Guy Low Price Electronic: 26 Sept 2010

Sunday, 26 September 2010

Panasonic Battery - panasonic, panasonic p-104

I ordered six of these replacement batteries based on the positive reviews here. However, all six of these batteries FAIL to hold a charge for more than an hour. I replaced my phone batteries with the old originals, and the phones work fine, so it's not a phone problem.

I've left several messages for customer service, and no one has returned a call. AVOID THESE BATTERIES! Replacement Battery For PANASONIC HHR-P104 KXTGA545

This product looks, feels and best, works just like the original. I hardly ever use the home phone aside from international calls which is tied to my home-line so that is why I wanted to replace the batteries.

These came with some charge and they worked right out of the bag. They fit no problem, do not heat up the phone anymore than the original did.

I would definitely recommend this vendor for your battery needs.

I should have listened to the other reviewers who stated that the battery didn't last. Sure enough, it lasted 2 weeks and then quit. It's not worth paying the postage and time to send it back. Don't waste your money on this one!

I have used this replacement battery, and all functionality that had been failing due to the original battery being spent came back to normal. So, it does its job. I did not mind testing the duration of a full charge, though.

This battery is a perfect replacement for my old one that stopped holding a charge for long time now. I checked locally and found that it would be cheaper to buy a brand new phone instead. Heck, these days you can buy a cordless phone for under $10 and it comes with a new working battery! The problem is the Panasonic cordless phone was one of the top-of-the-line models in its days and it works just fine today. I just cannot throw it out, so I found this replacement battery and give it a shot. After I charged it for about 12 hours, the phone is working like new again! - Panasonic - Battery Pack - Panasonic Phone Battery - Panasonic P-104'

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Home Office - pencil sharpeners, electric sharpener

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I bought this unit for my wife - she hates the old hand crank sharpener in our basement. This unit works great - My 4 year old grandson and I sharpened a dozen pencils for her in just a couple of minutes -its very attractive on her desk - I bought it because it has a pencil holder built in and the different pencil size adjustment - Granted we only sharpen a few pencils a month and I can see how it might not work in a school setting where someone sharpens a dozen a day but for the home office this is sweet. Royal P60 Electric Pencil Sharpener 29342C

I have now bought two of these sharpeners at Sams club and both of them broke after 6 months of use. Granted we homeschool so they both got lots of use everyday, but I was very disappointed and frustrated to have my second one break on me. They work good for a while, but the insides are very fragile and do not hold up over time. We will be going to another brand.

I use pencils all day long and sharpening is important to me.

I must first say that my unit did not function properly. When the pencil was inserted, I had to wiggle the pencil around in order to get it to start. That was unacceptable and I had to return it to Amazon (which was absolutely no problem. I Love Amazons return policy).

I will point out a couple of things that I noticed that turned me off as well.

The yellow wheel on the front that is used to set the pencil diameter is difficult to turn. Not finger friendly. Also, in the image it looks like the storage compartment is deep. It is not. The pencils that are in the picture must be at least 1/3 there original size. When sharpening, occasionally the blades grab the pencil and the unit starts to turn, requiring your second hand to hold the unit. When doing this, it is easy to dislodge the shavings container, thus stopping the sharpener.

I purchased a different model (X-Acto 1744 Heavy-duty electric pencil sharpener, black, 1 Unit. It is perfect. It is WAY more powerful and sharpens a pencil to a perfect point.

I am returning this after 3 pencils. There is absolutely NO WAY this could last in a school setting and was frustrating in a home one. It takes a long time to sharpen and you have to apply force. (Both are bad news for a school setting.) It then sharpened one side of two of the pencils and not the other. I am sure the company would blame the pencil. I have had battery operated ones work better than this one.

I guess I'll have to sock big money into one that will finally work and last. :(

BOUGHT THIS AT SAMS CLUB FOR $16.00 BUT THIS IS A GREAT SHARPENER. WORKS FOR ADULT PENCILS AND FAT PENCILS THAT MY KIDS USE. CREATES A SHARP POINT. IT ALSO HAS A LIGHT ON SIDE (KIDS LOVE THIS) THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOUR PENCIL IS DONE SO NO OVER SHARPENING!

It broke the first day of use. I had to sharpen 20 pencils for my students to use for a test, I emptied and replaced the cartridge that catches the shavings and put the 20th pencil in the machine and the PLASTIC gears that drive the motor broke and are now rattling around in the machine.

This sharpener works great, until it breaks...which in our case was about 12 weeks. The problem we experienced was a pencil lead breaking off and getting caught inside the blades. There's no way to take the blade mechanism apart, so when this happens new pencils can't go all the way in. Poor design.

In a nutshell, I bought this sharpener for students to use in my classroom and it never worked properly. At best, kids would get pencils with hacked-up yet still somewhat sharp points; more often they'd give up when it split the lead and just go stand in line for the manual sharpener. I wouldn't think of buying one of these again. Buy a Boston sharpener instead. - Pencil Sharpener - Pencil Sharpeners - Electric Sharpener - Home Office'

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Pendaflex - hanging folders, pendaflex

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The product is very good and handles those "fat files" in your filing cabinet. I was hesitant to purchase the product because the "Technical Details" was the result of sloppy work by the person who writes those technical details. In the "technical details" section, it goes on to say that the folders were for "legal size" which contradicted the Amazon part description. I had to go to the Pendaflex website and look up the part number to make sure that I was ordering the non-legal-sized folder, which was what I had wanted.

I am unsure if this was an Amazon editor's error or a Pendaflex editor's error. But it was misinformation at best and the worst case situation of "cut and paste". Amazon almost lost a sale. Pendaflex 4152X2 Extra Capacity 1/5-Tab Hanging Folders with Box Bottoms, Standard Green (25-Pack)

I ordered this item because I definitely wanted the Infopocket. I use this to store smaller items within the customer file and not lose them at the bottom of the file folder. THREE times Amazon.com has sent the folders NOT containing the Infopocket. The Pendflex website does decribe them with the infopocket so I am assuming they are still manufactured. I am getting tired of sending back these incorrect items. - Hanging Folders - Pendaflex'

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Kids Fishing Equipment - easy fishing for kids

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I bought this pole for my cousin for christmas after he had been asking to go fishing for a good year. We ended up going fishing recently and I thought the pole was going to be a little small for him but it actually worked out well for him and we were both happy with the pole. I was really impressed with how far this spincast reel casted. I also had a cheap spincast reel, with the same line weight, and mine didn't cast half as far. It really boosted his confidence, he is 6, with how far his pole was casting compared to mine.

Shakespeare did good with this pole. It's inexpensive and performs well. Shakespeare Cars Spincast Fishing Kit

Bought this for my 4 and 6 year old children. They love it. The set comes with a rubber wheel that you can attach to the line to practice casting. My kids have practiced for hours already, and will definitely be able to cast with a real hook and bait. The only negative is that the set does not come with a basic set of lures.

I'm not sure exactly how to rate this rod. It is WONDERFUL as far as durability, casting, the cute little tire that is tied to the end. I'd give it 5 stars!

Only one problem is that the packaging clearly states that it contains lead. Does not say exactly what part.

Not so good for a children's toy....

I actually contacted the company. They said that there was trace amounts in the paint but that it still passed safety standards.

So...I guess like houses build before 1978, unless the paint is chipping or if they chew on it and eat the paint chips then they should be fine!

This was bought for my grandson so he has a fishing pole when he comes to visit. It's a fun and great pole for little ones learning the ropes. We also have 2 barbie poles for the granddaughters they are a good buy at a great price.

We bought this to be used as our son's first fishing pole. I opened the package while he eagerly awaited. Unfortunately, the set is a EXTREMELY poor quality. The rod fell apart in my hands -- the little trigger piece fell out and the inside of the rod crumbled into the table. I re-assembled it. But, the rod just would not work. The line wouldn't come out when I pressed the trigger release. To no avail, I tried every way possible to fix the rod and had some friends look at it. Nothing worked.

Overall, this set is really weak and exemplifies the problems with selling a cheap Chinese-made pole. It tarnishes the good "Shakespeare" name and the history of decent fishing poles. I'd willingly pay double the price to have something that would last and actually work!

Also, this is not a complete set. Anyone who buys one of these and manages to get it to work properly will also need to buy a hook and a sinker. This does not come with either!

Overall: AVOID THIS TERRIBLE FISHING KIT.

This children's fishing pole is made with every bit of quality you'd expect from an entry-level adult fishing pole. The shaft feels very sturdy, and the metal eyelets are securely mounted. My only complain about construction is that the yellow spindle cover is made from a thin plastic that would probably break if it landed hard on the ground. Also, the "Cars" graphics are just decals - I would prefer it if they were silk-screened onto the plastic instead... Anybody can put decals on something. The reel is easy to maintain - just unscrew the plastic cap and it gives you easy access to fix any tangles that might occur. Actually, my fishing pole came from the factory with a slight tangle in the line, and I had to take it apart and fix it before we could use it, but it works great now. The practice lure is pretty neat, it is a little "Lightyear" tire from the movie, and it is made of rubber so that it won't break when it hits the ground. All in all, it's a good quality fishing pole that I would definitely recommend to anybody that wants to get their kid started out fishing! - Easy Fishing For Kids'

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Chocolate Cookbook - brownies, cookbook

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Chocolate A Love Story is a collection of 65 chocolate dessert recipes from Max Brenner's private collection. Max Brenner, at an early age of 10, read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and decided from that point forward, he was going to find a river of chocolate.

Max has locations in Philadelphia, New York City, Australia, Phillipines, Singapore and Israel and there are many products available at his online shop HERE. One product that Max is known for is the "Hug Mug" which is a coffee mug shaped to keep your hands warm. In NYC and Philadelphia, this is a great idea! If you are looking for a great gift with a chocolate or indulgence theme, this is your spot.

What I enjoyed the most about Chocolate A Love Story was Max's inclusion of himself into the various pages of this creative book. The artist, Yontan Factor, provides an interesting and unique perspective to introducing art into this clever display of mouthwatering chocolate creations. I have to admit, my first impression was one of confusion as I couldn't understand how this was a recipe book but after opening my mind, reading personally about Max and the artist, finally each recipe, I quickly fell in love with the concept of the book. I feel this would be a great gift to any chocolate lover, a chef, a novice or even as a romantic gift. This is not your run of the mill cookbooks as it's a piece of art on many levels from this chocolate genius.

I believe by reading Max's path towards his reality of bringing his chocolate to life, one can understand the passion behind the book, the recipes and the man himself.

"On the one hand, it is the most romantic gift; on the other hand, a commodity that is traded in the bourse. It is sold like precious jewelry that is picked carefully from a crystal glass, but also is an addictive snack in every corner kiosk. It is tasted like a fine wine and licked straight from the bowl...These diverse aspects of chocolate and of life are the inspiration for our book."

This is a sample of recipes:

*The Belgian Street Waffle <-- My Favorite

*Spy Thriller Chocolate Black Forest Cake

*Military Porridge

*Pretentious White Chocolate Panna Cotta

*Overwhelming Oriental White Chocolate Malabi

*Meaningless Sweet Spaghetti

*Home Industry Chocolate Cheese Pockets

The entire book if filled with mouth watering enticements which made me want to try nearly all of them. One thing to note, they are not all easy recipes and are involving with a variety of ingredients and a few steps but well worth it! This is a great way to either indulge yourself or someone else.

I tried the Belgian Street Waffles and loved them! I had to buy a few extra ingredients that I don't normally have on hand but most recipes are like that unless you are already a master chef. The bonus I like about Chocolate A Love Story is that Max describes how to display your own masterpiece on the plate for the final touch.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to cook and who likes chocolate. This makes a great table book or an addition to the recipe book collection. It's a beautiful display of creativity coupled with delicious recipes. Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection

This is a large hardcover cookbook with 65 recipes, not all of them strictly dessert recipes, but all involving chocolate in some way. And like most chef inspired cookbooks there are some recipes that you can use for every day indulgence, and some that require more effort that you might want to save for special occasions.

I loved looking through this book and decided that before I could write a review I needed to test out a recipe. Believe me it was no hardship :) There were so many that sounded yummilicious that I had a hard time deciding. Here are some of my favorite recipes:

* Veg-out chocolate cornflake TV wraps with lazy Brazil nuts and coconut sofa dipping sauces

* Control Freak chocolate spread with late night toasted almond splinters on a crispy munchy French brioche toast

* Parisian new life chocolate dream cake sprinkled in white powder sugar point of view

* Politically correct Sacher torte with a loyal good taste

* My lost childhood chocolate birthday cake sprinkled with shiny colorful candy tears

* A philosophical highly concentrated fudge brownie made of 70 percent dark chocolate thoughts

* A high school bonfire chocolate melting heart cake with a soft marshmallow first memory hidden inside

* Bad boy chocolate pizza with hazelnut spread, pure melted chocolate chips, and passionately roasted marshmallows

* Home industry chocolate cheese pockets filled with pears cooked in wine and made according to a cheesy chef's recipe

* and so many more that I can't list them all!

After much debate I decided to try the highly concentrated brownie recipe. For me there could be no better judge of the book than this recipe.

The brownies were relatively easy to make. It only took about 15-20 min to mix, about 30 min to bake, and the ingredients were not expensive. There were a couple of small drawbacks. First, it made a HUGE pan of brownies (13x18 pan) and second it recommended that you refrigerate the brownies overnight before eating to have them at their fudgiest best. You can't bake these for 30 min, drooling at the delicious smell the whole time, then tell me I can't try them until the next day! But I have to say they were better after being refrigerated, and a more chocolatey brownie you would be hard to find. I loved it, but friends who were not as much a chocoholic as I am thought they were too much. I say, just cut a smaller piece :)

I loved reading the recipes as well as the journal like musings accompanying some of these recipes. They were at times lyrical, insightful, poetic, frank and sometimes even sad. Let me give you an example:

"Night. Candles. Lots of warm yellow candles reflecting and shimmering in a shiny sauce poured over sweet desserts. Colorful alcohol served with incandescent straws, as on a tropical island. It is crowded. Everyone is handsome as movie stars in the dim light that flickers over their faces, hiding a magical intimacy behind twinkling eyes. A voluptuous smell whispers secrets that intoxicate the people. Peter Pan flies about among the guests. Adults revert to being children. The grand soiree of sweets releases inside us, as always, the most beautiful feelings." p. 76 from the recipe Forever young white chocolate custard perfumed with lemongrass and mixed with falling-in-love sweet wine lychees

This is a cookbook that I enjoyed reading if that makes any sense. I loved the commentary that went along with the recipes, and took almost as much pleasure reading the recipes as I did consuming these confections. It has a nice variety of desserts, soups, drinks, shakes and so much more. I only wish that it would have contained more pictures, rather than the artwork. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is a chocoholic, or loves to cook. I think it would be a great hostess gift, or a gift to yourself. This is a book that I think I will end up keeping for a long time.

Not convinced yet, check out the Max Brenner sweets menu from his restaurant in NYC and get a peek at some of what's in this book.

Rating: 4.25 stars reviewed for Seductive Musings blog - Dessert - Cookbook - Brownies - Chocolate'

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School Supplies - pencil sharpener, electric pencil sharpener

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I don't sharpen pencils but my kids do and they are happy with this Swingline sharpener.

It's probably worth noting that the battery is only an option, not the main power source. Unless you're on the road the sharpener is going to stay plugged into a wall outlet but it's good to know that, come a hurricane or a blackout, the battery option is there. By the way, you are going to need SIX AA batteries.

What we like the most about the Swingline is its being a good pencil sharpener. We also like its shape/design, its quiet operation and the battery as an alternative power source. It's easy to maintain and clean and it performed well so far.

Absent any defects it's a five-star rating by default. Swingline Compact Electric Pencil Sharpener, with Battery Power Option (29965)

This sharpener is much bigger than I expected. I had to sharpen 24 #2 pencils for my daughters kindergarden class - it hasn't been used since. Of those 24 pencils, they are different lengths as the sharpener quickly sharpened some pencils and not so quickly on others (evenly around was the same type of variability). If you are looking for a home use/kids school pencils type of sharpener this is fine. If you need percision, this probably isn't it.

It looks pretty study so I do expect it to last a while.

Almost magical.

I inserted an unsharpened pencil into it, and soon thereafter I held in my hand a sharp pencil!

I feel like a wizard, or some sort of genius with this tool. My pencils are sharp, in any case.

Put batteries in sharpener right after it arrived in the mail. When sharpening the first pencil, it began to smell and smoke started to come out of the battery compartment. I don't know if the same thing would have happened if I had used it plugged in. As a side note, it also broke the pencil lead. Returned it to Amazon without difficulty.

I had this item on my Christmas wish list, after considerable research on pencil sharpners. However, when I did get it, it broke within 2 seconds of inserting a pencil into the shaprner! A small plastic piece broke off inside. I say, that for an instrument that can't even sharpen a pencil without breaking, it is a cheap badly made product. I will never buy it again and am sending it back to amazon.

Note: This review is being written by the husband of "MomOfTwoBoys", who is currently sitting in a Yoga position, sipping a glass of white wine, and chanting oooom in an attempt to bring down her blood pressure.

I would rate this pencil sharpener as two stars. My wife says one star and only because "zero stars" is not an option. My wife is not an overly critical person by nature but her contempt for this model sharpener has no bounds. She can't get it to work. She tries gently sticking in the pencil, she tries it forcefully, she tries twisting the pencil as she inserts it...nada, zilch, nothing. For a while she found that unpluging the power adapter from the unit would cause the sharpner to spring into action, but sadly, no more. My interactions with the device have been a little better. I found that if I had a positive attitude when using it, I got better results. I would say a few encouraging words and I could get one or two pencils sharpened before the thing would refuse to service me anymore. But if I waited 10 or 20 minutes and came back with some more sweet words of kindness, I could tweak out another sharperning, but really, who has that kind of time. Trying to get through a pack of 20 pencils for your kids' school supplies on a Sunday night can take the better part of the evening if my patience persists and meanwhile my wife is in the other word calling the machine names that I cannot repeat here. So, no, I would not recommend this Swingline automatic pencil sharpner for its intended use. Now, if have an itch to annoy your spouse who is typically an easy going person, then that's a different matter all together!

I bought this because I needed an automatic pencil sharpener and it had a nice design.

I could care less about the design but if I am going to get one, why not get one with a sleek design?

But this pencil sharpener does not even work properly.

After trying to sharpen a few different types of standard-sized pencils with this machine, I gave up.

I don't usually write reviews on products I buy, but I just wanted to warn people.

I ordered it as a new product but received it with pencil scraps still remained in the container. The pencil sharpener stalled after I sharpened 3 pencils and needed to empty the container for restart. I contacted Amazon and received my refund. I do not recommend "BestSource Stationers" as the reseller and I am not sure the the low quality Swingline Compact Electric Pencil Sharpener is due to the manufacture or the reseller. The refund process was done by Amazon chat and it took about 25 mins for less than 10 conversations. I think it was little long since the representive didn't inform me what he was doing on the other side and just left me waiting. I will definitely shop with Amazon again for the refund policy for this incident. - School Supplies - Pencil Sharpener - Electric Sharpener - Electric Pencil Sharpener'

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Graphics Tablet - pen tablet, intuos4

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First of all, I must say that the only tablet I have used before is the Wacom Intuos3, so I will be drawing my comparisons mainly between the Intuos3 and Intuos4. I understand that there are a multitude of tablets/digitizers in the market, such as Genie and *forgot the company's name*, but my review will mainly focus on Wacom's line of tablets. To start off, I must say that if you are considering a tablet, then you might want to first try the Wacom Bamboo/Bamboo Fun before shelling out hundreds for a Intuos.

Everything aside, I love my Intuos4, and I think it is definitely a worthy upgrade from Intuos3 (or any other tablets in general), especially if you spend hours everyday with a pen.

Intuos4, instead of the gray metallic look of the Intuos3, hosts a cool black matte finish with a high-gloss black side panel. It is a lot thinner than the intuos3, a much lower profile, and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Since most of us have widescreen monitors, I think it is very thoughtful of Wacom to update the aspect ratio of the Intuos4, but be warned though; if you use a 4:3 monitor, you might experience problems with drawing ratios since the 16:9 active area will be 'squeezed' to fit into a 4:3 layout; what this means is that if you draw a tilted line on the tablet, the line will appear to be squeezed horizontally and stretched vertically on the 4:3 monitor. Of course, you can manually limit the active area in the Wacom configuration software, but that would force you to sacrifice a portion of working area, so take this into consideration when purchasing this tablet.

The biggest design change from the Intuos3 is the layout of the expresskeys. Because of the ambidextrous design, Wacom placed all the keys on one side of the tablet, so there are more keys available to the users. What I think is extremely thoughtful of Wacom is that for the Small tablet, it came with 2 USB tables, one tilted upwards and the other downwards, as to cater to both the left-handed and the right-handed configuration. Note, however, that the Small version of the Intuos4 does not have the OLED display to the right of the expresskeys, and instead of 8, you will only get 6 keys (but it is more than sufficient for me).

The problem I have with the expresskeys is that in the Intuos3, the keys are shaped differently, so that it is very easy to locate a specific key without having to constantly look down; however, for intuos4, since all the keys are shaped exactly the same, it is extremely easy activate the wrong key...this is especially the case with Intuos4 Small, since there is no visual indication as to what function each key is assigned to, making navigation difficult. I think Wacom should have made each of the keys more distinct tactilely[sic?], especially for the Small version. However, I think this should not be much of a problem after some time of getting use to (I only had it for a day).

The Touch Ring is what I think the biggest innovation in the Intuos4. The touchstrip was great, but you can only assign one function to the strip, but with the new touch ring, you can assign 4 different functions, switchable with the press of the central bottom. What this means is that you can assign Zoom/Rotate/Brush Size/Opacity/Flow/etc. all to a single touchring, which greatly boosts productivity, and makes the tablet more intuitive to use. This is especially true with the new 'Rotate' feature in Photoshop CS4, but I have noticed that there is a significant latency delay (lag) when invoking the rotate function with the touchring, but it may just be me.

The new rubberized grip pen also features the cool black finish akin to that of the tablet; the weight of the pen is almost perfect, and the rubber grip makes using the grip pen more comfortable than ever before, but the rubber grip also attracts dust and lint, so it may be subjected to constant cleaning. The pen supports 2048 levels of sensitivity, and since I have a light stroke, the penstrokes register a lot better with Intuos4. The rocker on the pen, however, has a very poor travel, and a bit awkward to use. But all in all, I prefer the Intuos4 grip pen over the Intuos3 version for its comfort and usability.

The new improved tablet surface is perhaps as close as you can get with real Pen-on-Paper experience with a digital tablet. Intuos3's surface is extremely 'slippery', and drawing on it feels like plastic-on-plastic; however, the Intuos4's surface makes me really feel like drawing on paper with almost perfect travel and traction. The different nibs offer different levels of friction, simulating different mediums. This concept was attempted in Intuos3, but I think Intuos4 has really perfected the formula, making drawing on the tablet feel almost the same as drawing on paper.

I don't usually talk about the pen-stand, but the pen stand for Intuos4 is definitely worthy mentioning. A high gloss black finish, the pen stand can be twisted open, revealing a nib storage compartment with slots to store 10 extra nibs (and a nib extractor). I used to lose track of my pen nibs all the time, but not anymore, so kudos to Wacom for their attention to details.

The tablet comes with a wide array of softwares (Photoshop Elements, Sketchpad, etc.) all available online to Intuos4 customers via Wacom's website (but you'll have to register your Intuos4 to receive the softwares); the driver installation is extremely easy (but I do recommend resetting your wacom profile in the Wacom Preference Utility and uninstall any old wacom driver(s) before installing the new one to prevent conflicts); it took me literally 15 minutes to set everything up and running under Vista, and no problems thus far.

The expresskey configuration, however, is a bit tedious, especially if you plan on using different presets for you applications. There are many great additions, such as the Radial Menu, which is, in short, a nice multi-command invoker; this, along with the additional expresskeys and the touch ring, would probably take some time to configure to your liking.

There has been complaints about Intuos3's poor Vista support (although I have had no problems with my Intuos3 under vista); according to other reviews, Wacom seems to have fixed most of the incompatibility problems with Intuos4.

Note that I have intentionally left out the Wacom mouse because I never was a fan of Wacom's mouses, so it is still sitting in my box...maybe I'll take it out and test it someday...

PROS

+ Cool black finish, matte frame extremely comfortable to rest hand on.

+ Ambidextrous design

+ More expresskeys

+ Touchring with 4 presets

+ 2048 Levels of sensitivity

+ 16:9 Aspect ratio (may not be a pro if you have a 4:3 design, see above)

+ Great drawing surface, feels like pen-on-paper.

+ Thinner, lighter than Intuos3

+ Great driver, vista support.

+ Improved customization software, many useful functions

+ Improved grip pen, comfortable to use

+ 10 replacement nibs (should last 2-5 years)

+ Innovating pen holder, serves as a storage for replacement nibs

+ Color rings to give the grip pen a different feel

+ Tons of extra softwares, great value.

CONS

- Expresskeys shaped the same, easy to press the wrong key

- Intuos4 Small does not have the OLED display

- Price

- Only 16:9 is offered

- The rocker on the grip pen has poor travel

- May not be the best choice if you prefer the smooth drawing surface of Intuos3

- A bit too big for a small tablet (compared to Intuos3 Small)

- High gloss side panel is a fingerprint magnet

- The rubber grip on the pen attracts dust and lint.

- Does not come with a travel sleeve (is this really too much to ask?)

All in all, Intuos4 boasts many notable upgrades from the previous Intuos3 line. If you have been holding off for a Intuos3, then this is perhaps the time for you to finally jump on the Intuos boat. Due to the size limitations, the Small Intuos4 lacks a few features available in the other models of the Intuos4 line (notably the OLED display, dual USB ports, etc.), but the price difference between the Small and the Medium ($199 vs $349) tablets does not seem to justify for the price jump (especially since I don't have the space to accommodate for a medium tablet).

Again, if this is your first time shopping for a tablet, then I would recommend trying out the Bamboo line of products before considering the Intuos.

I enjoy the Intuos4 tablet, and I would recommend it to any serious graphics designers/photographers/animators/etc. This is a worthy investment and you won't regret it.

Final Verdict: Wacom, you have done it again. ^^ Wacom Intuos4 Small Pen Tablet - Graphics Tablet - Pen Tablet - Tablet - Intuos4'

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Hp Laptop Battery - laptop batteries, laptop

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This battery arrived 2 days before the suggested arrival date. I replaced a 4400ma battery that died after 15 months of owning my laptop (just 3 months out of warranty) After several calls and emails to HP the best they could do is send me a replacement 4400ma battery for $67.00 plus shipping and handling. I was concerned that it may only last 15 months. I have read many bad reviews about the hp stock battery I had . After searching amazon.com found an 8800ma battery for $54.00. This battery is in my HP Pavilion dv4-1220us laptop. I have read the reviews and some complaints were about the battery being heavy and raised the laptop about a 1/2in. higher than the 4400ma stock battery that came with the laptop. This is not only true for the replacement 12 cell battery, but to note my brother-in-law has a later model hp pavilion with a stock 12 cell battery, and it is the same size as the replacement battery I purchased. If you want a lighter flatter battery then get a 4400ma battery. However my 4400ma stock battery never got me more than 1hr and 30 minutes of power and lasted only 15 months. On the other hand after having this battery for just about a week now I get about 3hrs and 45 minutes of battery life streaming music. It is well worth the extra weight and actually easier to type now that the laptop is angled a little bit. There was another complaint that the battery either fell out of the machine or was a bit shakey, and at times lost connection and the laptop would shut down. Now I don't know about other models of laptops, but on my pavilion dv4-1220us this does not happen. I will say that it does wiggle a little, but my brother-in-law's 12 cell 8800ma stock battery with his ph pavilion also has some wiggle room. All in all for the money compared to what HP wants for the same battery you can't beat it. My only regret is that at the time of posting this review the same battery is 7 dollars cheaper than when I ordered a little over 2 weeks ago. New Laptop Replacement Battery for HP Pavilion dv4 Series, Pavilion dv5 Series , Pavilion dv6 Series

I bought this battery for my HPDV51000 Laptop. I chose this battery over an HP Battery for 2 reasons 1) My original HP battery died after 15 months of use so I didn't want to get another one with the same results, I was hoping to find one that would last longer. 2) This battery had good reviews. I followed all the directions by calibrating the battery several times by fully draining and then recharging it. The battery only lasts for less than 1 hour with all the power settings set to the HP Recommended settings. The original HP laptop battery lasted well over 2 hours on the same settings. Overall I am disappointed.

I got this to replace a dead battery on my HP Pavillion DV-4 (which died after 14 months).

The price was great, compared to getting one direct from HP. So I was a bit skeptical about performance. But now it's been 3 months and it still works fine. Charges just as fast, and the charge lasts as long as the original HP battery did. It's basically just a clone of the HP battery, and these aftermarket batteries can be hit-or-miss. There is always a risk when buying a battery not made by the manufacturer, but I have found this one to work just as well as the first one. I hope it lasts even longer than the original. The battery life of the original HP battery was very dissapointing.

The battery works fine as long as you are using an actual HP power cord with it. When I first got this replacement battery it did not work with the cheap power cord I bought for $15 off here. If you need to replace your battery and/or power cord (as I had to after less than two years), this battery is fine but spend the extra money ($25 on Amazon) and buy the right HP power cord.

I ordered this for my laptop and they sent me the wrong part. I will edit this review once I have gotten the correct part or even a response from customer service. Until then I still have not heard from customer service as you have to email them. They don't provide you with a telephone number. We could solve the issue with a two minute phone conversation but is this world now a days people feel an 8 hour response to a simple problem is better customer service. Will not buy again from them.

The actual product which was delivered was not at all the same as in the description of the product. it does not work for dv5 or dv6 laptops. Even on the delivered charger, it says dv4 charger. u will be cheated.

I was amazed how quickly the item got to me. I got an email saying that it was going to take much longer, but it arrived in just about a week and a half. It was a lot cheaper than a lot of others, so that made me nervous, but so far it is performing better than the original battery ever did.

I recieved the product in a proper time frame and it was the exact one. The only problem I had was when I searched for this product I wasn't sure if it was the right one but I got help and it turned out to be the correct one.

I bought this battery because my original battery had lost it's ability to hold a charge. Since using this battery, I have the portability of my laptop back and I absolutely love it. This is a good battery, for a good price and I'd definitely recommend it.

This battery is great. It is of much better quality than my HP battery that came with this computer, which lasted LESS THAN A YEAR before it said I needed a new one. I went on without a new battery for a while (just stayed plugged in), but finally it died completely and I had to get a new one. Affordable, fast delivery, and it fit my Pavillion dv4 perfectly. Thanks! - Laptop Battery - Laptop Batteries - Laptop - Battery'

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Ipod Touch Case - screen protector, ipod touch case

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kind of disappointed. Would have worked if the screen protector hadn't become like a magnet as it was exposed to air for the first time. As soon as I peeled off the first screen it collected dust in the air with relative easy, probably my fault in a way though. I probably wouldn't have advised this to be taken off and put on another because the screen protector actually does leave some adhesive around which wasn't too difficult to remove and also, as I mentioned,it became something of a magnet and seems to collect anything in the air and I wouldn't even attempt to try and get the small mini-particles off. Does the job aside from that which is why it gets 3 stars from me, but I will be looking for another protection and pack of 3 instead so in case things go sour I won't be sitting here wondering what to do with the only one I have. The last gripe i have is that the picture is misleading and doesn't actually have only a circular hole for the home button but instead is a u-like cutout on the bottom.

bottomline: collects dust rather easily and not advisable to reuse it. Thick and works nicely, but if you mess up on the application you are in a rut and standard shipping was 3 times the price of the item itself so i'd advise getting multiple if you aren't quick to apply this. Premium Reusable LCD Screen Protector for Apple iPod Touch 3rd Generation 32G... - Screen Protector - Ipod Touch Case'

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Caldecott Medal Winner - black and white, childrens books

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This book clearly deserves more than five stars for its brilliant plot, fascinating design, terrific illustrations, and thought-provoking premise. This book will stretch the imagination and thinking of anyone who sees it, no matter of what age or intellect. And the process of doing the thinking will be enormous good fun.The book starts with a warning. "This book appears to contain a number of stories that do not necessarily occur at the same time." Then you get hints. It might contain more than one story, or it might be four stories, or then again, four parts of one story. "Careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended." You will be a story detective, not unlike someone trying to solve a crime after the fact. Each page is divided into four stories, each of which generally takes up one-fourth of the page. They are located in the same position relative to one another so you can keep the story thread you are following straight. Each has a title. "Seeing Things" is about a boy taking his first train trip alone. After a long, mysterious delay, he arrives at a large station to be greeted by his parents. His mother sympathizes with his difficult journey."Problem Parents" relates how perfectly normal, hard-working parents return from commuting to work one night wearing costumes made out of newspapers. Soon, they have their children costumed this way too."A Waiting Game" shows a crowd of adults waiting for the commuter train on an outdoor platform. Pretty soon they get bored, and the fun begins."Udder Chaos" starts with a cow licking a man in a convict suit, and shows how cattle provide camouflage for themselves and everything around them.An occasional element from one of the stories crosses over, and shows up in another story. From these tiny steps, you can begin to unravel the tangled plot.The book earned the Caldecott Medal for the best illustrated children's book in 1991. I think this is outstandingly illustrated, even for a Caldecott winner. The images carry the story much more than the occasional words do. Without the fascinating visual display of the book's concept, there would be no story here that you could unravel.Upon rereading, you and your child will grasp additional meaning in the images and words. This will give you a lot to talk and think about. As such, you will welcome this over all of the books where you read the same story in the same way, over ... and ... over ... and ... over ... again. One of the most difficult things for a child to learn is how subjective perception is. I think this book is terrific for making that point, and helping to create an appreciation for clear communication. I suggest that every family with children purchase and regularly read this book.After you have enjoyed this book many times, I suggest that you think about where else a partial story is presented. For example, you and your child might go to a train station or airport and watch the people. You could make up stories about what you see. Then, I suggest that you go up and interview the people to hear what they think their story is.Find the harmony, under the muddied surface of subjective, unfocused perception! Black and White

This was one of the most interesting books I have ever read. When I first read this book, I did not really get the structure of this book and found myself very confused. I went back and looked at the book again and realized that this book was laid out just like our lives are. In our everyday lives everything is truly not black & white (one way or another), we have alot of gray area. This book has four stories going on at once, kind of like real life. This book would be more for an advanced reader.

The interesting thing is that all of the stories are directly related to one of the stories. It really shows the different sides of a situation. Sometimes we may not see all sides of a story, but this book shows us just how one event can effect many more. I would recommend this book to anyone that really wants a reading challenge. The content is very neat and the illustrations are very good also.

I enjoyed this book. Not knowing what to expect, my husband and I read each of the four stories individually. After finishing one we'd start over and begin with another. Macauley should be lauded for the different modes of art he employs, if nothing else. The watercolor illustrations of a boy on a train differ nicely from the pen and ink drawings of the two kids and their crazy parents. Most enjoyable, perhaps, is the series of train station commuters, waiting for the train and slowly going mad. Kids will enjoy following the escaped criminal (complete with black mask and black & white striped shirt) as he runs from story to story throughout the book. This would not read especially well to a large group of children, seeing as how the pictures are particularly small and difficult to follow from a distance. Also some of these stories lack words altogether. But individual children will enjoy finding new and different details in each of the four tales. Altogether, a fascinating book.

I gave "Black and White" to my boyfriend in lieu of the usual mushy Valentine's Day gift. I am known for my unusual children's books, among them "Baaa," also by David Macaulay. This book was equally non-disappointing. Consisting of four stories somehow rolled into one, I find something new each time I read it, and find discussing theories on this book with my friends to be a most interesting pastime. My boyfriend, to whom I gave this book on Valentine's Day, has a kindergarten teacher mother who found David Macaulay's "Black and White" to be fascinating, entertaining, and a challenge for the elementary age students she encounters each day, as well as a challenge to herself.

This book is a great book for kids to read by themselves. It's a series of seemingly four separate, odd stories (two stories on each page). One story is about a boy on a train, the other about kids and their parents' routine, the third is about passengers waiting for a train, and the fourth is about Holstein cows. They're all very odd stories; the parents come home wearing newspaper, Holstein cows are difficult to see, and there are pieces of newspaper flying in the air like snow.Kids will enjoy this book because each time you read the stories, a different meaning occurs. The writing is creative and arranged imaginatively according to the words. There are some larger vocabulary words that may need to be looked up, such as avalanche, embankment, and udder. Because of the four stories and strange situations, this book would probably be more appropriate for more advanced readers in 2nd and 3rd grade. I even had to read it four times to figure out the stories and how they're related. - Black And White - Caldecott Medal Winner - Childrens Books - Kids'

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Interior Decorating - architecture, interiors

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I just received this book as a gift, and I can't stop drooling over it. With so many of my favorite home design magazines gone, I've been hungry for some design inspiration. I didn't know that much about Alexa Hampton before I got the book, and assumed (I guess because of her famous father) that her designs and sensibilities would be way out of reach. But her book is so beautiful, and the text is so informative, I have been completely delighted! I particularly love the tone of the book. She shares a lot of her own story with the reader, which makes this book as much fun to READ as it is to look at. The book is filled with plenty of aspirational homes and photos, but they're presented in a way that helps you see how you can apply it to your own life. I was also pleased to find many interiors that I would love to copy completely! I would recommend this book to any home design lover out there, and was very happy to get it as a gift. Alexa Hampton: The Language of Interior Design

This is one of those books you receive and will keep it for your entire life. It is full of amazing interior photography, beautifully laid out and presented. I keep returning to the book and seeing details in the photo's I didn't see before. I actually sit with a strong magnifying glass and soak up every detail of the pictures and absorb the detail, pretending I am there in the room. A visually stunning book and well written too. It must run in the family, daughter like father.

I think more of the interior pictures need to be included when going" inside" to see what the book has to offer it would make purchasing the book a fore gone conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learnt a great deal from it. It has pride and place next to my beside table where I escape into it each night and devour every detail of the books photographs and written content that I can.

I would recommend this book any day of the week.

I keep going back to the book to see if what displeases me is that this is not what I expected. But no....it is boring, the work seems mediocre compared to her father's work....the homes pictured here are either "flat" and predictable, or over the top and almost tacky......it's like the people who own them are "noveaux rich"....even the art work that hangs on the walls looks "just bought". There seems to be no imagination in the work presented here, and definitely no sense of age and breeding attached to the interiors.....come on...put in some weathered pieces in those designs!!! Give them some pedrigree! The author comes across more as a good supervisor of craftsmen than a creative interior designer.

Language of Interior Design offers arts and interior design collections a fine, oversize presentation surveying Alexa Hampton's aesthetic development and vision. She grew up with a design legend father and at age thirteen worked at his firm, which she now owns and operates. Her creations blend modern design with new interpretations of classics, and make for a fine coffee-table-sized survey illustrating her design process in interiors. Homeowners will find these inspirational.

I've recently purchased the book and I love it. The chosen interiors are varied, exciting and elegant. The writing is a nice, and new, approach for looking at design. I've given it to a few friends already and the feedback so far has only been positive!

I love the aspirational nature of design books and enjoy looking at the photos and getting new ideas for my home. What I especially loved about this book was I was surprised to find that I liked the writing as much as the photos - and that's unusual for a big, gorgeous home design book. Usually in books like this, it feels like the writing is an afterthought and in this one I got the sense that Alexa really wanted to share her know-how, expertise and experience in such a way that we could almost feel like we were being counseled by her directly, one-to-one. She and her collaborator Jill Simpson did a great job of presenting a TON of information in clear, accessible, engaging text.

So five stars for gorgeous photos, beautiful and interesting interiors, and wonderful descriptions, historical notes, ideas and recommendations.

Alexa Hampton now runs the company made famous by her late father, Mark Hampton. Her designs are classic, beautiful, amazing and probably out of financial reach for most people. That said, there are wonderful ideas that those of us without her training and background (and talent) can incorporate into our homes. She explains the what and why of design and the photos are gorgeous.

Alexa Hampton's book is simply gorgeous and full of interesting observations that she has made over the course of her career. The book is very well laid out and is beautifully written. She is clearly all-around talented. This would make a great gift for anyone interested in interior design. - Architecture - Decorating - Interiors - Interior Decorating'

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Chargers - rechargeable batteries, 18 volt

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THESE BATTERIES WERE VERY REASONABLY PRICED AS THEY CAME WITH A SPARE CHARGER. WE USE IT WITH OUR DEWALT HAND VAC, WE NOW HAVE 3 BATTERIES. IT'S NICE TO HAVE 2 BATTERIES CHARGING WHILE ONE IS BEING USED IN THE VACUUM. (1 IN THE ORIGINAL CHARGER THAT CAME WITH THE VAC AND 1 IN THIS EXTRA SPARE CHARGER THAT CAME WITH THE BATTERIES.) (2) Dewalt Dc9096 XRP Battery Batteries Pack + Charger

I bought two "new" batteries - well maybe? One works like it should holds a charge for as long as the store bought batteries the other well not the case; really short charge life like 15 min maybe. I would say odds are in favor of at least one of these being rebuilt and not with the highest quality batteries. I have no yet had time to return the bad one so I can't comment on the return policy but I will be testing it.

I had purchased one battery and charger at Home Depot when I decided to see what I could get it for online. Hello - two bateries for almost half the cost. Needless to say, the one battery whent back to the store.

DeWalt is the best at what they do.

Okay, so I'm now charged up! This DeWalt 2 pack of batteries and charging unit is exactly what I needed to keep everyone moving at my office...

TERRIFIC price (I know, I checked!), GREAT service (how frustrating it is to get a terrific price if the service isn't great!) - Oh yeah, and it WORKS, so consequently now WE DO TOO!!!

My husband has had his DeWALT Drill for a long time and he was very happy to get the new batteries and charger. Amazing the difference new batteries make! Great price for what you get AND we got them within a week after ordering! - Battery Charger - 18 Volt - Rechargeable Batteries - Battery'

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