the quality of the pole or reel. The top of the base had cracked when i hooked into a fish simply because i didnt seat the first section of the rod in tight enough. Overall a GREAT buy for this product! I would recomend it to anyone that is looking for a reliable breakdown travel rod. Thanks for a grea product and providing shipping to military!

This is a good, compact unit for travel and camping. The rod assembles easily and seems to be of good quality. It is stored in sections, not telescoping. The reel was a little difficult to set up and adjust, but worked well when everything was assembled. The case is nice quality, but not lightweight ripstop - a little bulky and heavy for serious backpacking.

The Okuma Voyager Travel Pack is everything that I had expected. Today I went back on line at Amazon to order another one for my wife to use when we are on trips to Colardo, Ohio, etc. However, I got the message "Currently unavailable. We do not know when or if this item will be back in stock". I hope that the quickly restock this item.

Sad, I will now look elsewhere.

However, If I cannot find it, I will check back with Amazon - the service and delivery meet exceeded expectations. - Fishing Rod - Fishing Gear - Okuma - Kids Fishing'

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Kitchen Faucet - single handle, faucets

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I just installed this faucet and it is pretty cheaply made. The fittings are mostly loose, but that can mostly be corrected with some elbow grease. The worst thing about the faucet is the sprayer mechanism. The sprayer never really shuts off, so even when in "regular" mode the sprayer drips. One star since it is bad at its intended function. Single Handle Centerset Pull Out Kitchen Sink Faucet with Versatile and Swivel Sprayhead, Chrome

I took the risk ignoring the negative reviews. Eventhough I paid extra for a 2-day express shipment, I was pleasantly surprised to get it 1 day early and it came nicely packaged. It was an easy install after a quick trip to HD to plug up the Hot water feature since we're only using the Cold water. I should add the single handle can be set-up as necessary as my wife is left-handed and I'm a righty! It has the high-end look, in addition, the pull-out/swivel spray head is perfect for the BBQ Island sink. Great buy!

We've only had this faucet installed for a few days, so we can't comment on its durability. I really like that you can choose the location for the controls. I'm impressed with the overall design and would choose it again. The instructions could be alot more detailed.

"the faucet is fairly great-looking, and fit very well into my kitchen's circumstances. the sufficient height makes it very convenient to use the water. the finish is also great, highly recommended for kitchen upgrade.

This faucet was a great purchase. It has excellent built quality, works really well, and at a good price.

Appearance:

The Chrome finish is smooth and covered with protectant oil. The handle has a hard foam cushion that gives more traction and control. They did not go cheap on the material and the supplied parts. The product photos in Amazon are a true representation.

Installation:

The installation is simple and straightforward. I installed it by myself. However, if you are not comfortable working on plumbing and tools, get a plumber to do the install for you. For the ones who want to DIY, here are a few tips:

- It does not come with a cover plate, so study your existing fixture and where it connects to your sink. If it has 3 holes, you will need a cover plate or a sink whole cover Danze D493172RB Faucet Accessories 8" CC Cover Plate - RB, Oil Rub Bronze

- Depends on the style of your existing faucet and sink, uninstall it might be difficult due to rust, hard to reach bolts and lack of the right tool.

- A basin wrench is almost a MUST HAVE for this job Superior Tools 3811 11-Inch Basin Wrench

Function:

It works as it should with two high lights:

- The smooth fell of the handle made controlling water flow effortless. I believe I will conserve more water simply because I can easily run it at a smaller flow rate.

- The spray is POWERFUL. When the spray button is pressed, it adds pressure to the water flow. (Note: it may splash a bit when you use it at full throttle)

Over all, I highly recommend this product to anyone who wishes to get a quality kitchen faucet at an affordable price.

I really love this faucet. I was frustrated with the difficulty of cleaning the entire sink or a large pan after cooking. This product is designed to solve this problem. The faucet head detaches from the support so you can pull it out. You can also turn it around the sink by the flexible spring U that contains the hose. These two features make cleaning work so much easier and faster. It is not only functionally useful, but also is made with a good quality. Moreove, it can be easily installed. I was able to install it within an hour after i got it. I am really satisfied with this product. - Delta - Nice Faucet - Single Handle - Faucets'

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Cordless Tools - cordless tools, milwaukee 18v lithium-ion

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I received this tool in the combo kit with the compact drill/driver, which I bought from Amazon largely for the drill.

I had originally bought the cheap Porter Cable 4 part Combo Kit from Lowes (Drill, Reciprocating Saw, Circular Saw, Light), only to have the forward/reverse control on that drill break within a year. I could still use it theoretically, but only for removing screws. Since I already had the batteries with my kit, I went to Lowes and purchased the bare tool Porter Cable Impact Driver ($40 at the time), and ended up using that for months for most of my work (hanging sheetrock, HVAC systems, etc). Eventually, it became more of a pain to pre-drill holes, or do anything with a bit that needed a chuck to fit onto it.

I made a couple trips to Home Depot and some other Hardware stores, and tried out the tools. I knew Milwaukee had one of the best reputations, and wanted something that was ergonomic, and used the Lithium-Ion batteries, and luckily the Milwaukee Compact Drill/Driver seemed like the most comfortable tool there, and it fit what I wanted. I went onto Amazon and bought the combo kit that came with the compact drill/driver and this impact driver, two compact batteries, one pocket clip, and the charger, which was only $200, compared to the same price for just the drill/driver at Home Depot.

The first job I had when I got these tools was replacing some metal roofing, and either tool worked fine, but I can't emphasize enough how important the pocket clip is if you're going to be doing roofing, framing, or sheetrock. It's also useful when you're putting up cabinets and need somewhere to place your drill. Unfortunately my kit only came with the one, so I chose to put it on the drill/driver, expecting I'd be using it more. Now that I've had the kit for almost 5 months, I have to say that was a premature decision. I'll be purchasing another clip whenever I can find one (I didn't see them at Home Depot) for my Impact Driver, because that's become my favorite tool to use for most applications.

I've used it for driving deck screws through TREX, and it worked phenomenally. I've used it with a socket attachment with 7-9 in. lags when I was attaching 4"x4" posts to beams on a large commercial deck, and it worked splendidly. I was going to be stuck with my socket where I was, and started off using it before trying the impact driver, and was pleasantly surprised. It did start to slow down when the lag got deeper, but it was still able to keep driving the lag while sinking the washer fairly deep into the treated 4"x4".

The compact size of the impact driver also makes it useful for crawlspace work. I use it often when working on HVAC systems and need to drive sheet metal screws into pipe. Perhaps due to the short length of the tool, it is a lot easier to control, and slipping has become a much less common occurrence. It's much easier to apply force in the direction that you are trying to with this tool versus a normal drill.

The only time when I don't use this impact driver is when I actually need to drill something, or I need more reach, in which case I use the drill with a finder driver, or a larger bit extension (tightening screws on the ceiling that didn't sink well enough for mudding, etc.).

Since I've gotten this kit, my boss rarely ever uses his Ridgid NiCad Hammer Drill/Driver, opting instead to borrow one of my tools for most applications. They're a great buy, but for most things, the Impact Driver is the most useful to have. It's more compact than the drill, and it's far more powerful. If you're using a good brand (DeWalt, Makita, etc), there's probably no financially good reason to switch over to this impact driver, but for those making the decision, I have had no regrets about owning this tool, and the exclusive battery meter on the Milwaukee M18 batteries just sweetens the deal. Bare-Tool Milwaukee 2650-20 M18 18-Volt Impact Driver (Tool Only, No Battery)

I have many of the M18 cordless tools. I can't sing the praises of these tools enough - especially this impact driver.

-It is truly compact - goes places the drill/driver can't.

-It is quite light - including with the full size battery attached.

-It has tons of torque, and has never failed me. It has so much muscle, my full size Milwaukee 120v. impact drill is rarely used anymore. The M18 drill/driver/impact plays second fiddle to this little impact driver.

-In the last ten months it has smoked through thousands of 2-1/2" torx screws, 500 5" torx lags, 250 7" torx lags, 5,000 1-1/2" washer-head screws, and lots more.

-It has been dropped, kicked around, and generally mistreated by willing, but occasionally clumsy, helpers. It keeps chattering away to this day.

-When it comes to fasteners, it is the clearly preferred by everyone that has put some time on it, and is now the first tool that disappears for tasks.

-The batteries (have three of them 'tween all the tools used) have been excellent and without fault. Fantastic number of screws driven per charge. See my other review on the M18 XC batteries.

-The trigger gives me all the control I would expect of a non-clutched driver.

-You get used to the forward/reverse switch location. Like it much better than the old 120v hole hawg location.

An absolute animal, and to think it was a "free" add-on in the Milwaukee kit I purchased. I would never have thought it would turn into THE most used and loved tool of all.

The only people that will tell you an impact driver is basically a drill are the ones that have never used one! I will never use a drill to screw again. I'm not a carpenter but my friend has a building company and he swears by impacts for screwing as well.

As for this specific tool, I switched from a Makita which did the job, but when the M18 line came out I had to have it. This impact feels much more durable in your hand than the Makita. I have both the compact batteries and the XC models and would recommend anyone to make sure they have both in their arsenal. The compact complements the size of this impact but for long drawn-out jobs it's nice to have the more powerful battery - Milwaukee M18 - Milwaukee - Cordless Tools - Milwaukee 18v Lithium-ion'

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Water Resistant - water resistant, alarm

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I thought this was a woman's watch. It is the size of a man's watch. I was going to return it, but with the larger face it is easier to read so I'll give it a try. It has a light button to push in the dark, but it doesn't have a countdown timer. I was disappointed to find that Photoland charged $6.58 for shipping. CASIO A158WA-1WCG Dress Digital Watch

I've purchased the same basic model of Casio for perhaps the past 25-30 years and have never had a problem with them, they've grown longer lasting and more reliable over the time.

Not complaints from me. - Alarm - Water Resistant'

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Blu-ray Disc Players

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I was pleasantly surprised with the LG BD630! You get a whole LOT for the money! I am going to try and pick this thing apart somewhat in this review , so if you are interested then Read On Mc Duff!

I purchased this unit for my 81 year old father who has taken to watching Xvid and MKV files from the internet, usually documentaries on WW2 and other history programs. Of course he also watches DVD's but has not until now delved into Blu Ray or Netflix streaming. I needed something for him that had a very easy to follow menu system and worked WELL with a minimum of glitches.

The player itself is very basic on the outside. The BD630 features an on/off , eject, play/pause and stop buttons on it's face and a USB slot covered with a little rubber trap door on the right hand side with the disc drawer in the middle. It doesn't exactly exude high build quality on first glance, but what makes this little player SO good is the software inside. (more on that very soon) Mind you, it isn't totally cheap looking and as the saying goes good things can and DO come in small packages.

This is a very small (not very deep) unit and also a very lightweight one. It came packed with a decent PRINTED manual , basic cabling (you will need an HDMI or Component cable) and a functional remote that uses only 1 AAA cell, also included. It comes with a couple of printed adverts for Netflix and even a small sticker on the top of the unit that screams NETFLIX at you. (easily removed) The power cable is attached. You get composite video out, stereo RCA audio outs , Component Video and HDMI Out , a Coax Digital Audio out and a LAN port for connecting to your home network if you wish to use the Netcast features such as Netflix and You Tube.

Being at the low end of the LG food-chain, this particular player is NOT DLNA enabled and to play your video files (other than blu ray and DVD) you must stream from a USB device be it a thumb drive or external hard drive. You can not connect this unit via the Ethernet connection to your computer. LG starts including THAT feature a few more models UP from this one. I guess that is understandable given the price point.

The connectivity is very good really, you can use this device with everything from an analogue standard TV all the way up to 1080p HDTV and your audio options are just as good with the analogue stereo outs, or the Coax digital which can handle up to 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS and the HDMI which can pass thru the uncompressed Dolby TruHD or DTS Master Audio tracks that accompany much of the blu ray releases. You can set the Video output to match your TV resolution, set picture aspect ratio to play 4:3 programs as is or to stretch them to fill your screen. The USB port can be used to connect a USB thumb drive or even an external hard drive. It isn't too picky about the formatting of the drive and can also support up to 4 drive partitions. That alone is amazing for the price and a nice touch.

This brings me to my first and only MAJOR complaint about this machine. It is SO lightweight than when you plug in your USB drive or cable to it, the unit itself tends to push backwards. Perhaps adding some non slip little rubber feet to the bottom with a couple drops of super glue would easily solve that.

Just be aware that if you are not careful, you run the risk of knocking the thing over when accessing that feature. Note: To access any BD Live features you may wish to download and view, a USB drive is required as there apparently is minimal onboard memory. I personally disable BD Live on every machine I have as this tends to slow loading times.

Set up took less than two minutes after connections were made. The machine boots quickly. Easily as quickly as my Oppo BDP-80. Things got VERY interesting when I loaded a Java heavy Blu Ray disc and it loaded VERY quickly. I can honestly say this machine loads a Blu Ray disc FASTER than my Oppo (a nice fast machine) and that blew me away just to see it happen. Playback was as expected. GREAT! DVD up-conversion to 1080p was average for a new machine today, but better than average for machines only a year or so old. And the disc tray itself is solid and goes in and out without any sort of loud rattle of worrisome grinding noises. (a complaint for some Oppo BDP-80 and 83 users)

The Netflix GUI is about the same as on the current crop of LG TV's. Your performance is going to depend more on your internet connection and speed than the LG software which in my opinion is very good. Navigating my Instant Queue was a bit sluggish but I have the same problem on ANY of my Netflix enabled devices. Once you start playback and it loads, things work just the way you would expect and want them to.

It is noteworthy to mention I had NO problems at all playing DVD-R and CD-R discs. Discs containing Xvid and other video file types also loaded quickly and played perfectly. Just for fun I put in a region free Pal disc and it spit it back out with an on screen message telling me it was the wrong region. (I had to try) So basically, this thing will play ANYTHING I or my Dad owns EXCEPT for Pal. OH well, you can't have everything!

Basically, it works and works well. You can update the firmware via the LAN port or by downloading from the LG site and burning a disc or putting it on a USB drive which is what I did before attempting to play anything. Time will tell if LG continues to support this machine with further firmware updates as they become needed to play some of the more Java intensive titles such as the new Alien discs. If updating firmware intimidates you, find someone you know who is an old hand at it and let THEM do it so you don't accidentally 'brick' your player. Really, it isn't that difficult. (just don't turn the machine off while updating)

I personally own an LG 47 inch LE 5400 television and as expected the software in the BD630 is almost identical for playing computer files, mp3's looking at photos, etc. IN some aspects , they have improved the software and I was duly impressed. It is smooth, easy to see what you are doing with logically laid out screens , easy to identify the individual file names and the transport controls are solid and responsive when playing everything from an Xvid to a 720p or 1080i Mkv file. We didn't have any 1080p files to test so I can only speak for the others. They all loaded reasonable fast and played glitch free. Pause and resume worked perfectly. You can access the info screen while playing the file. Audio synch was a non issue. Basically this is everything a person could want in local media file playback. (6-7-11 EXCEPT playing Divx files, see my update below) Try as I could, I encountered NO glitches of any type other than having to set our Harmony remote response time to shorter as it was giving double commands for the left and right direction buttons.

Just the local media file playing ability of this unit alone is worth the purchase price. Add THAT with great Blu Ray playback, VERY fast loading times (depends on the Blu Ray title as some discs will load quicker than others) more than decent DVD up-conversion , Netflix streaming and much more and I think LG has a winner at a price point you just can't argue with. I remember just a few years ago Sony was selling their flagship Blu Ray Player for 999.00 and it didn't do 25% of what THIS machine can do. Good stuff and a FULL one year warranty for Parts AND Labor!

Oh yeah, my 81 year old father is having NO trouble making this thing work at all. I just caught him playing a HD video file that he had loaded himself and I thought to myself "now THAT is user friendly" !! If I run into any future problems or software glitches with this thing I will update this review and add whatever else I have learned.

UPDATE 5-13-11 The LG is still going strong. We have yet to run into any file that will not play and unlike some reviewers have not experienced any player malfunctions with standard DVD playback including my Lord of The Rings extended editions. NO freezes, disc jams or failure to loads encountered so far. I still stand by my earlier statement regarding the Blu Ray disc load times. They ARE faster than my Oppo BDP-80 which is pretty fast to begin with.

IMPORTANT UPDATE 6-7-11 I found out the hard way last night that this player does NOT support any Divx files. I should have read the spec sheet more carefully as they do not list Divx as a supported codec. SO if you want to play any Divx encoded files you will need to 'trans-code' them using a program like 'Handbrake' or 'Any Video Converter' which is MY favorite (freeware) and change it into a codec the player DOES recognize. I was surprised to find this out as my LG HDTV WILL PLAY files with the Divx file extension. Go figure! SO FAR this is the ONLY type of video file I have run into that will not play. (Apparently LG didn't want to pay the licensing fee to Divx)

FINAL UPDATE 9-20-11 Just wanted to say this LG player is still going strong and plays the new Blu Ray Star Wars set without issue or glitch. For the money I'm convinced it's a real bargain. My 81 year father has been happily playing Xvids, MKV and H264 files easily like he has been doing it all his life and has not once come to me for any help with a disc or file that won't load. I purchased this same player for my lady friend and she gives me nothing but glowing reports. As with all electronics I am sure at some point it will be obsolete, but for now it is a solid contender and I stand by my full review. Cheers! Marty Gillis LG BD630 Network Blu-ray Disc Player'

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