Guy Low Price Electronic

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Letter Opener

I purchased one of these and am very pleased with it. It is a very beautiful product, feels solid and smooth and balances well in the hand. Looks just as nice in reality as it does on the picture. And and works well to boot! An absolute bargain for the $8 that I paid for it, and slightly unfortunate that the only existing review is a bad one because the customer didn't receive the product. Natico Letter Opener,Curve Silver (30-364)

I am so happy with my purchase. I had lost my old letter opener and waited three months searching high and low. I finally bought this and it is not only attractive to look at, it is so sturdy and sharp. It is all anyone could wish for. I am almost glad I lost my old one so I could get this.

Never got item, because Amazon lied and said they sent it twice! It was going to be a Christmas gift. Now its weeks later and its out of stock. Honesty is always best Amazon, instead of leaving me checking the mail 10 times a day! Who rates Amazon? I have better luck with the seller than I do with Amazon!'

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Powershot Stapler - stanley, staple gun

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Good construction. Easy to use. But it's weak for a heavy duty staple gun. My rusty arrow heavy duty staple gun had no trouble driving staples into pine but this gun with the same staples left a gap between staple and wood. Surebonder 5650 All-In-1 Heavy Duty Staple Gun

I had one stapler for 30+ yrs and happened to leave it behind at the range a week or so ago. That was used very hard and when left behind, did not have as much as a scratch on it. I've been looking for a replacement since, and have not found one. This looked the best, but...., it was chrome, it did not have the handle lock as shown, and it did not seat the staples evenly in different types of wood at any settings. I've sent it back. Very disappointed. Worse is, so far I have been to four stores and can not find any as nice, simplistic, compact and comfortable as my old stapler. So taken for granted, I don't even know who made it.

TSC sells this in chrome for $24, with the adjustment for depth on the top of the head, not one the side as this has. That also did not have the handle lock. Have to wonder who is designing this stuff?

My original stapler had a staple remover, a lock for the handle, worked on every size staple, was easy on the hand, no power adjust necessary, and, it never failed.... still looking.

Update 8/12/11: After driving well over 100 miles trying to find an in stock stapler to see if my staples would work, I finally went to Lowes and HD, I ended up with the Powershot HD forward action staple gun from HD. I just tried it in the same wood used to test the Surebonder stapler sold on Amazon, and it does not bury the staples nearly as well as that did (even though they did not go in evenly), and it does not seat them nearly as well as my 30 yr old stapler did.

I tried every stapler that is in stock. I wear XXL gloves and have big hands. Even so, the most expensive and what appeared to be the best stapler at HD, after three clicks on the handle, it had already had pinched the palm of my hand trying to use it.

The Powershot is by far the most ergonomic of any tested. Didn't expect I might need shorter staples as I only used either 1/2" or 9/16" staples in the past. If the Surebonder would have shown up as advertised on Amazon, I may have kept it. I liked the looks, it had a handle lock, which the one I received from Amazon did not, and it had more power than the Powershot. The difference in power is significant.

My staple gun arrived and it's as chrome as a Harley's tailpipes - not black at all. That's the only issue I have with it.

I'm using it to staple art canvas onto pine stretcher bars. Works great; the staples go in totally flush for me. If I increase the tension setting, it will bury the crown of the staple in the wood completely.

Haven't had it for long, but I haven't had any jams yet, even when I accidentally put some non-heavy duty staples in it (this caused it to shoot 3 staples at a time, btw).

Never buy the wrong staples again? The box of 5/16" Surebonder staples I just threw away begs to differ. Despite saying on the box itself that 5/16" will fit, they DO NOT. Never buying any Surebonder products again. - Pneumatic Stapler - Staple Gun - Stanley - Staplers'

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Cold Steel Products - self defense, cold steel

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A very comprehensive history book. The development of our modern concept of the Irish fighting stick is well time-lined (sometimes too well). The cultural history was highly informative and the strongest force in the book. However, those looking for "martial" value won't find it here. This is, and reads like, a historical tour of the subject. Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick

For the non Irish this is a wealth of good honesty history with a look at how the oppressed can fight back.Great writing and some great ways to look at stick fighting (for those that have not stuck together the pages of Black Belt Mag over the last 30+ years.)Really this is a wonderful read by a good writer and teacher.Look forward to the next part!

Mr. Hurley has compiled the most thorough history of the Irish martial arts to date. I am a second-degree black belt in Filipino stick fighting and was raised in the Irish heritage district of Buffalo, NY. I had never heard of Irish martial arts until I came across these books. They are research based not technique. You won't learn to fight by reading this but you will discover a deep and rich martial tradition that has been suppressed for generations.

The Irish were renowned around the globe as warriors. When they emigrated to the USA the derogatory stereotype of the drunken fighting Irishman became the popular perception. This book restores the dignity and honor of a proud culture that developed a martial tradition the equal of the samurai code.

Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick should be required reading for any student of Celtic traditions.

The author has done an exceptional job of dissecting a host of primary sources relating to the remarkable history of the Irish fighting stick, and tracing both its roots and its cultural signifcance throughout the course of various periods of Irish history. This often-overlooked aspect of Irish martial culture finally gets the full scholarly treatment it deserves here in Mr. Hurley's astonishingly thorough tour de force. The book has already established itself as the standard text on the subject. "Shillelagh" is an exhaustive, thrilling and detailed account of the fighting stick that was a symbol of Irish courage and resistance, as well as a practical weapon with which the Irish displayed their martial arts ability.

Any serious student of Irish history has to read this book. Five stars.

However, I suspect that whoever said that never saw the cover of this particular book. Because then there probably would have been some qualifier, like "Never judge a book by its cover, unless that book is Shillelagh by John Hurley, because that book is every bit as totally awesome as its cover might lead you to believe."

I mean, consider the attention to detail in this lovingly rendered Donnybrook. Look at the pure glee on the face of the lout in the blue coat or the total agony of the gentleman being trampled underfoot at the bottom of the composition. This artist has captured the entire range of human emotion in a single four color panel. It's like an ABC Sports intro in book cover form.

And look at the flying top hat in the background! Was it just knocked off somebody's head? Perhaps with a shillelagh? Or is this a sly tip of the surrealist cap to Magritte?

If they sold a poster version of this cover, I would hang it above my breakfast nook in a heartbeat. I would look on it and reflect on happier times in the old country and wonder at the artistry of this unknown, Guinness-swilling Caravaggio.

The book itself is pretty good. I learned a lot about fighting sticks.

I love this book. It was written by an active martial artist. And John can write well. This is demonstrated by his other books. But still outweighs the historically informative part. I missing a little the concrete practical part.

Therefore only four stars. - Self Defense - Cane - Cold Steel - Stick Fighting'

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Customer Service - hdtv, plasma

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I've had this TV for approximately 2 weeks now - It's my first Plasma TV - replaced a 10 year old 46" LCD television. After visiting every local store and kicking tires - I was sold that Plasma was the way to go. The clarity of the picture - 160 degree viewing angle with no decline in picture quality and sharp picture during fast moving picture ( i.e. sports ) + the vivid sharpness of blacks / reds / oranges / greens / blues made it pretty easy decision.

I went with the PANASONIC b/c of Consumer reports review of last years models. It was rated as best picture for non HD programming over any of it's competitors. Going shopping for these things locally is similar to buying a used car - b/c most stores won't show you anything but a HD signal - but I was able to get one store to show me a digital signal to a couple models and was able to view a DVD of TOP GUN on this and a few other models. Alot of brands will have a significant dropoff in quality from HD to digital signal - NOT this panasonic.

The picture in HD is simply amazing. Clarity / sharpness / at all angles of viewing both near and far away from the screen. The speakers are very good too - I will play a movie through the Home Theatrre - but day to day viewing the speakers will be more than adequate for most viewers.

The picture in non - HD programming - Comcast digital cable signal. About 85 % of the programming is pretty close to the same quality as High Def. Alot of the cable programming seems to be formatted in anticipation of High Def viewing and look very sharp and clear. Occasionally ( maybe 10 - 15 % of cable programming ) you'll get a feed that's not quite as sharp and ther'es a noticeable decline in picture quality from the HD or normal Digital programming. However - I've checked that same programming on my older CRT television - I found that the ( Non-HD programming with poor signal ) picture on the 50" plasma is the same quality as what I'm getting on my 20" non digital television. The only difference is that most of the programming is so much better in quality on this plasma TV that it seems like the picture isn't good for those few broadcasts. BUT - it's not poor picture from plasma Tube - it's just a bad signal that looks worse in comparison to the other channels and/or programming.

*** Don't let a salesperson talk you out of this TV if you have a large pictue window. I almost decided against the Plasma tube b/c a circuit city salesperson said the reflection would annoy me with a large window in the room. We have a west facing picture window in the rear with a tree outside the window. There is reflection on this tube - but it's no different than the reflection you'd get with a standard CRT tube television. We just pull down the shades a bit - and we haven't noticed anything that would be bothersome when viewing a program. We bought it with the assurance that if the reflection was an issue we could swap it out for a LCD or other television. We're keeping the Panasonic Plasma!!!!

I'm totally happy we bought this TV - and have no regrets for choosing the Panasonic. I'd buy this TV again in a heartbeat. The only thing I don't know about is the longevity of this type of tube - but I'll learn that over time. We spent 400 bucks on an in home 4 year service plan to accompany the TV. The marketing says it will last 27 years if viewed 6 hours per day - but I think that's a little optimistic. I did however learn in my research that this technology has been around for 30 or 40 years so I'm hoping that means there won't be any technical quirks to still work out.

Jake Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50-Inch Plasma HDTV

I really like this TV. It encompasses all that I was looking for. Buying a HD TV these days makes for some tough decisions. I found it impossible to make a clear decision from looking at the vast array of HD TVs available. The super big screens are impressive as are the super fine displays of the plasmas. For my purposes, I put picture quality over size. This lead to the plasmas and then to the Panasonic, which, along with Pioneer, have the best picture available, in my opinion,in plasmas.

My next criteria was the TVs ability to present a quality standard broadcast video, that seems to be about 90% of the material available today. HD is just beginning to become more adequately available today.

While shopping, I did not notice a huge difference in the quality of HD from one TV to another but there is a huge difference in quality at standard broadcast. You won't see this in the stores because they always use HD to impress their customers. This is where this TV shines. The picture quality is amazing even when not a HD broadcast. This is important as it involves the TVs ability to improve the standard broadcast video. There seems to be a vast difference from set to set in this ability and it has a lot to do with the internal circuitry. All sets look great at 1080p, however they sure don't look the same when it involves standard cable or standard satellite broadcast. The standard broadcast material on this set can look almost like HD depending on the quality of the broadcast. The poorer material looks just that, poor, but it is the broadcasters fault, not the TV.

Some things I do not like:

1. A plasma must be carried straight up and down. The first one I purchased had a shattered screen (the whole TV had to be replaced) Not too good for internet purchases as they will not allow returns even if defective or damaged in shipping.

2. The remote is spartan. No "learning" feature and has very limited adaptation to other video equipment.

3. Way too much silver. Thank goodness they have a little black around the screen.

4. No variable audio to an amplifier. You have to use the receiver control to vary the volume or connect everything through the receiver.

5. Some glare problems particularly if you have a window to the back of the viewing area. No problem from front or side lighting.

6. The set control comes set to "vivid" which sets the contrast and brightness way up and can damage the TV. You must first "break in " all plasmas by running the contrast and brightness at "0" for the first 100 hours. This is a pain as this is about a months viewing for us because the picture is pretty dark. Also, you have to be aware of the screen ratios as some broadcast cut off the sides or bottoms/tops which leave a black border. This can cause "burn in" that can damage your screen. I find myself changing aspect ratios pretty often. You can watch all transmissions if you adjust the screen ratios to cover the entire screen and not leave any black bars anywhere.

7. Possible repair costs. I understand that it is a "throw away" set if the plasma screen goes out. Plasmas costs more than other TVs to repair but are less repair prone.

8. A 50" screen just qualifies as a "big screen" in my opinion. 55" or 60" would be better but the cost now is prohibitive. I find it adequate at a viewing distance of 12' to 14'.

9. You can see the pixels if you get up close. (screen door effect) I guess it is the nature of the beast. The pixels are not visible after about 6 feet away.

Some of the things I like:

1. Good standard video quality

2. Awesome HD video quality

3. Can handle 1080P (for future, blue ray and HD DVD players)

4. Runs really cool. I notice no heat at all emanating from it. For some reason it has two cooling fans.

5. Quiet operation. You have to put your ear to the back of it to hear anything.

6. Quality construction. The interior looks like commercial quality.

7. Remote uses hard buttons instead of soft rubber

8. Easy setup and controls

9. Two HDMI connections (more the better as future HD devices will use these)

10. No lamp to replace every couple of years at $250- $300 (DLP, LCD)

11. Long service life (estimated at 60,000 hours or about 20 years)

12. Good repair record according to Consumer Report.

13. Excellent black handling which is so important for the 3D effect.

14. Sound quality is adequate. The surround sound is artificial sounding.

After owning and watching this set for a little over a week, I have no buyer's remorse. It was a good purchase and I am very happy. I highly recommend this TV. The negatives are very small compared to the positives, many being the nature of plasma TVs. Watching a program on HD is a real experience that makes you feel like you are there and this TV will do it. Calculating the costs of any hobby or vacation far exceeds the cost per hour of this quality of a television. It is really cheap entertainment and well worth the investment. - Plasma - Hdtv - Panasonic - 50 Inch'

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Cotton Underwear

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The Boss Orange Axel crew socks are about as good as it gets in casual socks. Fabric is a blend (76% cotton, 23% polymide (nylon), and 1% elastane.) and they have a padded sole for extra comfort. These are the best socks I've come across for moisture management; I think that's the polymide, it seems to be a fairly rare "ingredient" for socks. Fit is great (I'm size 12/13 US and 46 Euro), the cuffs have just enough elastic to keep them up, but not enough that they get tight. The soft padded sole makes a big difference at the end of a long day. Made in Turkey. Highly recommended. Hugo Boss Men's Boss Axel Crew Sock, Navy, 10-13'

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Portable Speaker - wireless speakers, outdoor speakers

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This speaker "a single speaker unit". worked well initialy. I was actually amazed at the sound. But the after storing the unit over the winter the buttons needed to be pushed several times to get them going again. Now the third season the system will not work at all. I am looking at other systems to replace this system. Audio Unlimited SPK-ROCK2 Add-on Rechargeable Wireless Rock Speaker (Each, Granite)

*This speaker does not use 6-C batteries as stated*. It has a built-in 12V AH rechargeable battery that needs to be initially charged for 15 hours. It is too new to determine how long it last between charges, but will charge and play when connected to the supplied indoor only AC adapter. The wireless performance initially seems less than the SPK-VELO speakers which I have and also use with it's supplied transmitter. The SPK-ROCK2 is hefty, well built and much darker in color than the pictures. It tends to provide a muddy sound and is much more finicky on location for optimal reception from the wireless transmitter. It does not include any remote volume control like the VELO, so adjustments require local button pushing and because of the type of tone, can vary depending on music. Have not had much of a chance to fully evaluate it's overall capabilities, but does deliver deep sound that can help fill in the tone of other speakers in an outside environment and Amazon's price is very good.

The sound is good, set up is simple, and it looks enough like a rock to fit in well with the outdoor landscaping. Could use a remote control capability to control the source audio from outside, and change the volume, but I didn't really expect that. It would also be nice if the base unit could be run on batteries, allowing even more flexibility. All things considered, a very nice speaker for the price, and you can enjoy music outdoors without having it blasting away inside, or wires running out of windows, etc.

I received this system free with the purchase of an INTEX above ground pool from Meyers. The set-up and sound was more than I expected. It was not more than a few uses before I had trouble getting the power button to work properly. I would have to push it over and over again which was very frustrating, stored it for the winter and on its first use it automatically shut off with no success or it working since. Hope you do not have the same problems.

We are loving the rock speakers - we use them by the pool and they run all day long off the rechargable batteries. Also we use them around the house so we have music in every room now. When you are very distant from the base, there can be a little popping noise but it rarely happens. We put our transmitter inside a cabinette and there are lots of walls in the way so I was amazed it works so well. I highly recommend them!

Already had.purchased the base bit and liked it. This speaker worked immediately with the sending unit for the first. The two speakers work well throughout the backyard for good background sound for parties. Highly recommend these speakers.

I ordered two speakers. At first, one made a thumping noise every 15 seconds, the other speaker worked fine. The next time I used them, both speakers sounded perfectly clear and loud. Wish I had remote to operate volume levels because I am always adjusting sound to match volume levels of specific songs, some heavy and some soft. Other than that, I enjoyed them and will buy them again. The dollar value was right and transaction and delivery went smoothly as expected.

After reading the reviews, I was anxious to get these wireless speakers & try them out. The set up is easy and the sound is great. Initially, we purchased one (which sounded very good), but added a second and are very pleased . Our friends can't believe they are wireless. These speakers sound better than the more expensive "wired" ones our friend has. - Portable Speaker - Wireless Speakers - Outdoor Speakers - Outdoor Wireless Speakers'

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Electronics And Gadgets

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I'm using the unit in a REPEATER mode. My house have 3 floors and my router (WRT54G) is located in the basement. I get a signal of 11 Mbps on the sec flr using a centrino powered notebook. The signal would drop to 1 Mbps after some use and the only way to get the signals back is to to reboot the notebook for some reason or go to the first flr. Hence, decided to get this unit and use it as a repeater.

Steps that worked for me are as follows:

01. Disable any security you have on the router (I'm using WEP) and enable SSID broadcast prior to any configuration .

02. Configure the unit using the setup disk and provided the ff:.

---- Provided a different SSID (or you can provide the same SSID) with enabled broadcast.

---- No encription

---- The same transmission channel (Chan 11) as with my router

---- New password

03. Exited program setup. Run browser and connect to the AP interface using the default address [...]

04. Configured the AP in REPEATER MODE placing my router's wireless MAC address as the repeated source signal.

05. Saved the setup.

06. Test if working by removing the wire behind the AP. On your PC/Notebook, open up a command window (START,RUN, type in "cmd" and click [OK]). Type in "ping 192.168.1.245" and press [ENTER]. You should see something like "Reply from 192.168.1.245 bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=225". If you get a "Request timed out." then that means your AP cannot be seen in your network and was not configured successfully go through STEP#1 again.

07. If successful, you need to enable security back (NOTE: At this point, the AP is running stand alone with no wires connected at the back from the router). Since I'm using WEP, connect to the AP using a browser at [...]

Go to wireless security and enable WEP and add the key codes and save your setup.

08. Now enable security back on the router with same key as you have on the AP and save your setup.

09. Test connection again by running STEP#6.

10. Place the AP where you want it to.

11. With a wireless PC/Notebook, scan for wireless networks. You should see the new SSID as well as the old one. Connect to it so that your PC/Notebook would save that information.

12. Connect to your AP, disable SSID broadcast, save setup.

13. Connect to your roter, disable SSID broadcast, save setup.

14. You're done!

I placed the WAP54G on the third floor. After all is said and done, my signal was boosted to 45 Mbps (max at 54 Mbps). Works like a charm!!!

NOTE:

- These procedures is specifically if you want to configure your AP as a REPEATER.

- If you configure the AP with WEP security on the get go, you will never be able to get it to work!! I spent hours on this to no avail.

- You can use the same SSID. I used a different one because I want to see what wireless unit I am connecting to when i transfer from floor to floor.

UPDATE 031810

The unit I believe is starting to die on me. My internet access will get cut off all of a sudden and it has been happening frequently (like 4-5 times a week). I have to unplug then plug it back to make it function again. I might upgrade my system to the WRT610N and WAP610N soon.

UPDATE 033110

I decided to get a new WAP54G instead since reading through the WAP610N manual, there is no provision for a REPEATER mode. I placed the old one on the first floor. So now, I have the WRT54G on the basement, my old WAP54G on the first floor and my new WAP54G (with a NETGEAR 5 port switch connected to it) on the 3rd floor. I noticed that with the new one, my web browsing is a lot faster compared to the old one!

UPDATE 041110

So I had the NEW WAP54G for a couple of days since my last update and I still had the same problem of getting disconnected intermittently. I tried shutting down the OLD unit totally but the issue persists with the new unit so it looks like the AP is not the problem. Now, my IPOD TOUCH 32GB 3Gen needed repair and has been out of commission since last Friday 04/09 (bought this last January). And guess what? I have had no problems with my WIFI connection since then (both APs running). I have to see if the replacement Ipod screws up my wifi connection again but I do think I found out the culprit for my WIFI issues.

UPDATE 042510

I got my new replacement Ipod Touch a week ago. My WIFI failure started again but not as frequent. Now, I always turn off the Ipod's Wifi when I'm not using it. I guess I'm stuck with it.

UPDATE 072610

When I got the IOS 4 software update for the Ipod Touch, my WIFI issues disappeared. :) Cisco-Linksys WAP54G Wireless-G Access Point

I have a SOHO that uses a wired 10/100 switched network. Already part of this network is a Linksys single port Cable / DSL Router. When it came time to make the jump to wireless, the WAP54G seemed the logical choice, as I would not have to reconfigure anything on my existing network. For the record, I selected the WUSB54G and WPC54G adapters for two different purposes. Look for reviews on those items posted separately.

I had no trouble installing my original piece of Linksys gear. Now, since Cisco acquired Linksys, this effortless installation is even easier. The software installed seamlessly and I was able to modify the default settings, to match my network and increase security, occurred without any problem. A nice touch is the included patch cord to perform the initial setup. If you have a single port Cable / DSL Router already on your wired network, simply plug the other end of the patch cable into any open port on your switch or hub and the WAP54G will establish communication.

One small item left out of the manual was how to access the Web based administration interface. For first time installers, this may be critical. You need to open you web browser by entering the IP address for the Access Point. Once there, you can access the proper screens to assign a static IP address, strongly advised, and set any key options.

If you are not familiar with WEP Keys, these are electronic codes that keep your network private. While not as fool proof as wired security, they do go a long way to keeping strangers from using your network. If you create a key, keep a hard copy somewhere secure but handy. Like any password, treat them as a guarded secret. If you enable WEP Keys on the access point, any network adapters must be supplied with the key before a connection can be established.

Once the Access Point is configured, place it a good location and your done. Now you only need to add a wireless network adapter to any PC and your good to go. One nice feature is this model is also compatible with the 802.11b spec and will handle the slower traffic of this spec. With the 802.11g adapters, the network will send traffic at the full 54 Mb/sec for that spec.

Bottom line: nice price, nice performance and painless installation.'

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