Thursday 2 October 2008

Expedition Watch - expedition watch, casual watch


I got this watch six years ago, when I was working at Fort Knox, Kentucky. I'm in the military, its dial shows the 24 hours and even better, It works just like the first day I bought it. It doesn't have a date window, but maybe "simple things are better things" ;-) . I recommend it at a 100%. Timex Men's T41711 Expedition Analog Camper Watch

It is worth, for the Money i paid 17 US$ , for a simple watch. black color display gives additional look, and so far working good.



A good sports and casual watch



I am still using this watch. I love it. I use it when I play badminton, and jog, and even to my office.

im still wearing it use it everyday. still the same original battery.

A good watch for out door jogging and riding.

We were required to get a analogue watch for our nursing program, I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted a watch that would last. Well this watch filled this need! After nearly 3 months of constant wear the watch continues to keep perfect time. The band is a bit discolored, is now more of a yellowish gold, but remains functional. If you need an inexpensive watch I would suggest this one, it worked wonderfully for me!

I bought this watch because I loved the vintage Timex that JCrew used in all of their female catalog shoots. However, I didn't want the pay the $150 JCrew price. This watch is a perfect $20 substitute. I love the military fashion statement and I wear it all the time. It fits perfectly on my female wrist and looks great!

If you're looking for a simple, no-frills watch for someone with a slender wrist, this is hard to beat. It's nicely sized for such people, the strap isn't overly long, and it wears very comfortably. It looks great, it tells accurate time, and does nothing else - no illuminator button or anything else to run down the battery. It's very easy to read day or night. The hands, hour markers and second hand are all brightly luminous, and a few seconds' exposure to a bright bulb keeps them glowing all night. The ticking can be loud, but usually it's not all that noticeable unless you're one of those people who are bothered by such noises. (I wear it snugly, which seems to help muffle the sound.) It's water resistant against splashes, but not immersion, so it can be worn in the shower, but not while bathing or swimming. My only concerns about it are the plastic crystal and the durability of the strap. The strap is very thin nylon, but seems to hold up well, and dries out almost immediately if it gets wet. The hook on the buckle has a lot of play, so it can be a little tricky to line up with a hole in the strap. Also, the buckle tended to itch a little until I got used to it. The watch case is almost more brown than green, so if the strap does wear out or fail, I'm sure a conventional leather strap would look fine on it if the nylon strap it comes with is unavailable.

Hard to complain because the watch i received was exactly how it looked on the website. Unfortunately, there wasn't an audio clip in the product description that would've described how prominent the TICK-TICK-TICKing on this timepiece really is. Call it high-maintenance, but I have to keep this watch in the bathroom with the door closed to get some shut-eye. Barring the noise, I think it's a nice, handsome watch.

To start, the watch keeps time very well, and looks very nice doing it. It does have its flaws however. First, it is unbelievably loud, each tick of the second hand is quite audible. The larger complaint I have is its lack of water resistance. For in the shower or washing dishes the watch preforms fine. Once submerged however, it fails instantly. Even during short intervals of time(20seconds), and very shallow depths (less than 1 meter) and in varying bodies of water (ocean, lake, river, pool) the watch cannot preform up to the standard described in its description. I must say though, that it does still work even with the condensation covering the internal face to the point where it is near unreadable. Within a week or so the condensation typically evaporates. Overall a nice watch, keep it out of water and out of libraries and it'll treat you right. - Practical - Military - Expedition Watch - Casual Watch'


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Asus Laptop - i7-2630qm, asus laptop


This machine was just what I was looking for... and for those of you who are like me, yes, this is the computer you want to buy. I have been in the market for a new laptop for almost a year and a half and have diligently considered all options within that timeframe... from MacBook Pro to Sony to Acer to Dell etc. You name it, I've looked at the specs vs. cost vs. reliability.



I was looking hard at the previous version of this laptop and almost bought it, but was truly sold when they updated it with the new Sandy Bridge processor. I have not added any RAM yet but I'm glad that I can add more.



My previous laptop was a 17" Dell Inpsiron 9300 bought in December 2005. I take very good care of my machines... probably did about 3 clean installs of Windows on it since purchase (including going from XP to Vista). If I wasn't worried about the hard drive going out on it, I would keep using it... serves me well, albeit slowly.



Pros

- The specs on this machine are great, great i7 processor, graphics card... this should be enough machine for many people.

- The price is very reasonable for the technology you're getting... you can find similar machines but they will downgrade you on something... be it hard drive RPM, RAM, or graphics card.

- Sturdy design

- Maybe more to come... haven't had it too long yet



Cons

- This is a big laptop, its very similar in size to my Dell but I don't travel with it much so that's fine

- All the ports are on the sides except power... again, this is only a con if you are using this primarily at a desk and don't plan on moving with it much.

- Screen resolution - this is not a huge con for me but its something to think about... I went from a 17" screen at 1920 by 1200 to this machine's screen. It's fine for me though, I've already gotten used to it.

- The ASUS drivers and software are still confusing me... I'm trying to remove some things I won't use (TrendMicro Virus Protection) and some of the game demos etc and I did run into the same problem as others (lost functionality of volume keys). I went on the support site here: [...] and installed the ATK package and things seem to be working now. I will have to read the manual to fully understand the other options like the power management, never had anything like that before. That being said, I have no problem with companies installing software on their machines. From what I understand it keeps the cost down and I just consider it part of the process in setting up a new computer to remove what you won't use.

- The keyboard does seem a little flimsy, but to me its similar to the spongy-ness of my old Dell and I don't really see it being a problem. I disabled the trackpad so I can't review that... I use an external mouse.



I may update this as time goes on...



- Update 4/10/11 - For anyone who is having problems with the speakers and sound quality of this machine, goto your start menu > Virage Logic > ASUS SonicMaster... I thought my speakers were blown or broken until I realized that the the factory default settings are for all the audio enhancements to be enabled... this caused my music to sound distorted and fuzzy. I'm guessing this machine is made to play high quality audio files and so you'll probably have to tinker with the settings if you have MP3s.



- Update 4/12/11 - [...] - that is the support site for this specific laptop. If you've lost functionality of your Fn-key because of uninstalling the pre-installed software, then download the ATK file and run it. That worked for me.



- Update 6/1/11 - After a solid two months of use, I am pleased with this purchase. Other reviewers have commented on the way the screen looks "washed out" when not at the proper angle. This would definitely be an annoyance if I were using the laptop on my lap or outside, but this is primarily a desktop replacement laptop for me... and given the size of the laptop (about as big as my Dell 9300 17") I would hesitate to recommend it for anyone who plans to use it on the go all the time. It's not a hassle to move from office to living room but anything more would be cumbersome. If you're looking for an ultra-portable, it's not this. I am still very impressed with the overall performance of the machine. I host a server of Minecraft beta on it, and then play on that server with literally no slowdown on the server or my game play. If you're having issues with gaming, etc. then right-click the game and look at the graphics card options. I was having problems initially while running the server and playing the game at the same time because I didn't realize that both were running off of the integrated graphics memory rather than the GPU. I don't know if this machine knows when to switch between the integrated graphics and the GPU automatically, but it does give you the convenient option of choosing before you run the program by right-clicking on it.



I have two issues with this machine but they are more annoyances than anything else. The first is the speaker. While it sounds fine, once it gets cranked up it sounds distorted just like any other laptop I've heard. I was expecting the sound to hold up better at max volume considering that seems to be it's big selling point. The second is the location of the USB ports. They are located on the left and right-hand side of the machine, near the front. After I've attached an external hard drive, a wireless mouse receiver, and an iPod cable... not only have I used up all the USB 2.0 ports, but I also have to watch to make sure my mouse doesn't hit the cords coming out of the side of the machine. These two issues are more annoyances than anything else but worth noting. ASUS N53SV-XE1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver Aluminum)

Got this laptop a week ago. I kept it running and it is not even warm!! (I just do some daily use, I do not play much game but I am always running more than 4 applications) The CPU usage never goes above 30%! The metal-made lip is also good-looking. I don't care the size of the hard drive but I do value the 7200rpm speed, in sense that many competitors are offering 5400rpm. (SSDs' speed is much higher but so is the price.)



I have considered other models in the N53SV series, and I finally decided on this one. The price is affordable, the inside power is more than enough! With the 15 inch screen I don't need 1080p resolution, which would make letters too hard to see ( and if I adjust the font, then it is meaningless to buy a full HD screen, and it would cause extra burden to the graphic card).



Pros:

1. Nice look, good quality design (you can't find any screws at the bottom)

2. Powerful processor and graphic gard

3. 4 USB ports including one 3.0, card reader is ok

4. Excellent temperature control, super silence

5. Number keys included in the keyboard

6. Support 16GB memory



Cons:

1. Kind of heavy

2. Only 4GB memory installed

3. Does not support Express Card

4. I would prefer the power cord port to be on the side rather than at the back

5. Buy it and tell me more :)



Overall I believe I made a right decision. - Asus - Asus Laptop - I7-2630qm'


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Roku - amazon video on demand, netflix


We were a longtime Dish Network customer paying $80 a month for video service. While we had no complaints about Dish, we decided this past summer to take the plunge into internet video to see if we could save some dollars. My family was shocked the day I unplugged all of the Dish receivers and sent them back to Dish Network. "What are we going to watch?" "What about my favorite shows?"



As a 3 HDTV family and not knowing the best hardware option to use, we decided to try a selection of devices. For our main living room TV, we purchased a Roku device. For the den, we used our Wii and for the master bedroom a Sony Blu Ray Internet DVD player.



For content, we have moved our NetFlix usage from DVDs in the mail to internet streaming. We also installed playon.tv on our PC for access to Hulu (primarily), CBS (Survivor and Amazing Race) and Comedy Channel. Both NetFlix and Playon streaming to all of the devices we use work fine. This includes the Roku via playon, despite reports that Roku pulled the plug on playon (continues to work fine to this day).



We also purchased Comcast Basic (Limited) Cable ($14) for local news and sports. This is the plan that just uses the cable, no digital cable boxes required, allowing us to wire cable to all of our TV's. What Comcast will not tell you is with HDTV's we get full HD channels for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CBS, etc. without having to purchase a digital plan or rent their digital boxes.



Comparing the Roku, Wii and Sony Internet DVD devices, we like the Roku the best of the three. In fact, we just installed a second Roku, moving the Wii back to a game system. The reason was primarily ease of use. Some of the reasons include the following:

- Roku Remote is the simplest to use than the Wii and Sony remotes with fewer and easier to understand buttons

- Roku provides access to NetFlix suggested titles and search. This is also available for the Wii but not the Sony Internet DVD player

- The Roku seems to do a better job at buffering the streaming content resulting in less video interuptions



In conclusion, we have a better video experience today than when we were paying $80 for Dish. Netflix gives us access to movies and past seasons of TV shows. Playon with Hulu gives us DVR access to all of the latest TV shows, we love the Hulu favorites Queue and the emails letting us know the latest episodes are in the queue.



Outside of our internet connection (need 2MBPS or more) which we already had in place, our total internet video monthly fees are $12.95 for NetFlix and $14 for Basic (Limited) Comcast Cable. A great savings with a better video experience. Roku 2050X XD Streaming Player 1080p

One can make a good case that with Roku you really don't need cable or satellite TV. With a $10 monthly subscription to Netflix you can get more movies than you have time for over the internet at the time that you want to see them. I doubt that one movie that TCM shows is not available this way.



You can listen to almost any radio station in the country free, meeting your needs if you like any particular kind of music or listen to talk radio, sports, etc.



You can watch Youtube clips on your big TV as well and can send the sound to your stereo system, home theater nowadays.



There are lots of other specialized sites, both free and by subscription, that are available. I like Pub-D-Hub which has movies in the public domain for free, many are poor but others can be quite good, I had never seen a picture with legendary Lillian Gish before.



Roku is a winner.

I've owned my Roku for 10 months. I'm sorry that that one person had a bad experience. I, myself, have had great experience with their customer service. Wow, last month, when my wifi went out on my old player, the guy trouble shooted it (even though I had told him that I had already done every trouble shoot 19 times), and then he gave me the needed number to write down on the return label and mailed me a box to send it back to them for free. I didn't have to collect a bunch of paperwork and (receipts and stuff) like most other companies require for a full refund. Just the player and the remote! My brand new Roku arrived within the week.

I have never regretted buying this player. Now it's even $40.00 less than I originally paid for it. It's a fricken steal if you ask me. Not only do you get your movies mailed to you from Netflix, but you get to watch, from the comfort of any room you decide to put the thing in, all the tv shows and kids shows and movies and free music and OMG the list goes on and on. Ren and Stimpy, 30 Rock, Lie to Me, Spongebob, on and on and on. The kids love it. When I'm bored at night, I get a huge list of choices to entertain me and I really couldn't live without this cute little tiny machine. I HIGHLY recommend!!

During the setup procedure Roku informs you that to establish your free account, you must provide them with a credit card number (or paypal). If you don't comply, you can't use the Roku. This information had to be intentionally omitted from every detailed description I read on Amazon and elsewhere. I wondered how I had missed this in the user reviews. I scanned them again and was surprised to find only a couple of other reviewers who were displeased with this requirement. I am returning the Roku and ordering a Panasonic bluray player with internet capability built in. Funny how that dvd player can stream Netflix to you without a Panasonic account.

I'm a spartan tightwad, so for me to say that something is worth the money is high praise indeed. Roku isn't perfect, but it's a great idea and well executed.



We have been cable/satellite free for over five years (before we bought our house, our apartment included free cable). I have never paid for premium TV, I just can't imagine doing it. When our tube TV died a few years ago, we tried to get it fixed, but they no longer make the part. So we started watching shows online. After the digital conversion last year, our remaining tiny tube TV became just a DVD watching monitor.



Well, the holiday season of 2010 offered such spectacular deals on TVs that it turned even me, and we bought a 42" plasma for $350 because it's only 720p/60hz. As I planned on hooking up a home theatre PC (much of streaming is still standard def), I'll accept the slightly out of date technology for that great of a price.



I looked at the Boxee Box, a Dell Zino, and laughed hysterically at the price of Google TV and internet enabled televisions and Blu Ray players. But the Roku, starting at $60... that price held my attention.



I bought the mid level Roku for the price of the low end one, $60+ shipping, on their Black Friday sale. Shipping was fast- it was here on Monday.



Set up is pretty simple, but you do need a computer or at least a smartphone to input the codes. Choosing the channels and inputting the codes takes ten times as long as actual hardware setup, but you can do this over time, you don't have to do it right away unless you are like me and very Type A.



The Bad: there is still lots of content out there, for free, that Roku can't access. You'll either have to pony up the dough on Amazon's video on demand, wait for the DVD from Netflix, or plug your laptop into your computer with an HDMI cable. This is true even if you have Hulu+. For example, "Medium" moved to CBS. CBS, because they are a network run by and for old people, doesn't participate in Hulu. I can't watch Medium on my TV unless I pay for it from AVOD. Bummer, when I could watch for free on CBS.com. Same thing with Disney- if you have Disney Magic Codes, you can watch movies (as much as you want, whenever you want) online. But not on a TV, at least not through the Roku. Mr. HDMI cable has to come out, or Disney is confined to the computer screen.



I don't need or want Roku to have a full browser, but if it did this problem would be solved. The business model behind Hulu+ would also collapse, though, so I'm not sure what the solution is.



We are not a family of sports fans, so we don't subscribe to MLB or NHL pay channels, but we do have Netflix and Hulu+ for a grand total of $16/mo. There are tons of good, free Roku channels, especially if you bother to look for the "Private" channels, which include YouTube and HGTV.



What is very, very good about the Roku is the price and ease of use. I would have spent an absolute minimum of $250 on a little nettop to use as an HTPC, plus more for a wireless keyboard, and it would have been a PITA to use. You'd have to open a browser and search. If I lived alone, this would not be a big deal, but we have three kids, and if I lived alone, I probably would get along with just a laptop. The primary reason we got a TV was to cuddle on the couch and watch movies. My littles would make mincemeat out of a a keyboard-as-remote. On the other hand, while you can search pretty easily with Roku remote, you don't HAVE to. You can browse. The remote and interface is so dead simple my four year old learned how to use it in about 15 minutes, despite the fact that we've never used a TV remote in this house until about a week ago. My dad could use this, hell, my husband's grandma could use it. It's that straightforward.



Also, Kidlet is AMAZING. It's a kids' TV network that contains three channels and tons of cartoons. There are no commercials whatsoever, which are my main objection to childrens' TV. (Yeah, we get PBS OTA, too.) We discovered "Redwall" through Kidlet on Roku, something that Netflix doesn't even have, and is fantastic- we have the books on hold now at the library.



This is the way TVs and movies are meant to be watched- when you want, no discs to scratch, no mindless channel surfing, no/few commercials, no schedule to keep, with a picture that far outstrips everything but DVD. Roku is the future. - Netflix Streaming - Netflix - Amazon Video On Demand - Wireless'


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Amazon Digital Services - fire, ebook reader


The BBC has released many excellent documentaries in hi-def/Blu-ray and Yellowstone is no exception. It carries on the BBC's tradition of high-quality nature programming and flair for visually-stunning photography. This series is a year in the lives of several of Yellowstone/North America's iconic wildlife: the bison, grizzly bears, foxes, wolves, beavers, and elk. Divided into three 50 minute episodes, they are titled "Winter", "Summer" and "Autumn" (in this order). For the US market, the BBC has added "Battle for Life" to the title, but this is a bit superfluous and unnecessary, maybe to make the DVD sound more dramatic. The original title is simply "Yellowstone".



The episodes are informative, entertaining, and light-hearted, largely free of the depressing reminders of human ecological destruction seen on some other BBC documentaries such as Wild Pacific [Blu-ray]. I learned some things I didn't know before. Winter is by far my favorite episode, giving me the most memorable line from the series: "At 40 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit or centigrade doesn't really matter much. At this temperature, both are the same." Despite being the home to the world's largest geothermal formation, Yellowstone is paradoxically one of the coldest places in North America. I enjoyed the pristine landscapes covered with deep snow and seeing a winter wonderland untouched by any signs of humanity, all from the comfort of my home. One particularly amazing scene is of a fox sniffing for mice under 6 feet of snow, and seeing it leap into the air, plunge headfirst into the snow like an Olympic diver, and emerge with a mouse in its jaws.



This series also features some gorgeous fly-overs, in particular, the colorful volcanic springs (Grand Prismatic Spring), which looks like a beautiful orange and blue encircled painting instead of a natural ecological wonder. I wish the producers could've spend some time showing us the colonies of extremophile heat-loving bacteria that thrive in these springs, instead of just flying over and cutting to the next scene. Bears and elk I've seen a thousand times on TV, but not these rare bacteria.



I watched these out of order on TV, but the overall effect is not diminished because of the cycle of life and the changing of the seasons. Peter Firth's voice is pleasant and affable. If you enjoyed Nature's Most Amazing Events [Blu-ray], you'll probably enjoy this too. Yellowstone [HD]

I'm writing this before the Blu-Ray is released, but I happened to catch this program on Animal Planet yesterday and was very pleased with it.



The program contains the usual stunning scenery and animal video you would expect from this type of program. The basic theme of the program is to follow how various animals survive in Yellowstone throughout the year. I missed the first part of the program, but I believe it starts with summer and then flows through the seasons to summer again. There seemed to be particular emphasis on the Yellowstone winter given its harshness. (Of particular interest was the fact that winter is when wolves are at their strongest as their prey animals become weaker.)



The program also spent some time explaining how the geology of Yellowstone affected its climate. They explained, for example, how it can snow in Yellowstone any month of the year. (Something I found interesting given that I got caught in a snowstorm there in late July one year!)



The TV airing was 120 minutes, less commercials. The Blu-Ray description indicates a run time of 150 minutes. That might include extra features or it might mean additional footage not included for broadcast. Either way, and given the price, this seems to be a good deal.



UPDATE: The program actually includes three 50-minute episodes (Winter, Summer, Autumn). I must have missed part of the Autumn as part of that episode has a bit more of the man versus nature theme than the other episodes. The episodes are presented in widescreen (and look great). Three short features on "The People of Yellowstone" are included.

I'm super picky about the DVD's I buy and keep and this one is probably the best nature documentary I have ever purchased! This is not just one, brief, hi-def show, but three, superb, full-length shows which feature the finest photography ever taken of Yellowstone in: 1. Winter, 2. Summer, and 3. Autumn, and all are produced with the same care and quality that we have come to love and appreciate with the BBC's Planet Earth series. I was hesitant to buy this DVD, wondering if it would be another short, politically-driven propaganda film like so many of the currently produced nature shows are. But I refreshingly found that this show is a fair portrayal of how difficult and also gorgeous things actually are in Yellowstone today, and it's really well filmed and produced with lots of what I would call "eye candy" because it is so professionally filmed--it is truly amazing to watch and enjoy! I see more of Yellowstone's beauty and wonder each time I watch it! I'm so glad I took a chance and bought this in blu-ray (if you have a 1080p TV you should be watching and enjoying blu-ray DVDs) because I really do like it even better than the Planet Earth series which I also own and frequently enjoy watching in blu-ray. I was thrilled when I realized that there is actually around 150 total minutes of superb film to enjoy on this DVD! If you love the Planet Earth by BBC, you will also love this first class documentary of Yellowstone--it's worth every penny you will pay for it! I promise you will love it! Get it!

This is absolutely the best Yellowstone video ever. The format of following the seasons of Yellowstone provides an interesting understanding of animal behavior. The videography is gorgeous and the explanation of Yellowstone's geologic factors and their effects is new information. My only complaint is the over dramatic descriptions of animal behavior life/death decisions. - Ebook Reader - Fire - Amazon Kindle Fire - Android'


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Inflatable Sailboat - inflatable sailboat, inflatable boat


This raft may be able to hold the weight of (4) people but it will not seat (4) people. The raft is decent enough for what I paid but I was planning on taking (4) people in it. We were only able to get (2) in. The product is made well and should last severl trips, we went rafting down a shallow river and scrapped the bottom (rocks) several times, and the raft did not puncture. The oars are poorly made. It comes with (4), not sure why as you can not get (4) people in it, and I had one of them break as I was putting it together. Overall it was a good purchase for (2) people to float down the river. Sevylor Colossus 4-Person Inflatable Boat

advertised as a 4 person boat/raft. don't believe it. picture on the box shows 2 adults and two children. they must be lilliputians. no way is this a 4 person raft unless you use it as a toy in the pool. don't try to take 4 humans down the river in it! the coleman pump is excellent!

excellent boat, but if you are a big guy, don't count on rowing from the middle support, it won't hold you. also, it would actually be better if it had ONE set of oars, as the placement of the two are too far to the front and back respectively. otherwise, we like the boat and both fit in it with our 3 year old quite comfortably.

I have never had an inflatable boat before and the overall impression is that I will probably never want to have one again. The boat is very difficult and inconvenient to maneuver with the oars provided. Sitting in the boat is hardly called sitting, more like laying on the floor. "4 person" advertisement should be changed to "4 midgets". In the end we decided to use the boat as an inflatable mattress. The only thing it seems to be good for.

I bought this boat recently. Its great for two and very very tight for four. The only complaint I have is with the oars, every single one has snapped in half in the first two weeks of use. However if you could find more oars I would get this boat.

For the price; I didn't expect to get an actual 4 person boat. But, for the price, you get a nice little inflatable that is fine for goofing about in a lake, a pool, or a very slow river. 4 of the Munchkins might fit in this boat, but not 4 adults, no way.



Still, if you just wanted to do some lazy floating down a river, with no dangerous rapids; there is room for you and your lady, and maybe a small cooler of drinks.



It's hard to steer; but two people , using one paddle each, that can figure out how to work together can make it go where you want to go. It's really hard to paddle against even a weak current. If you aren't real vigilant, you just wind up spinning round in circles.



Me and my 3 grandkids enjoyed it, we were at a slow moving river which had a tiny rapid, so we'd float down the rapid, pick it up (one person can carry it) go back up the river a ways, and float back down the little rapid again. Also it was useful as a base for the kids to swim to when they got tired. The rope around it makes it easy to grab hold and catch your breath.



I wouldn't want to be in a Real serious river with serious rapids and boulders, because you just can't maneuver it good enough to stay out of trouble. You would be foolish to try going down a fast river in this.



But it's fine for the price, you gets what you pays for, ya know?

Actually we purchased this to use in a 50K-gallon water tank. Our overflow pipe needed to be cut down a few inches and rather than empty the whole tank we dropped it through the hatch, filled it with a cordless Ryobi wet/vac and then floated over with all the tools necessary to cut the pipe. The boat was vary stable and easy to work out of and had plenty of places to tie off tools to. If it worked well for our tank I wouldn't have any issues taking it out on a real lake. - Inflatable Sailboat - Inflatable Boat'


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Stretching Exercise - fitness, body ball


This was big enough to use as a chair, but I went back to the standard office chair after the novelty wore off. I use this mostly to just bend backwards and chill out. The pump that came with it was easy to use, but I think I read others had problems. Not sure why. It's a good size (I'm 5' 8") and I wouldn't want a smaller one. How much can you say about a ball? It deflates for storage. Can be rolled out of way for those that don't want to lift it. If you drop it, it won't break. Oh well, don't take my word for it. Read yet another review about a ball to be sure. Valeo Body Ball (75 cm)

The 75cm Valeo Body Ball ("burst resistant" per the box) performed faithfully for seven months until it ruptured yesterday. I am 6'4", 200# and was prone using two 10# dumbbells when it burst beneath me and dropped me face first on the smooth concrete floor. The tear was nearly fully circumferential around the middle of the ball. Fortunately, I only had a couple of small abrasions. The ball had no previous damage, leak or or other warning sign of weakness or impending failure. It was replaced with a more expensive, stronger ball that is now used with a thick foam exercise mat underneath.

Like C. Richards, below, my ball burst after less than a year of light use. I wasn't seriously hurt, but it was a fairly ridiculous spectacle. There's no reason the material should fail so quickly if it's not being misused and abused.

I am 6'2 and use this for problems with my back. Had no problems with the ball. You don't have to blow it up all the way and can adjust it to your required size. The pump works just fine. Better than having to go to a store and buy one seperately.

I ordered a 75cm ball but the arrived ball is at most 65cm.

I am too lazy complainning or returning so I have to live with it. I am only 5'4'' so it is fine for me but my hubby is 6' and he could use a real 75cm ball. Otherwise the product is fine. We all love to sit on it watching TV ! We also do free weights on it and other routines.

I paid about $12 for this ball and it was a great bargin for the price. I have seen similarly priced balls sell at about $20. Included in the packaging is a foot pump which is very handy (this was not listed in the description when I bought the ball). The only reason that I am giving this product a four star rating is because it has a tendency to deflate more quickly than other excercise balls I have used in the past.

My main purpose is to use this to stretch out my abs before my intense ab workouts. I just lay on top of the ball facing up until I am like a "bridge". I did not measure this ball so I am not sure if it is 75mm or 65mm but it is the RED ball that I ordered. This "75mm" ball does seem smaller than the 75mm ones at the gym. This red ball could well be 65mm as others have stated here on Amazon.



The ball stinks bad when you first take it out of the box to blow it up but after a while it airs out and you will be fine. - Stability Ball - Body Ball - Exercise - Fitness'


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Desktop Organizer - desk set, desktop organizer


This organizer is everything you need for a small office/study area to keep all your most commonly used supplies at hand and stored accessibly. The unit is made of quality materials and holds an ample amount of supplies despite taking up only little space on your desk. The base is weighted so it doesn't slide around when you get tape from the dispenser. I had one at my old job for three years and it showed no signs of wear and tear. I liked it so much, I bought one to take into my new job because I couldn't work as efficiently without it.



I use each of the sections for:

-a normal sized stickynote,

-4 small flags (but I put in 2 skinny flags and 1 larger sign here flags),

-a small stickynote (although in the picture it shows paper clips for this section, it's the exact size of the smaller postits)

-full size tape

-large area in the middle which I used for paper and binder clips

-business card holder in the back for quick access

-3 separate sections for pens/scissors/highlighter (3 pens, 2 sharpies and 1 pair of scissors)



I enjoy this style so much more than the spinning desk organizers because it doesn't require you to spin around the organizer to find what you need- everything is right in view and well organized. I highly recommend this product to students or professionals. Post-it Desktop Organizer (C50)

I was looking locally for a desk organizer just like this one. And believe it or not I could not find one. I knew Amazon would have something I like. So I found this one and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. It is very sturdy and weight down with sand or alike inside, so no tipping over. Comes with one roll of tape and the post it thingies and note pad. I can only recommend this. Shipping was fast, the only thing was that I did not get any tracking info, but I got it within a few days. So that was no big deal. I love it!

I seem to never find a pen or the tape, or a sticky pad when I need one. This compact yet ample gadget is perfect for my computer desk. It doesn't have a large footprint, yet offers organized space for small do-dads like paper clips and rubberbands as well as having a tape dispenser, room for pens/pencils and markers, a dedicated Post-it pad slot, and other areas for business cards, a phone, or whatever you may need them for. It is also weighted inside, so it doesn't slide around easily if you bump it or start pushing papers up your desk, and though it is plastic it has a solid well constructed feel to it. It was just what I was looking for in my home office!

I needed something to hold my odds and ends together on my desktop. The 3M C-50 perfectly fits the bill.



It is compact, which I consider to be a plus. But, if you're a clutter bug that tries to fit 1,001 things into this thing, then it won't work for you. But, if you need something to hold a few pens, markers, scissors, tape, and post-it notes, then this is perfect.

Some things I really like about it - nice heavy weight; tape dispenser; flag holder. Post-it notes holder is not strong enough to keep whole pad from coming out when you pull a page off. Paper clip holder is almost worthless, unless you never use paper clips and don't mind only having a few there at a time. That space needs to be magnetized at the minimum. The pencil holder is a little shallow - another inch would help. - Desk Set - Desktop Organizer - Desk Organizer - Organizer'


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4 3 Aspect Ratio - digital photo frame, dpf


Got this as a Christmas present for my mom. Loaded some test pictures on there just to ensure picture quality was good and that it worked reasonably well. Have read some reviews (while researching DPFs) that some DPFs are not worth buying. Issues with picture quality and ease of use.



There are two ways you can put pictures on this frame. There is a memory card slot in the back and you can also connect this unit to your computer with the supplied USB cable.



I had no problem connecting and uploading 20 mb of pictures. Display quality is excellent. It does auto crop pictures so that they don't looked stretched or distorted.



I read another review about how to adjust picture sizes so that this unit does not have to auto crop.



Although I haven't used the ap to auto crop yet, basically you have to download Microsoft Photo Story from microsoft to do so. I'm sure there are other apps, free or otherwise that do so.



Very happy with this unit. Now wife wants one. I would say, anything less that 10 inches is a waste of money. I do not see how a 7 inch frame would provide a nice veiwable screen.



You can change how frequently the images change, whether or not it crops them. Lots of features. The only con I have is its a little hard to use menu. Read the manual...



A~ Pandigital PanImage PI1003DW 10.1-Inch Digital Picture Frame (Black)

I got this photo frame for my father for Christmas and filled it with some pictures before I wrapped it. My parents divorced when I was 7, and somehow my father didn't seem to receive any of the pictures of my me and my twin sister after my folks had split. When I graduated college my mother made me a scrapbook and my father, looking through it, mentioned that he didn't have any of these pictures and "that's where they all went". So I took my Canon scanner and took some pages out of my scrapbook, and scanned some of the photos to put in this frame, which gave me a pretty good indication of how this product works.



Pros:



It's a nice looking frame. It can hang on the wall, which is a must for my dad and stepmom, who have a two year-old at home. It also has a plastic fold-out leg to sit on a table. The leg actually comes out and extends, which was not glaringly obvious at first. I only figured it out after the frame slid over several times.



The picture quality is good. The pixels present on the frame are very minimal, and not present at all when viewing the frame from several feet away.



It comes with a remote which is pretty handy if you've ever seen anyone trying to change things by pressing all over the frame.



It is versatile as far as input goes: You can put pictures on the frame with a USB cord to the internal memory, or use an array of memory cards, or even a memory stick (although I'm not sure that you would want to).



Features: You can change the duration of the slides, the effects from one picture to another (fade, roll, etc), the randomness of the photos, etc. You can edit the photos so that they appear a certain way in the frame only, although this only works for photos saved to the hard drive.



Cons:



It comes with two mattes for the frame. One is black, the color of the frame, and the other is white. I cannot see any reason you would want to use the white one. I think its a waste of materials and a pointless inclusion.



Ease of use: When I first opened the frame, I inserted an 8 gb memory card into the slot and plugged it into my computer. Two devices appeared on my Macbook Pro's desktop: One that said Panimage (okay, obviously the frame), and the other that said "No Name". It took me a few minutes to realize that the panimage icon was for the hard drive in the frame, and the other was the memory card. I dragged and dropped the images, but was unsure of where I was supposed to put them. Also, I dragged and dropped images I had exported from Aperature, a photo editing program. I always shoot photos in RAW + large, and when examining the frame, I realized it had also imported the Raw format as well. All of these images were in the frame as "unsupported format" taking up space. I feel that there should be something that rejects the unsupported formats, so I wouldn't have to erase them all manually afterwards.



Another thing that was a bit of a bummer is that you cannot play the slideshow from the internal memory as well as the memory card. Its one or the other.



I read another review that stated the remote did not work. Mine did, but barely. Its nice that it came with a remote, but it felt cheap and was tiny. The buttons did not have much of a tactile response and it sometimes took two or three presses of a button, pointed directly at the screen for it to register.



The crop aspect ratio is off, as I've seen others mention. If you choose to fit the images to the frame, it chops off the top inch or so for any photos that are shoot in the vertical orientation. It worked great for photos in the 4x3 aspect. Unfortunately, because many heads were chopped off with this setting, I took it off, forcing all photos to be seen with a slight black border around them. This essentially made the photos smaller.



Conclusion:



Its a good frame for the money. I've seen many other frames go for a lot more. This has some customizable features which you may choose to use or not, but you aren't paying a ridiculous price for them. Once you get past figuring out how to use it and make it look the way you want, it does have a nice, sleek design. To me, that was one of the most important things.

I received the 10" Pandigital Picture Frame for Christmas. It works okay, but its memory is bad. I was only able to load 45MB onto the 512MB internal memory. Anything after that, it says there is no space on the device even though it says there is 430MB of free space. I would not buy this brand myself and if I was to buy a digital picture screen I probably would go for the HP DreamScreen though it costs quite a bit more. Once I had my pictures installed though it seems to work okay though I will probably buy a SD card and use that instead of its internal memory. - Digital Photo Frame - Pandigital - Photo Frame - Dpf'


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Blanket With Sleeves


This was a combination birthday and Mother's Day present for my mother,who's a Yankee fan.She loved it and thinks it's a great product.It's a nice light weight,and,it does the job of keeping her warm,especially how she can wrap the bottom part around her feet,and,the sleeves around her hands. MLB New York Yankees Adult Comfy Throw Blanket with Sleeves

This Atlanta Braves Snuggie was the most awesome gift I had given in a long time. To see the recipiants face was all I needed to realize I made the right choice and thank you Amazon you were the only company I found this awesome gift at.

Product is very fun if the recipient loves the Cleveland Indians. I've used it even though I gave it as a gift and it definitely kept me warm. It is not that thick but still very comfy. I'm pleased with my purchase.'


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