Screen Protection

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I purchased these screen protectors because they were so cheap and most of the reviews were favorable. However, I put the first one on and was immediately displeased. It makes the screen look very grainy (don't be fooled by the "crystal clear" in the title), and since my case is silicone and is a little stretched out so its edges slip off my ipod sometimes, the edges of the screen protector fold up a little and I have to push them back down. Other than that they do a good job of keeping the screen scratch-free. So if you don't mind not having a crystal clear looking screen and your case stays on the edges of your ipod better I guess, then go for these. If your looking for better quality I'd go with splash 3-Pack of Masque Screen Protector for iPod touch 4G (Clear) I've used these and they actually are crystal clear and stay on very well with easy application. Screen Protectors for Apple iPod touch 4th Gen (Crystal Clear, 5 Pack)

very good price, arrived timely manner, but wrong title , should change crystal clear to ANTI GLARE, which is not clear on screen, i hate those grainy looking screen. not seller fault, just wrong title

i LIKE IT all and all but i just didn't like it didn't come with a Card to remove airblubles but i have a credit card and that work fine. but anyways only thin i did notice was that the edge didn't really cover all of the screen. but my casing did. so its ok.

seriously, a 5 pk. at a dirt cheap price! how do you beat that? the answer is, 'you can't'. i put the first one on and it's super clean. i can barely tell it has a screen protector. it fits perfectly, maybe a little too perfect cuz it took me a few times to get it spot on; just buy it already.

Do not waste your time and money, the items WILL NOT fit the iPhone 4 or 4s, it is approx 1/8 to 1/16 short and the holes do not line up. Also the size of the holes are too small and it you try to put it on you will not be able to listen to any conversation. COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY'

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Staple Gun - staplers, wen

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At under $22 this Chinese-made stapler costs less than some boxes of staples. It arrived promptly and in good condition.



WHAT'S IN THE BOX:



In addition to the stapler you get a plastic case, a small cheap bottle of air tool oil, two hex keys, and a booklet of operating instructions. It includes no staples, which you'll have to buy separately.



THE CASE



The plastic case is better than I had been expecting for the price of this tool. The tool sort-of fits in the case, but not well. It's as if Wen decided to stop refining the case's design too soon, to save costs.



THE OIL



You get a small unmarked bottle of what should be pneumatic oil. It has a spout that you'd need to remove from the bottle, reverse so the pointy end is out, and puncture with a pin to use. I already had an open bottle of pneumatic oil, so I didn't use the one supplied, but even so I credit Wen for including it.



THE HEX KEYS



I haven't had to use the two supplied hex keys yet, which are held within the case. The operating instructions call them an "S3 Hex Key" and an "S4 Hex Key". I'm not sure what is meant by the "S" prefix, but they appear to be ordinary 3 mm and 4 mm hex keys. The body of the stapler has several 4 mm socket screws, and the magazine assembly uses 3 mm socket screws.



THE INSTRUCTIONS



The operating instructions aren't bad. They are written in American English, and consist of two 8.5" x 11" sheets folded in half and staple bound, to produce an 8-page 8.5" x 5.5" booklet. By my count it has a total of 5 tables and 4 figures, including an exploded view drawing and a parts list. There is an insert with a one year limited warranty for non-commercial use against defects, with proof of purchase. But, there's only a 30-day limited warranty for commercial or rental use. There is also a sticker on the front of the manual giving the phone number for Wen's customer service department, and an admonition not to return the unit to the store. This sticker and warranty insert are the only parts of the operating instructions that mention Wen; the rest is written anonymously for a generic air stapler model 61710.



THE STAPLER



The tool comes assembled -- ready to load staples, add a few drops of oil, connect to an air supply, and drive staples.



The tool's body, painted blue, is die-cast aluminum, and the Wen logos are part of it. Other parts are made of various materials including steel and plastic. The handle has a rubber "soft-grip sleeve" wrapped around it with some raised dots for texture. (Those dots remind me of pips-out rubber on a ping-pong paddle.) It fits well in the hand and has good heft, weighing a few ounces less than 3 lbs. For what it's worth, it has a CE-mark label on it, meaning that Wen declares this tool meets EU safety, health and environmental requirements.



Three additional features are:

1. A window with a scale on the side of the fixed magazine that lets you see how many staples are left until it is time to reload.

2. An adjustable exhaust deflector, consisting of a black plastic cap (exhaust cover) on top of the tool. There are two holes in the side of the cap that normally aim the exhaust towards the front of the tool, which should be away from the operator. But, the exhaust cover is mounted by a socket screw in its center, and with some force it can be rotated 360 degrees.

3. The tool's nose has a latch designed to make it easy to clear staple jams. I haven't had to use it yet.



A feature that I had hoped for, but this unit lacks, is an adjustment controlling the driving depth. Contrary to the Amazon product description, there is no "variable depth control for quick countersinking adjustment". *** THE ONLY WAY TO CONTROL THE DRIVING DEPTH IS BY ADJUSTING THE REGULATOR'S AIR PRESSURE. ***



There also seems to be some confusion in the operating instructions about the depth adjustment. The twenty-first safety caution says, "THIS TOOL IS EQUIPPED WITH SAFE BRACKET THAT CAN ADJUST THE DEPTH OF THE DRIVER. When adjusting the depth of the driver, first disconnect the tool from the air and rotate nut by thumb to satisfactory position." But, I think these safety cautions were just boiler-plate copied over from some other tool's manual. The safe bracket has no adjustment nut. None is shown in the exploded view drawing or parts list. And the section of the instructions called "operating the tool" says, "Test the driving depth in a sample piece of wood before using. If the fasteners are being driven too far or not far enough, adjust the regulator to provide less air pressure or more air pressure."



There is no serial number on the product, and the model number is only on a sticker.



THE STAPLES



As I mentioned previously, the tool comes with no staples, so you'll have to buy those separately. The tool uses 3/8" to 1" long, 18-gauge staples with a 1/4" crown. I bought a box of 5,000 5/8" x 1/4" (15 mm x 6 mm) Fas'ners-Unlimited-brand galvanized staples at a local Lowe's home-center store for about $18. They fit and worked fine. I was using about 72 PSI from a small DeWalt compressor, and the staples were sunk just below the surface of 1/4" lauan over 3/4" birch plywood.



My first use for these staples was to snug-up the back of a bookcase that had come loose in a few places. It had previously been attached with brads. I've discovered that for this use staples do a much better job than brads.



OPERATION



So far my stapler seems to be working well. All of my test shots were OK, and there have been no jams.



While stapling into the back of a bookcase, there were some misfirings, but perhaps the safety in the tool's nose wasn't always getting fully depressed. Also, I found one staple I needed to tap in further. I'm not sure what caused that one to be higher; it may have been caused by a drop in air pressure during rapid use.



DURABILITY



I still don't know how well it will hold up long term, but this Wen stapler seems to be made well-enough that it should last a long time. At first I was concerned when I saw some brown marks on the yellow-painted nose of the tool that looked like rusted scratches in the paint. But, they wiped off, revealing pristine yellow paint underneath, so those marks were probably just grease. If I were planning to use this tool commercially, I'd also be concerned about the 30-day limit on the commercial-use warranty.



CONCLUSIONS



My previous experience with pneumatic tools was with a more-expensive Hitachi brad nailer, which exudes quality. On a 0 to 10 scale, I'd rate this Wen stapler at 7 for features, 8 for build quality, and 8 for value. I don't have enough experience with it to judge long-term reliability, but it seems well made. I have no problem recommending it for occasional non-commercial use. For extended use, I'd suggest getting a stapler with a depth adjustment. WEN 61710 3/8-Inch to 1-Inch 18 Gauge Narrow Crown Stapler - Pneumatic Stapler - Staple Gun - Staplers - Wen'

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Game Of The Year

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Great production value does not make a great game.

I'll start with the good things. COD:Black Ops graphics are on-par with any top-shelf title and it has an incredibly smooth feel. The game is reported to run at 60 frames per second and it feels very high def. The voice acting is good, and clearly the production value and marketing budgets are both very high. However, graphics, and hype do not make a good game. Gameplay and immersion do. Here's why COD:Black Ops Fails utterly.



1 AI is stupid. These shortcomings remind you constantly that your playing a game, and a poorly scripted one at that.

- Enemy recognition: I've seen the AI sit 2 feet away from an enemy and not shoot at them. When they finally do, they shoot it out for 10-15 seconds to score a kill on the enemy. This is ridiculous. Your allies in the field are supposed to be top-notch soldiers just like you. Why can't they do some of the heavy lifting? Why can't they do ANY lifting?

- AI Movement: Once again you are expected to lead the way no matter what. AI will lead you from one battle to another with annoying "follow me you jackass" type comments (I mean you're supposedly the "very best" soldier in the US's arsenal and your squad pampers you along like you're the greenest rookie in the armed forces, but I'll hit on this later) but once you get from one battle sequence to the next, they sit and shoot in the general direction of the enemy, but do nothing, generally, to progress the situation.

I want to ask the developers, "Have you played ANY other modern games with AI in them?" Because they do have a worthwhile influence on the outcome. Try playing Halo:Reach on legendary without the help of your squad mates you are FAR worse off. In that game, your squad shoots and accurately, and infinitely and eliminates enemies... For the really tough enemies you can time your shots with your AI squad mates to take down difficult targets with efficacy. This is entirely missing in BO.



2. Scripted non-sense battles: Once again the feel of a real battle is completely removed here. You can not move naturally through a level, but instead must figure out through countless, monotonous trial and error sessions what the best, and arguable only, (especially when playing on hardened/veteran difficulty) way through a section is. The fact that the story won't proceed to the next sequence until you trip the magic tripwire in the game is on par with 10-15yr old video games. Have the developers played anything but their own garbage in the last decade? I'm guessing no.

- Nothing is worse in battles than seeing your buddies standing in the open taking zero fire, while you are ducked behind cover, and somehow getting magically lit up by enemies invisible to you. While I understand that perhaps some finger or toe might be sticking out of cover, why in all reasonableness would the enemy concentrate the entirety of their base of fire on such an impossible target when there are readily available targets standing entirely in the open? The fact that every enemy on the field seems to ignore all targets but you is very hard to get over. It's counter intuitive. If you see your friends moving with impunity, its natural to think, "I can go with them and NOT get shot at by multiple enemies, since they are in the open and not getting shot at by multiple enemies." Treyarch rewards this logic with untimely, inexplicable death, over and over again. = totally annoying



3. Infinitely spawning enemies

- There are times when this is sensible, and there are times when it isn't. The fact that Treyarch rewards you for getting into a tactically superior position and eliminating enemies with unending waves of reinforcements is ridiculous. It's once again, counter-intuitive. While I understand the need to move, you are murdered over and over for sticking a toe out of cover, yet you are rewarded for being in cover with unending oppression. There needs to be a balance struck here where, IF you decide to take cover and use tactics to weaken the enemy force, you will get your chance to move. Maybe its simply the timing of the waves of enemies, but its seems that once you eliminate one enemy they are immediately replaced. This makes it pointless to eliminate enemies, and turns the game into a measured, Run-from-cover-to-cover type of battle where you simply hope to survive the onslaught and recover while in safety, only to do it again. Smoke grenades are the great balancer here, but they are in limited supply and that doesn't excuse how counter-intuitive it is to play a battle game without actually rewarding the player's skill and use of tactics with the ability to advance and succeed in a battlefield environment.



Awful

Game mechanics that are 10 - 15 yrs old, completely stale, and showing a complete inability to evolve

Completely lackluster AI

No rewards for player skill in a combat game



Good

Smooth, good-looking graphics

Talented voice acting



NOTE: Multiplayer is what it is, you either hate it or love it. I think its quick and addictive fun but I also greatly prefer the realism of other recent releases (MOH)

Zombies is great fun, but hardly worth a 60 pricetag. Call of Duty: Black Ops

I had never been a fan of the franchise, preferring to do my shooting in the more Arcady Half-Life engine, Halo, Fear etc...



Then I played Modern Warfare, and loved it. You felt free to act. On veteran, the game was challenging. The worlds were large, and the enemies didn't re-spawn to infinity. This allowed you to actually be creative in your strategy, instead of tunneling. You could fall back, flank, snipe, or rush. Level design facilitated all strategies and the AI responded. Some levels set up better for different strategies, but the important thing is that it felt organic. When players died, they felt they could do something different--that they had control.



A majority of the positive reviews for this game focus on its numerous improvements over other Treyarch offerings, and hey are right to do so. The graphics, story, voice acting, and music are a step up (from COD:WaW), as well as the addition of some "cool moments," and extras like Zombies. However, there are serious problems that get brushed over. I feel like multi-player issues have been covered. So this review will tackle single player.



While game-play seems fluid on easier difficulties,fundamental problems express themselves at the more difficult settings. My play through on Veteran got boring fast largely due to the fact that Treyarch uses infinite enemy spawns to compensate for poor, predictable level design and unacceptably bad AI. Eventually you realize that besides a few "cool" roller-coaster moments type moments--fun but there's only one track, most of the game consists of a long corridor or an enclosed "box" with predictably placed pieces of cover. Even though there are things going on outside the "box" and the graphics seemingly connect them (see the trenches in the Vietnam level), you cannot interact with them. Visually its a large world; in practice it's claustrophobic. Enemies advance mindlessly in single file from the most distant cover to your position, eventually charging recklessly from the last piece of cover. To "kill" them you need to toss smoke grenades, sprint past some imaginary line, and hunker down. If you get unlucky and the RNG pops off a couple head shots, prepare to live the last 5 minutes of your life over and over again.



Lets be frank--in the early versions of COD, this was a necessity because of inherent technical limitations. The "box" existed because large interactive environments weren't possible. The endless spawns were needed because AI was terrible. It was necessary to have smoke grenades because these other compensations made certain configurations of enemies and cover frustrating. Purists might say "This is Call of Duty," but how many other games get a free pass when refusing to innovate from their predecessors?



Halo got a lot of crap for repeated area designs, but at least there were multiple ways to attack each situation. As Bungie put it, it was the same "moment of fun" over and over again. Black Ops is the same moment of predictable annoyance over and over. Instead of forcing you to critically think, death in Black-Ops feels like you just got unlucky playing the exact same interaction over and over again in the only way possible to play it. Theres nothing to do differently--just rush ahead and cross your fingers again. You are bound to get unlucky and die--even doing the right thing. When you do, unpredictable load points reward you with the with the same set of identical interactions and identical solutions. And then suddenly, when things work out, the gratification isn't there. You did nothing different. If the definition of madness is "doing the same thing and expecting a different result," then I guess I was mad the whole time I played.



Aiming is also problematic. I understand that real guns kick, but when you have an enemy completely filing my sights and the recoil from the last shot makes you miss anyway, you don't feel a sense of reward for aiming and you certainly don't feel a sense of realism; you feel a developer trying to compensate for poor difficulty balancing.



"Throw smoke and run into it" seems like a poor mechanic after a while. In the Infinity Ward games you throw smoke to get a tactical advantage, get away, or provide temporary cover to move to a new position. In Treyarch games, you do it because its the best way to stop infinite spawns. The former feels immersive, the latter feels like band-aid for poor game design.



It seems like Treyarch, in a misguided attempt to differentiate themselves from Infinity Ward and to give long time COD fans exactly what they've played over and over, actually refuses to let the series mature into a dynamic, creative, and frankly more fun experience.



Yes, it is challenging on veteran with high infinite spawn rates. It's challenging that the only solution is to press forward into oncoming fire. But it was also boring and I'd like my money back.



The bottom line is: if you want to romp through the game one lower difficulties or like the Multi-player, give it a shot. It looks good, and is entertaining. I enjoyed the voice acting and the story. If, however, you play through shooters at max difficulty and prefer to get your multi-player in MW2 or the new Halo offering, rent it or wait for better pricing.'

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Under Cabinet Radio - under the counter cd player, undercabinet cd-radio

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I installed this product in my kitchen last night. It looks good and also sounds very good. Both AM and FM reception is great on all my favorite stations. It is simple to install, program and operate. I highly recommend it! Sony ICF-CD513 Under-Cabinet CD Clock Radio

I gave one of these to my wife six months ago, after being less than impressed by reviews of the equivalent GE product. Basically, I wanted something that would pull in her 3 public radio stations and offer me incentive to feed the cats. Trouble is, the darn thing requires installation--which took me 4-5 hours not counting the five months I simply thought about doing it. The pluses: It seems very solid and durable, is a no-brainer to operate, and produces relatively high-frequency (if a bit hollow-sounding) fidelity.Minuses: It's deeper than I'd bargained for. The only under-the-cabinet space that would accommodate it was in a corner. Curiously, Sony's instructions warn against installing it near florescent lighting. (What are you supposed to do--rewire your kitchen?) This may explain why radio reception, while decent, is hardly startling. Only by fiddling with the electrical cord (which does double duty as an antenna) can I get acceptable sound on most of the fringe (40-70 miles out) stations. If only manufacturers would scrap some of the automatic features and station memory banks in favor of more sensitive and selective tuners. And, true, the unit has a "mega-bass" switch with a single setting--but does anyone remember the days when radios came with a handy little knob called a "tone control"?All in all, a well-made product offering solid performance and value. An excellent gift for the handyman in the family.

I bought this player about a month ago after installing one for a friend. I liked the way it looked and sounded in her kitchen and decided that I wanted one for me. Its a nice unit that is easy to use and has 15 pre-sets for the radio.The slot for the cd holds one cd. The sound is good, not great. I especially liked the instructions and template for installation. It made it very easy to look like a professional install. Especially for a guy who is all thumbs.

I put aside my qualms about Sony sound products (my experience is that Sony is great for pictures, but their sound always goes) and bought this machine. For about two months, I revelled in finally being able to play my favorite music while trapped in the kitchen. I liked it so much I didn't even begrudge the money I spent having a handiman install it (no way could I have done this myself). So I was really crushed when one evening, the CD simply stopped working. I tried all the remedies described in the operating instructions, but eventually was forced to take it down (no small feat in itself). Though the machine is still under warranty, Sony's online repair service told me that it will be replaced with a factory refurbished model--not a new replacement. And of course, I have to pay to ship the thing to Texas to get my refurbished model. I am not happy at all.

How many times have you cursed the almost ubiquitous little volume "up" and "down" arrows on most new electronics? They are hard to press and they take forever to adjust. Here's your chance to get a decent under-cabinet clock/radio with a large, simple, functional volume knob located conveniently on the side. That alone is reason to give this unit serious consideration. I actually purchased this for my garage to go under the cabinets above my workbench (I have the Salton "ICEbox" in the kitchen, but that's over 2 grand). Its only weak point is the speaker output is not quite powerful enough - at higher volumes, distortion becomes evident. However, at most normal listening volumes, it sounds fine.

I wanted one of these so bad and my husband got me one for xmas 3 yrs ago.....I LOVE IT!!! my hibby installed it no problems and I Literally have it on almost all day long, while I cook, clean, etc. My cd player works just fine and so does the radio (unless of course I have the microwave running, which is right next to it then it gets a little staticy but I think thats normal)...basically I love this and would recommend this esp for the great price!!!

This is a great item! No trouble with installation. Great sound from the radio and also the cd player. Very easy to use! The price just can't be beat. I am very happy with this product and would highly recommend it!

If I were buying this item strictly for the radio, I'd be very satisfied. However, I bought it with the idea of playing CDs in my kitchen while I cook. An excellent idea - if the CD player actually worked! We also tried all of the suggestions in the manual to no avail. It rarely works; I'm very disappointed.

For a white kitchen, I debated between this and the ICF-CD523.



The 513 won out with larger controls centered on the unit and a larger display. The inevitiable finger drips, too, won't dribble into a nice, white grille as they would on the 523. They'll dribble on to a smooth, easily cleaned surface.



As for sound, for this purpose, it's perfect. No, it's not a high end unit. But if you've used Sony audio before, you'll appreciate the solid quality, almost intuitive controls - especially the CD section - and Mega Bass sound.



FM reception's just fine, even with the antenna embedded in the power cord. I just ran it under the cabinet like you would...an antenna! <doh!> No problem getting my "Morning Edition" fix or late nite jazz.



Finally, you'll thank yourself for taking your time with the installation - measure twice, drill once. - Undercabinet Cd-radio - Kitchen Radio - Under Cabinet Cd Player - Under The Counter Cd Player'

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Ipod Clock Radio

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I searched a long time for a combo clock radio and docking station for my iPhone. Although there are several on the market, I wanted something that took up as little space as possible on my night stand, had a display with large numbers, would charge my iPhone, play music from my iPhone as the alarm instead of the radio, and was easy to use.



I FOUND IT!! This Sony clock radio is great, and has TONS of features. I like the large illuminated display, which has different settings depending on how bright you want the light at night. Setting the alarm is very easy (you can go forward and backward through hour and minutes, without having to run completely through the cycle like most clocks), and there are TWO alarm settings. You can set an alarm for weekdays to get you up for work, and then a separate alarm for the weekend. Pretty cool.



The snooze button is nice and big on top of the unit, and let's you take the standard 10 minute snooze, or you can keep pressing the button and lengthen the snooze time up to 60 minutes in 20 minute increments. A nice feature.



There's a sleep feature timer so you can listen to radio or iPhone/iPod music while you fall asleep. For the alarm, you can have a buzz, AM or FM radio, or a tune from your iPhone, and it works great.



Buttons on the front and side are nice and large so you don't have to grope in the dark, and there are a variety of customizable settings.



The best part is the hidden slide-out docking tray. Pop it out when you want to charge your iPhone/iPod or listen to music through the clock's speaker, and push it back in when you don't need it, making the unit's footprint as small as possible. The docking tray comes with adapters to fit iPhone or iPod. I use mine without either adapter because I have a protective case on my iPhone, but it still fits in nicely.



In reading back my review, I sound like a Sony employee, but I'm not. Have no connection to the product, other than I'm a satisfied customer, and would recommend this unit highly to anyone looking for a docking station/clock radio for their iPhone or iPod. There are too many other features to go into here. Have fun discovering all the great things Sony thought of to include on this unit.



Thanks for a great unit, Sony! Sony ICF-C7IP Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone with Hidden Sliding Dock Tray

First off, I want to say that I like almost everything about this alarm clock and that I went to a Best Buy first and tested it (music and all) right next to its bigger Sony sibling (the one with the CD player, called Sony ICFCD3iP CD Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone) as well as the iHomes and Logitech and other competitors. Essentially this one came out the winner in every way IF what you're looking for is an ALARM CLOCK. This is not a speaker system by any stretch (it's not even stereophonic, one speaker), it's not designed to party to or have it produce massive bass sounds. I know this is obvious to most of you but there's always some imbecile who doesn't seem to realize that a little alarm clock barely bigger than your iPhone can't possibly be a stereo system.



As an alarm clock, I loved this little system precisely because it does so much and takes up so little space. The LED lights are not too bright when you go to the lowest setting, the sound is definitely loud enough for you to hear even if you're in the next room at high volume, the iPhone dock is easy to use and can be used with a case on your iPhone. It also looks good and it's nice that the dock cradle slides in, overall it looks A+.



Since I also compared this one in person to the Sony ICFCD3iP CD Clock Radio and tested them both simultaneously, I can offer you these observations if it's helpful to you. I ruled out the iHomes, by the way, because all systems that make you stick your iPhone on top like that are horrible looking, maybe that was cool in 2007 if you thought having an iPhone is cool and you want it brandished like it's a trophy, but that now looks tacky, dated and cluttered. This comparison is between this Sony product vs the one with the CD player:



--Size: I liked the CD player one more because I actually thought this one looks a bit too small. This is purely personal preference, if smaller is better for you then go for this one.



--Layout: I call this a draw. One thing that's better on the CD player one is that since it's bigger, there was room to put the tuner and the preset switches on the sides of the device rather than on the back which is not as convenient. You probably won't use these two switches much though so this probably doesn't matter much. One thing I liked better on this one is that hitting the snooze as you're groggy is pretty safe, but on the CD one, since the opening for the CD player is right in front of the snooze button, you can very well accidentally open the CD tray violently if you hit the snooze and aren't careful.



--Speaker, sound: Basically a draw for me. The Sony descriptions on Amazon, and indeed even on the boxes of the two products, tell you nothing about power. I had to look under the devices themselves (which got me bad looks from the salespeople) to find out that this alarm clock's speaker is rated at 10 watts. The CD player's speaker rated at 16 watts. Normally I'd say this means the CD player clock is better, but oddly at similar volumes in the store, I actually found this alarm clock's speaker to be better defined than the bigger one from the other Sony, and almost as loud. The bass was slightly better on the other one though. But since this is an ALARM CLOCK and not a speaker system by any stretch, I frankly didn't care either way, they're both plenty loud to wake up to music or the radio to and close enough in quality despite the different wattage.



--iPhone dock: here I expected them both to be the same, but I was surprised that the iPhone dock trays are not designed the same, and that this Sony's design of the tray was actually better than the CD player's. The CD player's tray hangs in the air, in that when it opens up there is space under. So when you put your iPhone in you kind of have to grab the tray or else the whole thing tilts, it's not a good setup. The tray that comes out of this clock, on the other hand, has the end of it flush with the clock's bottom and whatever table it's on. So it's much more secure and you can just dock your iPod on it with one hand and not worry about a thing. So the clear loser is the CD alarm, as this one is better designed. Both can fit an iPhone with the case on by the way, just don't use the tray inserts that come with this.



--LED illumination: here too this Sony beats out the CD Sony. Both clocks have three light settings. I put them side by side and tested them both. The upshot is that the bigger one has much brighter LED lights. When I compared both at the lowest setting, the bigger clock was still pretty bright and would be annoying in the dark (unless you're scared of monsters at night and want a night light). At its lowest setting, this Sony here was still just a bit brighter than I would have liked, but not nearly as annoying as the CD player's light. This is a big reason why you see good reviews of this Sony here while the CD player's reviews are generally bad with lots of complaints about the light level.



I did buy this alarm clock and all in all, I really wanted to love it, but over the past two weeks it has infuriated me with one BIG design flaw that is making me return it because it is fatal. It simply can't reliably stay tuned to a radio station so as to wake you up to it.



Now if you don't care at all about waking up to radio, consider this a 5-star review and move on. But I like to wake up to NPR, a strong FM station in my area. I've had an 9-year-old CD player alarm clock beside me before this Sony, and not once did it fail to wake me up to a strong NPR signal when the alarm was set. This brand new Sony, on the other hand, comes in and out! You can test it before going to sleep and the sound is 100% clear, and yet when it comes on in the morning it sounds like it is barely tuned to the station unless you play with the ugly and unsightly antenna cable that sticks out of the back of it. Even if you didn't touch that unsightly cable all night.



Even WORSE, when it comes on like that in the morning, if it is not receiving the FM station well, you don't even get static noise (which at least would still wake you up), you get nothing but a very faint buzzing that doesn't wake anyone up! I've already been late to work three times on account of this clock's failure to maintain a lock on a station. I've even tried testing the position of the ugly antenna before going to bed and having the volume very high, yet still for no apparent reason at all it sometimes fails to lock on in the morning and you sleep peacefully to 8:30 am to a very low audio buzzing sound that seems to lull you into an even deeper sleep.



The culprit is that Sony really cheaped out on the FM receiver.



How they can make such a colossal design flaw on a product that costs more than competitors like iHome that are larger and with better speakers is inexplicable. I really wanted to love this, but it's an ALARM CLOCK and if it simply loses connection to a station in the morning despite the ugly antenna cable and can't wake you up, what good is it? Shame on Sony for having such a design flaw by cheaping out on internal components. Whoever was in charge of approving that is incompetent and should be fired because he doesn't understand retail products, this is not a $20 alarm clock on which you can use cheap transistors to save 50 cents. This is an alarm clock aimed at a slightly higher market and there is an expectation that at the very least it can be reliably counted on to wake us up in the morning.



REVISED REVIEW FROM HERE ON OUT



I am revising my review, going from two to four stars, because as time as gone by the radio reception seems to have improved (but only after careful placement of the antenna cord and making sure it's never moved), and I decided that all the positives and the lack of a good competitor warrants better than two stars. It's still the most compact, efficient and best looking alarm clock out there... I just wish they used better components for the radio receiver.'

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Motion Sensor - home security, motion sensor

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Wow...what an awesome little light! After finding a number of similar lights on the web with "so-so" reviews I stumbled across this one. Reviews were pretty good and not too expensive so I decided to take a chance. Turns out this is a great light. It's well made, has 4 D-size batteries which are easy to replace, it looks good, very easy to mount (2 screws) and tilts and rotates. No...it doesn't turn night into day but it provides more than enough light when coming home after dark. The motion sensor is very sensitive and has a fairly wide detection angle. I have my light mounted near my front door and pointed straight at the door handle but when my foot hits my front steps the light comes on. The light does not come on in daytime like some of the other lights I saw so you don't waste the batteries during the daytime. The manufacturer claims that alkaline batteries will last up to 3 years but if they last just one year I will be more than satisfied. The light has a couple of duration settings so I'm sure the 3 year battery life is based on a limited number of the shortest light duration setting. Dorcy 41-1071 LED Wireless Motion Sensor Flood-Lite

I live "in the middle of no-where" on the Big Island of Hawaii where you cannot see your hand in front of your face at night sometimes! I'm off-grid and wiring lights is a big deal. The bedroom is about 75 feet from the rest of the house so I installed it in the pathway pointing toward the kitchen. I used the template included in the box to locate the 2 screws, installed 3 rechargeable D batteries, set the light switches to bright and to stay on 2 minutes and waited until dark.



Holy Canoly, it lit the entire pathway plus easily 30 to 40 feet on either side of the path. I absolutely LOVE this light! I can envision using this light all over my one acre property outside as well as some areas inside. I think I'll place one above my headboard so that if I hear a noise, the entire bedroom will be lit inside; no more reaching for the flashlight! Maybe above the toilet! Since I'll definitely be ordering more, I'm seriously thinking I'll be using one as a flashlight. A SUPER flashlight for sure! omg...I love this light and for $20 you just can't beat it! Thank you Dorcy and Amazon.

I purchased two of these lights as they look identical to another name branded light on Amazon which I loved so I decided to try it as it was more affordable. The unit is almost identical in fit and function to another light on Amazon and it was a breeze to set up. The light is very white and fairly bright for a cordless variant. It's not going to be as bright as a 110 volt motion floodlight but it is perfect for those dark sides of our house where no outlet or light is present to hook up a motion sensing floodlight. The sensitivity is very good and they seem well built. I actually dropped one from about 10 feet while trying to install it and aside from a few scratches, it was fine. I did have to downgrade one star as one of the two units I purchased had a broken nut to connect the base to the light...maybe from shipping? Anyhow, it was a fairly easy fix using my own small nut & bolt so I didn't have to deal with a return and delays. Overall I have recommended this light to others who need a motion light wherea cordless light is ideal.

The other night my wife and I were quietly talking in one of the usually unused back bedrooms around 9:30 PM when we heard the distinct tone of a cell phone right outside the french door! It is a shock to discover how easily your space, your life, can be invaded. That only happens to other people, in bad neighborhoods!



I immediately started looking at motion triggered lights on Amazon hoping the technology has improved in the ten years since I bought and laboriously installed two different lights with totally unsatisfactory results. The Dorcy, especially at the relatively low cost, had good ratings here so, I ordered one from Amazon. It is a nice size and looks nice. Set up was absurdly easy, especially compared to the expensive wired-in units. I mounted it temporarily then set out to test it at night. The detection is spot on from the sides I would expect an intruder. As others have stated, the light is startlingly, surprisingly bright! If I were an intruder hit by it, I would certainly take off. I'll update this review after 6 months use.



EDIT



I wouldn't change my previous review. Still very satisfied. And the batteries are still going after 6 months.

The sensor works when it wants, I first installed it and it worked perfectly, next day

didnt work at all, so I took it down and put right next to my body and then it worked

I have a very dark driveway no porch light and walked right up to it, DIDNT WORK!!!!

Call me crazy but I am gonna try another, will see what happens, will keep you informed



WEEK LATER/ got a new one!

so far so good, happy this one works

I just received the 2 Dorcy LED wireless motion-sensor floodlights I ordered from Amazon last week. They arrived in an extremely timely fashion, as always!



I needed the floodlights to light up a dark, treacherous area on the lower area of the front steps that go down a steep hill to the street in front of my home. I also wanted the area around my car lit as well. It not only helps with parallel parking on a dark street at night, but also helps to deter car break-ins.



I wanted a battery-powered light, because in addition to having no electricity down where I wanted to mount the lights, the entire North-facing front yard is in the shade from about October to March, so solar is weak, at best, in the winter.



These lights were much better than I expected. There are 2 settings for both brightness, and length of time the light is on. Choosing the lower settings lengthens battery life. The light is so bright, even on the lower setting, that I really could have gotten by with just one light instead of two. It throws off a wide, bright swath of bluish-white light, and those steps and the street below are now much, much brighter and safer.



The sensor is great, too... the slightest motion, even way off to the side, turns on the light, which is exactly what I wanted. There are both a 30-second setting and a 2-minute setting on the time the light stays on. The 30-second works well for my needs, because as long as anything is moving about within range of the sensor, it stays on. Yet shortly after I leave, it turns off.



I mounted them to a large fruit tree near the front steps, down near the street. It was a little tricky, mainly due to the angle of the tree and the steep slope it sits on! But once mounted, the black color of the lights was perfect... they don't look out-of-place, and in fact, almost look like part of the tree, from a short distance away. In order to use the template to mark where the holes should be drilled for the mounting screws, I couldn't use a pen or pencil on the dark-colored tree bark. So, what I did was pre-punch 2 small holes where the screw marks were on the template, and then I used white Liquid Paper to mark the drilling spots. You really do have to get the screws just right, which takes a little doing, especially up in a tree. But it's worth it, because when it's time to change the batteries, it's easy to lift the light assembly off the mounting screws.



I'll know more later about how long the batteries last, but barring defective batteries (the lights take 3 regular "D" batteries), I would expect many months of reliable use. One reviewer said the light didn't go on at first, and after they gave it a little whack, it then worked. Battery-operated things can be like that, sometimes. I gave mine a couple of not-too-hard, open-handed swats, and it perked right up and began working perfectly. ;)



I gave the highest rating to this product because it was not just okay, it was exactly what I was looking for, and functions exactly the way I wanted it to. I hope to buy a couple more in the future, to light up stairway areas and garbage can areas (we have naughty raccoons) on both sides of the house. Good product! I'm a happy camper. - Motion Sensor - Home Security - Led Light - Night-lights'

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Network Adapters - 80211n, usb network adapter

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For those of you using Windows or Mac OS X, I have no idea how this thing works. I am writing this for those who may be interested in using it on Linux.



I got this because the price couldn't be beat for the feature set. While USB Wi-Fi adapters tend to be much cheaper than their PCMCIA counterparts, this one has an especially good feature set for the price I paid. And it is not nearly so massive as the others I have seen.



I ordered this based on reviews of a different version of the AirLink101. The numbers following ("AWLL6075") are important in determining compatibility. Turns out the model AWLL3026 works out of the box with modern Linux distributions. However, no driver has been written to support the AWLL6075.



I tried using the supplied drivers with ndis wrapper. I could talk to the device, and it reported finding hotspots, but it never connected. Perhaps others may have more luck with this approach, but I wanted to let other Linux users who were considering this option that this is not yet a simple plug-n-play solution as I had anticipated due to my inadequate research.



I will write again if support gets added to update my experience. AirLink101 AWLL6075 Wireless N Mini USB Adapter

I got this a week ago to replace my Linksys G adapter. Man this thing rocks! It's small so that I can but this in the pockets on my laptop sleeve. And best of all I'm connecting at N speeds. I would definitely recommend this product.

I am giving this five stars because the product is great and works for what it is meant to do - connect a computer or laptop to a wireless network. Unfortunately, I took a chance and wanted to test it out to see if it would work with my WD TV HD Live and it does not!

Pros:

- works seamlessly on Macs

- great signal strength

- compact



Cons:

- still bigger than I would like for a laptop, but the smaller adapters have very short ranges.





I bought this because it is one of the few wireless N adapters I could find that would work with Mac OS 10.4+ . I had no problems with it. Given its size I was worried about signal strength, but it has surprisingly good signal reception and signal transmission . My router is on a low floor on the opposite end of the house and it was getting reception as good as the pci wireless card in my desktop PC. Installation was a breeze.



The adapter is quite compact though still larger than I would like for a laptop. However, reviews of the micro usb wireless N adapters consistently reported very short (10 feet) operating ranges. This adapter is a good compromise between compactness and range for Mac OS applications.



If you found my review helpful, let me know with your vote. If not, then leave me a comment so I can improve my review.

My old Linksys PCI based wifi N card needed to be replaced, it has a wire with an external antenna and it was getting in the way.



So I saw this Airlink for 9.99 on sale with free shipping so I decided to give it a try, if the product wasn't any good I wouldn't me out much money. To my surprise it works great, better than my Linksys in fact.



In Windows 7, I just needed to plug it into the USB port and the drivers auto-loaded for me. After that it was just a case of joining the network, very easy and painless.



Some other information that may be useful for others to base their decision on:



-It has two antenna inside of it instead of just one like the previous model had

-Windows 7 loaded a Realtek RTL8191SU chipset driver

-Transmission speed is 150mbps, receiving speed is 300mbps, ample for HD video streams

-Has a 'wifi protected setup aka WPS' button, so if your router supports and is setup for WPS, it's very very easy to join the two instantly.



The last observation I've had is that my old Linksys Wifi N card would only get two or three bars for reception strength. The router is on the lower floor in my home theater room which has 8 magnets (speakers) and multiple radio frequency generating devices (wifi, cellphones, cordless phone). But this Airlink device gets a full 5 bars of strength, I'm very impressed.



The only negative thing I can say although it doesn't affect my setup is that it will only talk on the 2.4ghz frequency. Some more advanced equipment will support the 5ghz frequency to provide a better quality wifi signal. IF your router is setup for 5ghz only, this card won't work for you unless you can enter a 2.4/5ghz mixed mode or drop down to 2.4ghz. 2.4ghz is the standard frequency that everything supports.

For those complaining about this adapter (AWLL6075) not working in the previous WDTV Live, it worked flawlessly for me in the Live Plus right out of the box (I purchased both of these items together). Either this adapter was added for the Plus, or I just got lucky when I set it up.



The adapter is very small and simple, comes with a software disc and setup guide, and even has a small "Connect" button on the unit for PC Setup (didnt need it on my WDTV media player). I ran network shared video and music, Pandora, and even Youtube at great speed.



Also I have this linked to a Linksys WRT54G router and so far dont see a need to upgrade to an N router, which is a plus. The only bottleneck is my DSL connection for streaming video, which has nothing to do with the adapter.



I have not seen any downsides to this adapter so far. I highly recommend this product.

I was trying to find a USB adapter for < $15; this fit the bill.

Biggest concern was will it work with WDTV live.

I plugged it in the one of the USB ports and it was recognized by the unit

and configured itself in a minute and I was accessing the home network

Great buy.

I just bought this adapter for my laptop. First, I was a little hesitant because it wasn't manufactured by any of the more famous companies like Linksys, D-Link etc. But the one I already had from Netgear was an ugly, bulky piece occupying two of my USB slots. So I decided to give this one a try. I was in for a happy surprise. It worked like a charm. Really easy to install, really easy to configure. I was online in less than 3 minutes.



I recommend this adapter to anyone who's looking for a tiny wifi adapter that is easy to setup. - Usb Network Adapter - Wireless Adapter - 80211n - Wi-fi'

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Step Platform - step platforms, step platform

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This product is OK. It is not quite as big as I expected it to be. It does serve its purpose and I can use it easily in a small space. You just have to be careful and watch where you step. If you are used to using the bigger gym size steps it is easy to miss the step. The Step F1053 Home Trainer

I needed a small step so I could work out in my carpeted office during my lunch break (ah, the life of a busy working parent!). This is just the right size for that purpose. It's sturdy, even though, as other reviewers noted, the platform does not lock onto the risers--I've jogged up and down on it, jumped on and off, with and without the risers, and it doesn't move. Its only fault is that it makes a pretty loud noise as you step on it because it's hollow. I'm trying to figure out how to dampen the sound so I don't bother people in adjacent offices. I should have bought the two-riser model, though. Just remember, this is a smaller model than those used in gyms.

I was concerned that this step would be too small since I am used to the steps found at my local gym but thankfully it was smaller because any larger would have made it too big to use in my apartment. Surprisingly, I had no trouble adjusting to the size of the step and I really enjoy using it. I recommend this product for those who want to enjoy a workout at home but their living space is limited.

This is not the highest quality step but it works fine for me. I like the smaller size. It's easy to store but not so small that I feel unstable. The DVD that comes with it is also great for beginning or intermediate steppers. It feels a little cheap compared to gym steps but, considering the price, I am happy with it.

Good stepper for the money-I would like a stepper a little longer for some of us that are taller and when doing certain steps, you feel you may not have enough room. Thought it would be wobbly since the stps do not lock in, but no problem thus far.

I am a 67 year old male and feel I need daily cardio exercise to remain in good health. I can only attend step aerobic classes at the fitness center where I have a membership two times a week because of the times when they are offered. Consequently I ordered the step F1053 Home Trainer package from Amazon two years ago to complete my workout schedule. It arrived very quickly and came packaged with a DVD containing workout routines, a solid plastic non-slip workout (aka stepping) board and a riser for each side. The workout routines are, in my opinion, very well done. There are two 45 minute sessions, a basic session and an intermediate session. Each routine is choreographed to music and is demonstrated and explained very well. I find that either routine gives me a very good work out. I found the step board to be made from an almost non-destructible plastic material that has a non skid and non slip surface. I am very satisfied with this product and would highly recommend it to anyone who has the need for exercise in their home.

I got it today and already used it. its pretty ok. it makes a bit of noise and thats because of the risers. other than that its pretty good. dont get it if you need to do alot of walking across of the step because its not very long. i used it to do the kim kardashian butt blast cardio

This step is similar to the gym's but a smaller version for home use. The step is fine but if you are buying it and thinking that you are getting a great combo deal; this is not the item. The CD case looked as if it was reproduced and to my surprise when I opened it, an imitation cd was in the case. It was a clear plastic cd look alike with a label affixed to it. There is no cd. And yes, this was purchased new.

If you are petite and have a small shoe size then this step works. For those of us with longer feet this platform is too small which makes it very difficult to work out because it is difficult to position your feet safely. The exercise video is great though - Step Aerobics - Step Platforms - Step Platform - Fitness'

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Wenger Swiss Army Watch

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Received this watch a couple weeks ago. I mainly wear as a casual-sport watch. And I got it at a pretty nice price -just around 200..IT's heavy and well built, very sturdy in feel and appearance. It's big, but not unreasonably so as to draw unwanted or unecessary attention to it. The band is a fairly thick, durable silicone and works ok with this watch. The band, if hot outside, does seem to grab a bit on your skin and stick after wearing it for several hours, but it's apparent durability and resistance to the elements makes up for this (it's moisture/sweat resistant). But these are just minor issues and certainly not deal-breakers. The watch is also easy to operate and not too complicated to be practical at keeping chrono time. This is a 'man-watch'...understated, solid, strong, and it makes a bit of a statement, the right kind of statement for any guy who's not into "jewelry", but demands a solid, good looking timepiece. Overall happy with this purchase. Delivery was fairly prompt and I received it in brand new condition. Wenger Men's 70890 Swiss Raid Commando Patagonian Expedition Race Watch

I would agree with the other posters as far as quality and watch construction, it's good and solid. The poster who talked about dust clinging to the band was dead on. I received my watch yesterday, love the look and feel but the band collects dust, fuzz and other fine particles like crazy and it's a little annoying. I'm sure if I run it under water it will be perfectly clean again but it won't stay that way very long. Other than that I love the watch. If Wenger makes other bands for this watch I may look into that option.

I ordered this watch about two weeks ago and am enjoying it. It looks great with casual and dressy clothing, which is what I wanted. It's substantial and reminds you that you're wearing something on your wrist. The other reviewers are correct in saying that it attracts dust and other particles. With a black band, this is kind of annoying because the dust is visible. However, this is my only problem and it's easily remedied by a quick splash of water. So far, the watch keeps excellent time. I synchronized it two weeks ago with www.time.gov and it is on point today.

After a years wear and use of this watch, I have come back to update this review, and am raising the rating from 3 to 4 stars.



Overall it is very well built and a good product, and it keeps excellent time. It is a fairly heavy watch - you know you are wearing it; it is just a bit too fussy / cluttered in the watch face which can make reading it difficult at times (especially in low light). It has proved to be a great watch, very sturdy and well made. The watch maker says it is waterproof to a 100 meters, but got to wonder with no screw crown - I have now used this in the water and no problems - so well done Wenger.



On the positive side, its a solid well made watch, keeps good time and is comfy to wear with its rubber silicone strap, which will fit most wrists (especially larger wrists).



Would I recommend it, yes if you can afford it, its not 'top dollar' but its not cheap either, and there are lots of watches out there that will do the job equally well. That said, I am wearing it and I have grown to like the watch a lot more over the past years! Overall I will give the watch a 4 out of 5.

Awesome watch. Pros: Looks fashionable, always get compliments from people, can wear it swimming, running, snowboarding, etc.



Cons: the band is constantly dirtied by random little fibers and dust-like particles.





Overall, I'd recommend it to a friend. I bought two for my brothers, they love them.'

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Complete Home Theater - htib, sony

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Overall, this is a great system. The sound is fantastic; the setup was easy, and nearly six months after I bought it, things are still working quite nicely.



Other reviewers have done a good job describing the product -- the one thing I wanted to touch on was the "wireless" aspect. The only wires this system does not have that other "wired" systems do are the ones that run from the receiver unit to the back speakers. The IR devices (one in front, one in back, which you have flexibility in positioning) transmits the signal from the receiver to the back speakers. One of your rear speakers will need to be plugged into a power outlet (because of its powered amplifier -- which, unlike other systems, allows the rear speakers to be as clear and powerful as the front ones), and you'll need to run a speaker wire (provided, of course) between the two rear speakers.



BOTTOM LINE: If you're trying to reduce clutter, this system may not be as wireless as you're hoping for (between the power cords for the IR receiver/transmitter, speaker wire between the rear speakers, plus all the normal wires save the ones running from front to back). BUT, if you don't want to run cable through your walls or have speaker wire running from the front to back of your room; then these are a great option that I would strongly recommend. Sony DAV-FX100W Wireless Home Theater Dream System

It's about time that (relatively) affordable wireless home theater systems have started becoming available. As someone who's never been thrilled by running wires across the living room--or even worse, under carpet or through walls--to the rear speakers, this system really was a dream come true. I chose the Sony system over others on the market because it sends infrared rather than RF signals to the rear speakers. Other RF-wireless systems use the same crowded 2.4GHz frequency band shared by Wi-Fi networks, cordless telephones, and microwaves, so the IR technology really cuts down on interference if you (like me) have a wireless home network.



The sound from this setup is great for an HTIB, and I haven't noticed that the wireless aspect of the system degrades rear-speaker sound quality at all. An earlier reviewer complained about the low-end power (or lack thereof) of the non-powered subwoofer, but I've actually noticed the opposite--sometimes the bass actually seems a litte *too* powerful.



My only two complaints aren't major and are to be expected, given the type of system this is. First, even though the system offers an HDMI output (quite rare among HTIB's, for the most part), it only offers two composite (yellow, red, white) A/V inputs. There are, however, both optical and coaxial digital audio inputs. Also, as another reviewer has noted, the slot-loading disc changer takes quite awhile to switch between discs, and the proper method for inserting and switching discs takes a little while to perfect. Overall, however, these are minor gripes which are to be expected from a "lifestyle"-type HTIB.

I started searching for wireless surround speakers due to the configuration of my apartment. A wired solution simply would not work due to the location of my couch and the distance from my TV. After searching for a while, there were only a couple options available: the Sony DAV-FX100W, a system by Panasonic that had an optional wireless option, and a wireless receiver kit made by Kenwood. After looking at reviews of all of the different options, the Sony DAV-FX100W appeared like the best choice. I'm very happy with that decision. DVDs look great on my HDTV with the 1080i upscaling feature. Be forewarned, if you wish to use this feature you will need to purchase a very expensive HDMI cable and your TV will need to be support it. I bought a 3ft Belkin cable (instead of Monster) and it was still over $100. DVDs also sound terrific; the surround is impressive for a wireless solution. Like any stereo, it is important to adjust to levels for each speaker, and I pumped up the surround speakers a little as well as the center channel. The subwoofer, as others have stated, is pretty powerful for a passive speaker. There could be more depth to the sound, however, it is an out of the box solution and I think it sounds good enough as long as the standard output is kept at it's default sound level. Others have complained that CDs don't sound good; I disagree. I've played several CDs and I think they sound great. I also input my iPod through the Video1 audio inputs, and that sounds pretty great too. Again, like any receive, you'll need to play with the settings and audio fields to enhance the sound to your liking. Overall, I'm very happy with this system.

My old DAV990 broke down after 3 years due to the heating problem apparently. It's hard to get a replacement unit minus speakers, you ended up having to replace the whole system. The sony speakers are 3 ohms so no receiver will drive them.



Anyhow, I bought the new FX100. It was easy to setup but you actually only save 1 wiring cable with the DIAT. The dvd unit is much larger than the old DAV so hopefully the heating problem went away. The upscaling to 1080 (HDMI to DVI) for my Sony plasma 42" is very good. The subwoofer is much better than the old DAV (it was awful!) I have an optical input in for my Prismiq audio streaming and it is good. I haven't got the mp3/jpg working yet. The DIAT sounds good but is not a wiring saver, you still need a power input and 1 surround speaker wire.



Overall, I am happier with this one!

Pros:

+ Easy to set up, thanks in part to the color-coded wires

+ Great sound quality

+ Plenty of features. One that I really like: The system will remember where you stop a DVD -- even if you take it out, turn off the system, or skip to another disc -- and will resume playing from that spot.

+ Wireless speakers work flawlessly, and those were a big selling point for me; no wires running from the system to the back of the room.

+ As someone who has various multi-disc collections (like "The Lord of the Rings," "The Simpsons," and "Family Guy"), I like being able to load five DVDs at once.

+ When I experienced a problem with my S-Video connection, Sony customer support helped me fix it very quickly (via e-mail, my preferred medium). Never underestimate the value of good customer support!



Cons:

- You can only play one CD at a time in random mode. That's the biggest disappointment for me. If you already have a stereo system, you probably won't care.

- Loading discs requires patience (as well as reading the manual to understand how to do it properly).

- Adjusting settings once everything is up and running isn't as intuitive as I'd like. Some settings can be tweaked via the display on your TV screen, but others require using the small LCD panel on the DreamSystem.



Bottom line:

By no means a perfect system, it's a very good one. The sound quality is pretty awesome, and the wireless speakers work without a hitch. Aside from the nuisances listed above, I am enjoying it thoroughly.



In short, if not having wires going to your back speakers is a high priority, this system should be high on your list. If you don't care about that, you should consider other systems. - Complete Home Theater - Sony - Htib'

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