Science Fiction - science thriller, classic sci-fi

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It's hard to complain about a $2 electronic book that gives you over 30 novels/stories in it. There's got to be something for every sci-fi fan in a collection like that. I personally bought it for the Skylark series.



Which brings me to why I only gave the collection 3 stars (actually, I'd like to give 3.5, but that is not an option offered by Amazon).



I have had the entire Skylark series and the Lensman series since I first started reading for enjoyment ... some 40 years ago. I still have all the paperback volumes. But I'm older now and it's much easier for me to use my computer and the Kindle for PCs which Amazon was so kind to give me to read my favorite authors. I was sorely disappointed to find that in all my searching only the first two novels from the Skylark series are available on Kindle. I can't find SL of Valeron or SL DeQuesne in any of the collections or as a seperate purchase. And the same is true of the excellent Lensman series. This is very disappointing to me. True, I still have the paperbacks, but would like the electronic versions now.



In an anthology such as this, with so many titles included; it eludes me as to why the publishers cannot include the complete series. Yes, perhaps it is a question of royalties and such, but writer Smith is no longer with us and some of his work is available (all of it in paperback). It puzzles me.



Well, that is the case with this book. That's my beef. Now, for the casual reader who likes science fiction from the golden years. This electronic book is an incredible value. For less than the price of one of today's paperbacks, you get over 30 novels from some of the older names. Truly the material (technical aspects) is dated and sometimes the story is a little campy. But the writings are very enjoyable.



While I'm hoping for a Kindle release of a complete collections version, this is a good temporary solution and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction. Great enjoyment that won't empty your wallet.



~P~ The Ultimate Science Fiction Collection: Volume Two (30+ Books)

Three great writers from the Golden Age of SF H. Beam Piper, Mack Reynolds, and E.E. Smith



List of books in Ultimate Science Fiction Volume 2

H. Beam Piper

The Answer

The Cosmic Computer

Crossroad of Destiny

Day of the Moran

Dearest

The Edge of the Knife

Flight from Tomorrow

Four Day Planet

Genesis

Graveyard of Dreams

He Walked around the Horses

The Keeper

Last Enemy

Little Fuzzy

The Mercenaries

Ministry of Disturbance

Murder in the Gunroom

Naudsonce

Null-ABC

Oomphel in the Sky

Omnilungual

Operation RSVP

Patrol

Police Operation

Rebel Raider

The Return

A Slave is a Slave

Space Viking

Temple Trouble

Time and Time Again

Time Crime

Ullr Uprising

Mack Reynolds

Adaptation

The Common Man

Gun for Hire

Medal of Honor

Mercenary

Revolution

A Stranger Here Myself

Subversive

Summit

Unborn Tommorrow

E.E. Smith

The Galaxy Primes

Masters of Space

The Skylark of Space

Skylark Three

Spacehounds of IPC

Subspace Survivors

Triplanetary

The Vortex Blaster

The stories are clearly dated, as I've read quite a few that either dealt directly with or had the backdrop of the arms race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and the political systems represented by the two at the time. The stories themselves are bare and simple (character development at times take a backseat) and slowly guide the reader into the their worlds, lending themselves to be easily understood and followed.



This is contrasted with more modern Scifi short stories that tend to throw the reader abruptly into the story and piled on layers of complexity in order to achieve a multidimensional depth. Perhaps with the ages, the scifi aficionados have evolved such that they desire such nuances even from a short story. For folks that like to get back to basics, or for lazy Sundays when you want to lay back and take it easy, these old stories from a simpler time make an enjoyable read.

Fun to read but would have been more fun when I was 10 years old! I am 69 now! Very wordy but the science is close to the mark even remaining far out! And they missed some stuff like computers and robots! - Science Fiction - Anthologies - Classic Sci-fi - Science Thriller'

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Electronic Lock - keyless deadbolt, schlage

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For years we have been using a key pad activated deadbolt for front doors in our various homes - no keys to lose or give to various family members - only four digit codes. Up until now, all of the key pad units we have installed, extend and retract the deadbolt using a small battery powered electric motor.



This issue we've encountered is when the batteries become weak, the motor (in some cases) does not have enough power to retract the bolt and we must revert to another entrance to get into our home. Although these unit allow one to use a key to override the electronics, we never seem to have the key "on us" when it's needed. Fortunately we have a keypad on our garage door and that serves as an alternative entrance when this occurs. These deadbolt retraction failures have been occurring more and more often even with fresh batteries. I suspect the motor is or has worn out.



With this in mind, I shopped the market for an electronically activated dead bolt with manual bolt action. In other words, instead of a motor extending and retracting the deadbolt, one would use a lever or knob to perform this function. The keypad (electronic segment of the unit) would serve to activate the manual knob or lever. I found the Schlage BE365VCAM619 Camelot Deadbolt Keypad, Satin Nickel on Amazon at an extremely reasonable price and it has all of the features I wanted - electronic key pad activation, manual extension and retraction of the deadbolt upon activation.



The unit arrived yesterday and after a few problems with the unit being confused as to whether the bolt was retracted or extended (my fault), the unit works perfectly. Note, I already had a deadbolt lockset on the door, so it was a simple process of removing the old, and installing the new.



It's an extremely high quality unit without the cheap plastic casing my prior unit had on the inside casing. It's all metal. Changing or adding key pad codes (combinations) is relatively easy. One must enter the units six digit master code (don't lose this code, keep it in a place that you can go to each time you wish to change the codes - Using a permanent marker, I wrote it on the inside of the lock), and then enter your personal four digit code. We use two codes however the unit can store many codes. You may want to add a temporary code to let a service technician into your home, then delete that code when the work is completed.



One feature I like is the lighted key pad which our old unit did not have. If we forget to turn on the porch light, by simply pressing the "schlage" button at the top of the keypad, the keys light up.



Here's the basic operation.



When you're leaving the house, close the door, press the "schlage" button, wait for the click, then extend the deadbolt. You'll hear a confirmation click confirming that the locking knob/lever has been disengaged from the deadbolt after the deadbolt has been extended.



When you arrive home, simply enter your four digit code, you'll hear a click, then manually retract the deadbolt and enter the home. I you wish to use the keypad light; simply press the "schlage" button to light it up. Obviously this is not needed during daylight hours.



Basically the nine volt battery is operating the keypad, a knob/level engagement solenoid and the keypad back light and should last for hundreds and hundreds cycles.



Bottom Line - I highly recommend this high quality unit. Schlage BE365VCAM619 Camelot Keypad Deadbolt, Satin Nickel

I have had the brass version of this deadbolt for bout a year and I love it. It is th best one that I have come across (and yes - the most expensive - but you get what you pay for). It is eye-catching rather than an eye-sore. Be careful, some of the cheaper competitor's models have a plastic back that is very unappealing for a main door. The unit is smaller than many by requiring only a 9 volt battery because it does not lock/unlock the deadbolt for you. You do it manually.



Pros:

1) Appealing design (front and back - no plastic)

2) Smaller than most (due to use of 9v battery)

3) Keypad lights up when you touch it for nighttime entry

4) Never get locked out. Give the neighbor a temporary code to get in.



Cons:

1) Pricey ut you get what you pay for

I installed one of these for a client and it seems to be a good product as all the reviewers say. What no one has talked about however is the standard Shlage key that can also be used to open the lock. It seems to me that this would allow the possibility of using a "bump key" to open it. One of the benefits of digital locks is their immunity to bumping. If you want the keypad just for convenience, that is fine. Just remember that any lock that can be "bumped" provides zero security.

We were consistently running into problems with the number of house keys we had given out to: contractors, landscapers and house cleaners. At some point there's no way to track who's coming and going into your house and whether or not they left the keys.

This little gadget eliminates the issue. I can now program the lock with one-time or multiple use codes unique to each individual coming to my house. It installs as easy as any other deadbolt and programming new codes takes about 10 seconds. This has quickly become my favorite new gadget.

I purchased the Schlage electronic deadbolt to allow entry into our house in case I didn't have a key with me. It works very well. Only drawback that I see is that it needs to be placed on a solid door without a glass panel as the lock has a lever on the inside that operates the deadbolt. There is no option for key locking from the inside, only the lever. Locks only keep honest people out, so it's better to have a deadbolt that is key lockable from both sides if you have an exterior door with glass panels. No need making it easier for a thief to get in than is necessary. - Electronic Lock - Keyless - Keyless Deadbolt - Schlage'

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Lens Accessories - uv filter, filters

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People- please, think! If you're spending over $1000 on a precision piece of optics, why would you put an cheap window pane in front of it? It sucks that filters cost a bit of money, but seriously, you need to get something that's at least multicoated, and preferably B&W or Heliopan or some other good brand. For a $200 lens, this is fine. But it breaks my heart to see this "bundled" with an $1100 L lens. Tiffen 67mm UV Protection Filter

I bought this filter to put on the front of the 18-70 DX lens on my Nikon D50. It works well and protects the front element of the lens from dust, dirt, fingerprints and whatnot.



It seems to cause a little vignetting (slightly darkened corners) at extreme wide angles (~18mm) -- but from what I've seen so far it isn't terribly noticeable, 'specially for the price.

There is a reason some filters cost $115 and others (such as this item) are less than $15. That being said, I suppose it's about 95% as good as ones that costs much more.



Pros

* doesn't rattle

* will take one for the team so your lens' front won't have to

* can serve well enough until you buy a real filter

* it's available on Amazon Prime--few filters are



Cons

* really thick ring, twice as thick as others

* vignetting due to this ring

* you'll likely want better as soon as you can afford it

As someone else commented, the filter was dirty with it arrived. This is not the first dirty Tiffen I've received. My Canon filters are always very clean. Why can't Tiffen ship a clean filter?



When I cleaned the filter with lens cleaner, a black substance started started running off the metal ring. I had to wash the entire filter with soap and water to remove this. It stained my hands.



The glass itself looks OK. But stained hands from a new filter? Not good.



By the way, Amazon shipped this small filter container in a good sized box with no packing material of any kind.

I have had one of these filters on my Nikon 18-70mm DX lens for a couple of years and had no trouble with it. So I let Amazon add one to my order when I bought the Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR lens. The filter ruins the performance of the 70-300 VR, the lens doesn't focus correctly and there are strange reflection patterns in the out-of-focus areas of the image when you zoom in to 100%.

This UV filter does it job to protect the lens well. The build is solid (metal construction). The glass is also descent quality.



About the performance, it absorbs some UV light. The UV light absorbtion is hardly noticeable, probably the sky 1-A and the haze filter version will absorb more UV light than this lens which is fine for me.



Now, about the one problem which is the internal reflection. I've heard many people say that it mostly happens during night or low light shooting. I found out that it is not caused directly by the low light/night situation. The internal reflection will appear when there is a strong/bright source of light in comparison to the overall exposure (the surrounding environment). To put it in example (which hopefully is easier to understand), when you take a picture of a lamp during nightime and the light is much brighter than the surrounding area then you will see the internal reflection. as you move the position of the light to be closer to the sides/corner of the picture (and not in the center of the picture), the internal reflection reduces and finally dissapear (if you move the light far enough from the center). And if the light isn't too bright/contrast compare to the surrounding environment then there will be no internal reflection. but of course most of the time, a lamp at nightime is often very bright. But the point that I'm trying to make is that the internal reflection doesn't happen all the time during low light or night time.



Additionally, the internal reflection isn't only happening at night. it can also happen in the afternoon if you are taking a picture of a sun for example. basically same rule as above, on how bright is the light source compared to the surrounding area, and as you move the sun from the center of the photo and near the side the internal reflection will move to the side/dissapear (also depending the angle). But the best way is just to remove the filter during these situations.



Hope this explanation helps you to reduce the occurence of internal reflection by identifying correctly when the internal reflection will occur and then remove the filter during those situation (which is not hard to do).



I'm actually not a fan of lens filter (any filter) as I think it will only degrade picture quality as we added another layer between the sensor and object, but I decided to use them anyway for all my lens. And I would recommend everyone to get one of this filter if you don't have any filter for your lens.



I got this filter for a friend of mine for his Nikon 18-70mm ED DX lens. - Protection - Uv Filter - Filters - Filter'

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Weather Alert Radio - emergency radio, weather radio

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After having tried just about every SAME technology weatheradio out there, I found the WR-300 to be one of the better ones, and definitely the best of the Midland weatheradios to date.



One of the best features it has is that it allows you to disable the audiable alerts for every watch/warning except life threatening ones like tornado warning, or biological hazard warning, etc. Other brands and models will only allow you to disable the most harmless events. I do not wish to be alerted at 3am because of a severe thunderstorm warning, or tornado watch. With the WR-300, I won't be alerted unless there is actually a tornado warning.



The blue LED backlit LCD display is pretty sharp looking, too! There is a menu feature that allows you to continuously keep the blue backlighting on, although I think it would be too bright in a bedroom at night, especially if the WR-300 is right next to the bed on a nightstand.

Some people have complained about the beeps for every keypress, and I did not find that to bother me. Maybe a softer "click" sound for every keypress would be better. Also, others have reported that their WR-300 leaked audio when the WX is muted. I did not have this problem at all; it worked fine for me.



Things I really liked about the WR-300:



1) Extensive audiable alert disable ability

2) Form factor and relatively small size

3) Blue backlit display

4) 4-AA battery backup (instead of 9v transistor batt)

5) Am/Fm/clock/alarm features

6) Menu flexibility (although not that intuitive)



I gave the WR-300 a 4 instead of 5 star rating because of the following minor issues:



1) No display of event(s) remaining time(s)

2) Menu navigation and master alert disable/enable operation was not intuitive.

3) No visual indication as to whether or not the master audible alert is enabled or disabled. MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio

I purchased 2 of these to replace the Midlands I lost in a tornado on July 13, 2004. The old radio saved the lives of myself, our 5 yr old and 3 of our grandchildren. If the radio had not been gone off, we would likely be dead. I never would have looked out the back door in time to get us all in the basement before an F4 hit our home. We live in the country and I have always had a weather radio. I tell everyone I know to get weather radio .

This is a nice model and I like the AM/FM feature. The problem I continually have had with every radio is that we live in the middle of the coverage areas and don't get the best signal at times. I have solved this by putting a Chore Boy stainless steel scrub pad on the antenna. It definitely improves the reception and seems to do better that foil. Other than that I think this is the best one I have had.

I purchased this unit 6 months ago with the fear of "tornado season" coming. I live in an area where a tornado is likely with almost every storm. In past years, Easter weekend has been ruined by the destruction of houses in the path of a tornado.



We hear the alarm and listen to the weather service warning BEFORE the news stations can announce the warning on t.v.



The WR-300 has been great. The alarm is clearly heard by everyone throughout the house and the display gives a read out of the alert while the alarm is sounding. You can hear the local weather service with the touch of a button or press the AM/FM button and listen to local radio stations of your choice. The use of this radio is very simple. My kids know how to turn off the siren and how to press the weather radio button to listen to the verbal warning from the National Weather Service. The alarm is a great asset to have during night time hours.



The radio can be plugged in for everyday use and then when power is out for whatever reason, the backup batteries take over so that you can hear announcements and further weather warnings.



Many people have complained about the beeping while pressing the buttons. Yes, there is a beep but it is not that annoying. We do not do very much button pushing in the middle of the night and it has not bothered us.



There is a weekly test that can be a little annoying if you are asleep during the day. My husband is military and his schedule changes regularly, sometimes causing him to work mid-shift. When he is sleeping during the daytime hours, the alarm sounding during the weekly test can be disturbing but it is a small price to pay for safety. On the other side, the weekly test is a nice option. Each week we are assured that the radio is working and the alert will come through during an emergency.



This is a great item and wonderful purchase to make for yourself or a loved one. You really can not put a price on safety.

I got one of these back in early April of this year. We had a couple of days of severe weather in the area. The unit would not alert when the NWS sent out alerts. I changed back and forth from "multi" county to "all" counties, but no alerts. I was listening to the alerts on another weather radio I have, and I don't believe they were broadcasting the data burst with the SAME info contained in the burst. I was only hearing the 1050khz tone. I contacted Midland via email to ask them if the unit responds to both the tone, and data burst. They replied without answering the question, and asked me to return the unit since they thought it was faulty. I contacted Amazaon about returning the unit, and had no problem. In fact they automatically shipped out another unit. However when I received the new unit and set it up, it would not respond to alerts either. I sent an email to the NWS office here in Louisville to see if someone there had the same unit and could give me some advice. I heard back from them today, and they said they had two of same units in their office which they could never get to alert! They did not say anything about the data burst and the tone signal, but I'm GUESSING that this unit does not respond to the 1050khz tone only, but needs the data burst also. I'm going to contact Midland again about this and see what they say.



Update...I contacted Midland and they said the unit does not respond to the 1050hz tone, but to the SAME data burst. I can only assume the NWS office wasn't transmitting the SAME info. We have had an outbreak of numerous severe thunderstorms today, along with tornado watches...the unit has worked flawlessly. So sorry for the low rating, but if for some reason your NWS office doesn't transmit the SAME data the unit won't alert you. - Emergency Radio - Weather Alert - Radio - Weather Radio'

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Frustration-fre - transcend, sd card

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Well, it was great while it lasted. Unfortunately, it did not last long.



Like other reviewers, after <20 use cycles the device failed and I got a "lock" error when, in fact, the write-protection lock was not engaged. Oddly, by engaging the lock (i.e. entering read-only mode) I was able to remove the picture files from the card. Obviously, further use in the camera was impossible; I was also unable to reformat the card (either with my camera or with the SD Associations free software [..]).



This card has a high average rating but I would urge customers to consider the number of 1-star ratings due to complete product failure before they purchase this item. Transcend 4 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card TS4GSDHC6E

Transcend 16 GB SDHC SD Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]

I have 4 of these cards that I use in my Panasonic HMC-150, a professional grade video camera. I've run read/write tests on all of them and they get about 14 MB/s write speeds and 17.5 MB/s read speeds. Never encountered any errors! These cards are the best bang for your buck, and the frustration free packaging is awesome.

I recently ordered this card as an accessory for my Acer Aspire One netbook PC. The card took a little while to ship, about 8 days, but that wasn't a big deal. The card has lots of space, and the read speeds are quite impressive. I mostly use it to run and store portable software, and it does a very good job at that.



My only complaint is that when I first inserted the card into my PC it attempted to install some adware. The program was from a company called RelevantKnowledge, and they gather your information for market research purposes. Luckily my spyware software picked it up immediately,so I was able to delete it. Afterward I formatted the card, and now I'm happy as can be.

This was a great fast card while it worked. I used it several times during one month period, and then it crashed and now Windows says "delayed write failed" everytime I insert it into my SDHC reader (tried diff readers on couple PCs). It is ok to use this card for fast transfer of copies of your data (like play images in digital picture frame), but should not be used as a primary storage for images/video (e.g. used in digital or video camera on a vacation of a lifetime).

This 16GB HC SD card works wonderfully in my digital camera. It arrived fast and the Amazon frustration free packaging is just that - easy to open, less waste to dispose of, and less annoying! What can I say, so far, the card works wonderfully and even Best Buy and other stores don't have SD cards this big yet. They only had 8GB when I looked and they wanted as much as a 16GB here on Amazon.



Like all SD cards, the back side's vertical, blue plastic pieces are delicate. I wouldn't use these, or any SD cards, in a card reader. Just plug your camera into the USB directly to transfer images, much safer for the card.



Great deal!

I bought this memory card for my Canon SD1100is, it works great and at 8MP can hold about 1,900 pictures. If only I would have waited until they came out with the frustration-free packaging for this! That was by far the most annoying part, trying to get into the thing. Do yourself a favor and buy the one with the new packaging! --> Transcend TS8GSDHC6E 8 GB SDHC Card (SD 2.0 SPD Class 6) [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] Oh, I should also add that amazon is the best place to buy any kind of memory card. I've compared prices with stores and they're always about twice as much there as on amazon. The money you can save is worth waiting a day or two to get it.

I would not recommend this card for any use where you can't afford to lose data. The card although quite speedy, failed on reading out images and movies on it's third use. The card now shows only 11 GB and the only way I was able to get some of my images back was with a data recovery software which read the low level blocks. I suspect one of the banks on the flash failed taking about a quarter of my images with it.



My experience does not seem to be unique. Unfortunately, I didn't read the other reviews before I placed my order. I have an 8GB Transcend SDHC which has worked flawlessly for over a year, so I thought I could extrapolate form that experience :-(



Hopefully, I'll be able to get my money back. Even if Transcend replaces it, I doubt that I would ever use it out of fear of losing valuable pictures.

I bought two of these to use in my Canon XSi and I ordered both of them with Amazon's frustration-free packaging, which is a wonderful idea. I thought the price was reasonable even though they were more expensive with the new packaging, and they both seem to be good cards. Both worked upon arrival and I formatted and used both without a problem. I was hesitant at first to purchase them because I didn't recognize the brand. I have always purchased memory cards from Kingston and SanDisk. These seem to be fine and they were cheaper than the other brands. - Memory Card - 4gb - Transcend - Sd Card'

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Weight Loss - step counter, health

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I have both the omron 720it (computer downloadable) and hj 112...both are extremely accurate and easy to use...this revision of the pedometer concept is terrific...small but large numbers...easy to set and use...it really does work in any position...the display blanks out to save power so it is inconvenient to constantly be looking at it...still not much of a problem...i checked it against my other omrons and it's within 0.7%...it keeps better track of aerobic activity than the others (they only record after 10 min of activity...the hj 303 after 4 seconds)...overall, the size (small) and accuracy and ease of use make this pedometer an outstanding device for walking or running.

This pocket pedometer is smooth & slim and easily fits in a pocket for use. The leash has a good clasp and using it makes me comfortable that the pedometer isn't going to slip out of my pocket. It also has an adjustable clip, to use on a waist band or belt.



Tracks moderate pace walking in addition to the overall steps for the day. I never need to reset it, unless I want to track the overall total for a specified event (the TRIP function). It doesn't lose the data for the week, and the counter starts fresh after midnight each day.

I really like this little pedometer. I've had so many pedometers you would think I collect them (hmmmm...maybe I do now!) This one is easy to set. It has a removable beltclip that is easy to install and holds comfortably on my waistband. With other pedometers I've had problems with them popping off if I bend over or sit down. This one is small so doesn't get that same upwards pressure on it when I move that way. It is easy to slip in a front pants pocket and small enough to work well in a shirt pocket as well (although I haven't used it that way). I haven't tried it in my purse, but I suspect it would work that way as well since it handles being carried in my pocket just fine and I've also tried carrying it in my hand to test the accuracy there. I think I've bought my last pedometer...I love this one. I really like being able to see just how many steps I've taken and that it encourages me to keep moving toward my 10,000 steps a day. And, it's small and light enough that I often forget I'm even wearing it!

This pedometer is the best one we have ever had and we have had lots of them. We bought ours in June 2009. I got two of them to track our daily walking activity. We walk a miniumum of 10K steps per day and the Omron tracks it very accurately. It is small, about 3 by 1 1/4 inches, weighs 31 grams with the lanyard and clip attached, is easy to carry in our pocket or attach to our clothing or belt, and automatically goes into battery saving mode by turning off the display after a couple of minutes. The display is reactivated when touching one of the three buttons, memo-up arrow, mode-single dot, and CLR-down arrow. There is a recessed reset button on the back that is used to change or reset any of the options or the time. It can easily be pressed with a paper clip or the tip of a lead pencil.



We use ours every day. The only time we really take them off is at night. We compare our steps every once in a while to see who is ahead for the day. It is silly but fun and keeps us motivated to walk more. I used ride a bike but not so much lately because the Omron does not register steps when biking :-).



Likes

Accuracy - we found it to be very accurate in measuring steps and distance. I confirmed it with my iPhone app that measures and tracks distance and speed using the built-in iPhone GPS. In a 2 mile walk there was very little difference in the distance or number of steps walked. The Omron needed to be calibrated with the length of our stride and then it accurately measured distance traveled. It was also very accurate at determining when we had taken a step no matter how we were holding the Omron. It does not track non-steps because it knows that steps are rhythmic and will not even consider any steps taken until at least 4 "steps" are recognized by the device and these 4 steps are then added to the step count in addition to current steps that are being taken. It does not continuously update the display with each step; instead it only updates the screen periodically to conserve battery life.



Medium steps - It counts the number of steps we take between about 2.5 and 3.5 mph, which is always smaller than the total number of steps. This is very useful because my wife's Weight Watcher charts only count medium steps. We try to get at least 10k steps each day and usually about 7-8k of them are medium steps.



Multiple displays and history - It provides 7 days of history for each of the displays except the trip display. The displays are: Step count, current time, moderate step count, moderate minutes, calories used, distance traveled, trip steps, trip days. We can see the current day values for all of these displays as well as yesterday, 2 days ago, etc., up to 7 days back. The trip steps and trip days is used for tracking total number of steps and the number of days it took to get those steps. This last display can be reset at anytime if we want to keep track our total steps taken or use it to track the steps on a specific trip. The counter only goes to 999,999 so it is not good for tracking total steps over a long period. The display values reset to zero each night at midnight to count the steps taken on the new day. The trip displays do not reset until we do it manually.



Customizable - There are several values we can change to get accurate information out of the displays. These values can be changed by pressing the recessed reset button on the back. It first asks for the current time, weight, height, and stride length. Instructions are provided to easily determine our stride. If any of these values ever need updated pressing reset again will take us through the screens with the current value of the particular option displayed first.



Multiple attachment methods - It comes with a belt clip, lanyard, and clip that goes on the end of the lanyard. The belt clip is small and the Omron slides in and out of the clip vertically and is quite snug. The other clip is very unique. I had never seen one like it and when I learned how it worked I wondered why all clips are not made this way.



Excellent customer support - I had a problem with mine. The time kept resetting without my intervention. I opened an online ticket and received a quick response and fix for the problem. Turns out I had my pedometer and Blackberry Pearl in the same pocket and the RF from the phone reset the time on the Omron once in a while. They fixed it in a heartbeat after I have been experiencing this problem for several weeks.



Low cost - This was a very low cost item for the functions it provides and the 3-axis capability, which we found very helpful. I actually bought a 3rd one to have just in case one of the other two goes bad.



Suggestions



Separate out trip from total steps - Right now you must pick between total steps walked by simply never resetting this value and trip steps. Although the display says trip steps it can be used for total steps walked for any duration until it reaches 999,999 steps. The total steps display should have an additional digit so that 10m steps could register. We reach 999,999 in about 3 months so an additional digit on the step counter would allow almost 3 years of total steps walked.



Add more days in the memory - There are currently only 7 days of memory. Increasing this to at least a month would be very helpful. If we could also just hold down the up/down arrow keys to scroll it would make it easier to scroll through more days.



Add total moderate steps and days display - trip steps counts all steps taken since the value was last reset. Adding another display for total moderate would be helpful for those who want to achieve an average number of moderate steps over time.



Date setting - It would be helful to provide a date setting so that you could see the date and day of week for any prior period that was saved in the history.



Make it smaller - there is unneeded space between the display, the buttons, and the outer edge of the device. Although it's pretty small and light now, a smaller device would be even better, The battery compartment can be shifted to the middle rather than on the bottom of the back. - Health - Omron Pedometer - Step Counter - Walking'

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Alarm Clock - cd player, cd players

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I was not certain of the value for money when I purchased the Sony CMT Hi Fi but from the reviews on Amazon I thought it was a safe purchase. I must say it more then met my expectations, the unit is compact but well designed and took up 1/3 less space than the unit it replaced (a "boombox" with two separate speakers) and weighed 2/3rds less. The sound quality is equal if not better and the iPod docking unit is seamless to use. I was impressed with the digital radio and the CD player is probably the least of the package but still works well. Overall I am very satisfied with the product. Sony CMT-LX20i 10W RMS Total Power Output Micro Hi-Fi Shelf System

We have a BOSE Soundock which is really just a phenomenal product. We had an old Sony mini system die, and instead of replacing it with another pricey BOSE SounDock we opted for another Sony -- it is an excellent size and the sound is really good. It's a GREAT purchase especially considering the price.

For my kitchen, I was looking for a good radio/CD combo with an iPod docking station. I figured the Sony CMT-LX20i would be a solid choice, given the Sony name, the price (~$110), and the fairly good reviews it received. After some use, I've become unhappy with my choice. There are no separate treble & bass adjustments - just 3 settings for 'rock' 'jazz' and 'pop.' It is not bad for music played at louder levels but the midrange is lacking in every case. For my simple NPR listening, the sound seems muffled - either too soft or too loud. The unit is simple to set up and has a small footprint, but the black plastic is very lightweight (you have to hold it in place when button-punching)and feels a bit cheap. I don't understand why manufacturers believe that black finishes with small cryptic lettering (EQ, Function, and DSX) are things consumers want. I'm older and old-school, but, for a radio/compact sterio, I want knobs, simple features, and good sound.

Perfect size if you want a smaller unit. I wanted this for the bedroom, but sounds great all the way to the living room. I love it. I wanted it for my IPOD, but I love the cd and the radio as well. Nice remote control.

I bought this stereo after getting rid of my 1980's monster rack stereo that I never used because it was a pain to use, plus took up too much room in my bedroom. After reading the reviews on this system and wanting a stereo system that played CD's and included a remote, decided on this unit.



This is a great little stereo unit and fits perfectly in a bookcase without taking up tons of room. I have my Nano Ipod docked in the system. I have used all aspects of the stereo for about a month and am very happy with it. I don't understand the reviews stating the sound isn't good or the volume is too low. Unless you are trying to DJ a party with this it is loud enough for a normal size room!



I love this stereo and would buy it again in an instant!

I shopped online for a good looking, small, bookshelf stereo unit that is an ipod dock as well as a cd player. I also had in mind to spend between $75 and $150 depending on what I would get for the money.



The Sony delivers great sound (MUCH BETTER than expected for its size). I would have liked more bass-trebel control, (cuz I like to tinker with stuff) but the sound quality doesn't really require any tinkering. There are 4 different preset equalizer settings.



Ipod charges whenever docked. Great control with the remote, including switching from cd, aux, radio or ipod. Remote also controls volume, playlists and track selection on ipod, track selection on cds, change radio stations (presets, auto or manual).



I hesitated and thought about this model for a few weeks - then had the opportunity to hear one in person. My decision was made on the spot.



For around $100 it's a great purchase.

Wanted to downsize from the HUGE system I used to have and was very pleased that this system is nice and compact... exactly what I needed. The sound isn't the best if you plan to use it throughout a huge space, but it's perfect for my apartment. Very pleased!!

I was hoping this stereo would be a convenient, portable music player we could move into whatever room it was needed. And it was a Sony. I own other Sony stereo components (FM receiver, CD player) and have been happy with them. But we were sorely disappointed with the quality and usability of this CMT-LX20i and need to return it.



The negatives: First, the front buttons are finicky and often do not react when pushed -- even when pushed firmly. And I mean holding the back of the unit steady so you can really get leverage. Second, the remote-control had the same issue with its functionality. The switch-mode button usually did not seem to want to be recognized, and I had to use the manual buttons on the unit. The power button usually didn't do anything to turn on/off the unit. And, when I was playing a CD, any button pressed on the remote would make the playing track go back to the beginning. Many buttons, one operation. Pretty much defeats the purpose of having a remote control. Third, my iPod, which Sony's website says should be compatible, would play but could not be controlled by any of the unit's buttons (or the remote). I would have to operate the iPod manually using its buttons.



The positives: The sound quality wasn't bad for a small unit with light speakers. I wasn't expecting great quality, so I was pleased the music actually sounded decent for the size and price. I also liked that the single unit was designed to play regular music CDs, home-burned CDs with MP3 music (which I never got around to testing), AM/FM-stereo radio, or an attached iPod or MP3 player, and the remote control has buttons that are supposed to control all features of the iPod. If this unit actually could function doing the things it was designed to do, it would be a good music player for the price.



Unfortunately, the build quality is poor with those non-functioning buttons, both built-in and remote control. When you press a plastic button on a plastic case and nothing happens. And you press the button harder and still nothing happens, the word "shoddy" seems fitting. - Ipod - Mini-stereo - Cd Players - Cd Player'

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Cell Phone Car Charger - car charger, cell phone car charger

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I bought this car plug from The OEM Shop because it was advertised as being compatible with my Samsung phone, when it is not. I tried to return it, and Edward, in customer service for The OEM Shop basically told me to pound sand, because it had been more than 30 days since I purchased the item (it took several days to get it and several more days to figure out how to return it, sorry Ed!). He was very rude, and not even willing to consider that The OEM Shop had advertised this plug as being compatible with my phone, when it is not!!! BUYER BE AWARE! I would not recommend this vendor to anyone. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT A PRIORITY!!!!! Samsung CAD300SBEB/STD Standard Car Power Charger

I have to jiggle this thing to make it make contact in my power port. Then when I hit a bump, the little green light goes out. These are the same ports that provide power to the GPS, Sat. Radio, other phone etc...

One thing we really like about Samsung cell phones is that they all seem to use the same car and wall chargers. This charger is the same one for my 5-6 year old phone, as well as, for my new one. That saves money, as you don't have to keep buying new ones every time you buy a new phone! In addition, this charger works quickly and well. My 6 year old one works as well as this new one, we just bought, for the other vehicle. Very happy with Samsung chargers!

I paid more to order it from this company as they advertised "retail packaging." This was not retail packaging. Just a plastic bag. Guess it doesn't matter since it doesn't work any way. Now I'll have to pay to ship it back. Hardly seems worth it. - Quick Charger - Cell Phone Car Charger - Car Charger'

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Sharpening Tools - firesteel, emergency kit

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If you find yourself stuck in a place high up because zombies or some other form of danger is beneath you, you could lower yourself down with this paracord once the danger had passed or was eliminated. That is unless of course you weigh more than 550lbs. In which case you're probably awesome enough without the paracord considering you climbed to a high place in the first place. ROTHCO NYLON PARACORD 550LB 100 FT / CHOCOLATE BROWN

Bought 300' so far.....indispensable. Keep some in wife's car, truck, work truck, make lanyards outta it....tie down ANYTHING....use as boot laces(laces that will never break)...hang antennas from trees...or to tease the cats with......love this stuff....and it's the real deal...not some Chinese ripoff stuff.

I'll keep this short, but if you want the real military grade stuff, the nomenclature is MIL-C-5040H. MIL-C-5040 is different! Unfortunately I learned too late that many companies stock two different versions of Type III paracord. This stuff is ok, but please know it isn't the same stuff we use in the military. Real paracord has two colored strands in addition to the standard white to designate the manufacturer. The strands are also much tighter. If you receive paracord that has all white strands, then it isn't the same stuff. It's still paracord, and fine for normal use.

For those of you making paracord bracelets or skydiving, this stuff is not real paracord. If you compare this stuff with real paracord (the stuff you get at an army navy surplus store)it is very clear that this stuff flatens easily an has very little structure. Look Somewhere else.

This is commercial grade type III paracord and works great with the suggested light duty tasks from lanyard making to tying down tents, securing light gear (no more than 150lbs) and making fishing line etc. The sheath of this commercial parachute cord is braided from 32 strands and the core made up of seven two-ply yarns.



Military grade paracord is marked with the code "MIL-C-5040H Type III" and is usually available only in bulk (not always) and costs more. Type III 550 cord for military use must have between 7-9 core strands and they must be 3-ply each. It MUST have one or more unique colored threads in one of the cores to identify the manufacturer.

The title says it all. Though it appears to be quality paracord, it broke under a 290lb load, far less than 550lb breaking strength this stuff is supposed to have. The test I conducted was a single strand looped over a shop rafter and tied into a loop at the bottom. I hung a swing apparatus from the loop and gently started resting my weight on the swing. I almost got my full weight on it, but it snapped in the middle of the strand (not anywhere near the knots I had tied). No bouncing, swinging, etc. I just gently started resting more of my weight on the swing and snapped the paracord. Good thing I've got a padded bum.

Retired AF here. You can't hear it enough times that there's a world of difference between grades of paracord. This stuff is NOT true military grade paracord. The twisted coreds inside the main sheath are white vs the color of the outside and the material is lighter weight and a bit thinner over all than true military grade paracord. This material is fine for making knife lanyards and the such but if you're getting this for any kind of serious heavy use or survival packs, I'd pass on it and get the real deal. The supplier did ship quickly and it's okay material but the "commercial grade" para cord isn't the best.

I purchased (2) 100' rolls of this product. (1) was labeled "Rothco", this looks and feels like the real stuff.

The other roll was labeled "G.I. Plus" the same color and price, NOT the same stuff. It feels thin and flat.

Two DIFFERENT rolls.

I will buy from a military distributer in the future.

I'm not saying this stuff isn't useful, but what I received does not appear to be genuine military type parachute shroud line as claimed. I inspected what I received and it actually had eight internal strands (seven is normal). The strands were very loosly twisted and tended to unravel. The sheath was so loose it almost flattens out in your hand. I purchased some from www.bestglide.com and it has seven very tightly twisted internal strands and the sheath is tight and almost round. It is more expensive but I believe more authentic if that is important to you. - Firesteel - Emergency Kit - Fire Starter - Firestarter'

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glowsticks - glowsticks

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This product advertises nice and exciting. However, the product arrives in a small cylinder type tube housing all the pieces. All the glow sticks are very thin and frail. SO frail that when we manipulated them to form the suggested designs the sticks cracked and leaked all over the children. I will never puchase glow sticks from Amazon,com again. Glow Stick Party Pack

I was very pleased with this package of glow sticks and accessories. The glasses and balls were a huge hit at my daughter's birthday party. I was amazed to see that the next morning most of the glow sticks were still glowing and continued to glow for most of the next day!! - Glowsticks'

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Hardwood Floor Nailer - highly recommended, pneumatic

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I'm doing a hardwood flooring with 5/8" thick mahogany solid wood on a

couple of rooms. Because the rooms are not flat (both have a couple of

steps) it took 8 days to finish the flooring and renting was as expensive

as buying one. (checked HomeDepot $35/day and another rental company $30/day)



It looks like Porter-Cable FCN200 seems to be very popular, but over $300

made me hesitant. I seriously considered Bostitch MFN200 Manual Flooring

Cleat Nailer, but after a lot of questions to Bostitch and a couple of

dealers, I found out that it can be used only fo 3/4" thick floorings.



So, I went with this pneumatic floor nailer.



I ordered the one that can be used for cleat nails only, but what I

received was for both cleat nails as well as staples, which was a nice

surprise. People said cleat nails would be more strong in terms of holding

the panels to the sub-floor and I ordered bostitch nails at amazon.



Shipping was pretty quick - delivered in 2 days from the order - and the

tools is very solid. 3-4 panels had the nails bent between the panel and

sub floor, maybe because the nailer was not placed correctly. Otherwise,

it worked pretty well.



It has several pad that can be used for different thickness of the

floorings, which was really good for me.



Overall, at this price, this cannot go wrong at all and much better

solution than renting one. Akuzuki Top Quality 2-in-1 Pneumatic Hardwood Floor Flooring Air Cleat Nailers and Stapler

I just finished my hardwood flooring project using this nailer. It turned out fantastic. This nailer is solid and durable and during the installation of about 1200 sqft, never had a single issue of any kind.

I got this instead of renting one from a local improvement store. I knew I would spend more renting given my time constraints. I used it to lay about 200 square feet of red oak. I had two misfires, but they were my fault. I ran through 1600+ nails without a jam otherwise. The build quality is not the same as the $4-500 name brand units, but it's not bad, and for me it doesn't matter how the nail gets into the board as long is it gets there. The depth in red oak was perfect, I only hand set a couple where the angle was getting awkward in a corner, and I couldn't strike the head properly.



It was leaking air at first, but tightening down the bolts with the supplied wrench took care of that (several tools are supplied). There were no torque values indicated, so I used "common sense" torque to avoid warping anything. The shoe on the bottom is maybe not perfectly square, but it was never an issue. It would probably benefit from forcing on a bicycle handle grip for comfort, mine was wrapped in a foam tape.



I intend to use this tool for two more rooms, and I feel like it was a good value. It paid for itself in the first room for me, but again, I had only a couple hours per day window to work. I would recommend this item to anyone who wants to take their time without rushing a rental clock. It performed as expected, no complaints. I used 2" Bostitch L nails, but it can handle staples as well.



No problems with the order, the shipping was quick, everything was included.



4 stars instead of 5 due to build quality imperfections, having to tighten up bolts which should have been tested at the factory.

I just received the nailer and used it for the first time this weekend to install 5/8" T&G Bamboo flooring in my son's kitchen. What I received was the dual staple/cleat nailer. After putting on the right foot plate, it comes with 2, I test fired a 2" cleat nail and found it to be too long and risked tearing off the tongue of the flooring board. I went looking for 1 1/2 inch cleat nails locally & when I couldn't find anything but the 2" size, I purchased 1 1/2" staple. I loaded the nailer with the stapes and started the job. The nailer worked great! You need to test fire a few staples to get the right air pressure and tune you "strike" force, but after that it was effortless. I had used a manual nailer previously to install about 500 sq. feet of oak flooring and there is no comparison. The Bamboo was about twice as dense as the oak and using the pneumatic nailer, the bamboo went down at least twice as fast and with less pain! The thing you want to be careful with when nailing down dense Bamboo is that it is so dense and if you are close to the end of the board or edge, you will split it. Pre-drill for yore first 2 rows and the use the nailer. Instead of nails for the first 2 rows, I opted for 1 1/2" headless screws (you can get these at any home store). They worked great & you don't have to worry about dimpling if you use a nail & miss. I'm not done with the project yet, but so far I recommend the nailer whole heartily.

I am a wood-turner that until now has never installed hardwood floors. I had the occasion to help with an installation at a dance studio and decided from that to install a hardwood floor on an addition I had planned. While searching for a pneumatic floor nailer I found this one, and after reading the reviews decided to give it a try. I was happy I did. It performed much better than the one we used for the studio and at a portion of the cost. I would like to also mention the delivery time was great. I saved more than what it would have cost me to rent one for the job and I have it to help friends and family. What a deal.

I'm not sure what I was expecting at half the price of a name brand competitor, but when it came with a carrying case with a spare base plate I was already impressed. The nailer worked flawlessly and is solidly constructed. The bottom plate is slightly longer than other floor nailers I've used so you may have to hand nail an extra row of flooring to get started, but otherwise it's well worth the money. - Recommend - Hardwood Floor Nailer - Highly Recommended - Pneumatic'

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Blu Ray Player - 1080p, wireless network

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This Black Friday, Blu-ray player was on my agenda, I have a 46" Samsung LCD HDTV with internet options. I did not want to go for internet enabled Blu-ray player to play netflix or Picasa or Youtube as I already have it in my TV. I wanted a best to the price and awesome quality Blu-ray player which has a brilliant blu-ray as well as DVD upscale conversion for HDTV resolution.



I bought this LG BD530 and Sony BDP-530 at the same time because Sony had the highest ranking in terms on voting on many sites including bestbuy,com. After connecting both players to my TV i used Bly-ray and it played very well on both player, I tried same Bluray disc on both player couple of times alternatively and could not see the difference. Bluray played brilliantly



When i came to DVD playing, after couple of runs with same DVD on same TV (with same settings) I found that LG has a excellent DVD upconversion as compared to Sony, Sony pics were a little more blurr as compared to LG BD530. I tested 2 different DVD movies (lord of the rings and American beauty) to check the DVD quality and I have to admit, LG was awesome. Also somehow I felt the LG remote is much user friendly than Sony remote, but that's a matter of individuals preference.



After carefully reading Sony's review I figured out that it;s sony blu-ray players internet abilities which took it;s rating so high and not the DVD upscale conversion qualities. If you have an old TV with no internet on it and want internet connectibility to watch netflix online, then probably Sony is your candidate. But if you have a new internet enabled TV and have a huge collection of DVD which you wanna keep it for a while and wanna enjoy over and over again, then LG is your best candidate.



I am returning back my Sony BDP-370 player tomorrow to Bestbuy. I hope this review helps to reader.



Santosh Gaikwad LG BD530 1080p Network Blu-ray Disc Player

I got this at sears when it was $65, it will be on sale again, try walmart if amazon doesn't lower price. It plays all my discs and most of my multimedia files. It will not play wmv files and doesn't seem to like my AAC files (plays MP3's okay), but will play H264/mov files if you rename them as .mp4, a common trick with these cheaper players. It powers my two external portable hd's and will play one of my two pen drives, but not both. Its upscaling of 420p material from the usb side not as good as my WD or my PS3, but plays native 1080i/p files with very impressive results.

It does have the BD live function if you want to plug a pen drive into it since it needs external storage. It has limited internet options right now, who cares about accuweather? LG updates their firmware online and my other LG equipment has seen third party hacks that improve it so I look forward to when this is hacked to provide either Netflix, or better yet Playon support.



It did freeze on me at least once as other reviews have noted, have to pull the plug to reset it.

Only 4 stars since it did freeze for no good reason, and I too will need to keep my WD Media player for awhile, but it this had netflix would have given it 5 stars, as for the price it just can't be beat. I will update when I have played with it a bit more, only had it the week so far.

I have used this Blu Ray player for more than a week and it plays the following without any issues directly from Blue Ray disc as well as DVD, CD and USB:

DivxHD (Divx HD 720p and 1080p profile that create files with Divx extension) NOTE: DivxHD Plus profile creating mkv files seems not working

AVI ( I haven't tried all codecs but whatever I tried worked without any issues)

MKV

AVCHD

I was successfully able to play couple of 720p 4.35 GB mkv files with that's encoded with H264 & DTS audio with subtitle without any issues. Subtitle worked perfectly fine.

Files with DTS audio plays flawless directly on TV speakers without requiring any additional DTS receiver.

Very responsive remote control.

Played lots of MKV files of size 8GB and greater with h264 and DTS audio from an external USB drive and they all played very well. Subtitles were supported and no jitter in playback.

MKV playback is awesome and Up-conversion works great.I can clearly see the difference between regular playback and upconversion (the files I have used were IMAX HD documentaries and Disney Pixar movies i.e. quality of the original file was good to start with).



I tried Verbatim LTH some very cheap media from Meritline and Optical Quantam BD-R burned using IMGBURN in my LG WH10LS30 Blue Ray burner and everything worked flawless.

I tried about 20 of dirt cheap DVD media Dynex, Teon, Playo etc. which had avi files with variety of codecs recorded about 5-6 years ago and they all played without any issues.

Blu Ray disc loads really fast the picture quality is crystal clear. Also quality of You tube and picasa is great.

Overall, it's great inexpensive player that played many media from various sources. It played various file formats not even supported by Philips 5982 Divx player but I still can't retire my WD Live as its picky about codecs i.e. not all mkv files plays flawless and MOV doesn't work at this point.



UPDATE: I was successfully able to play Blu-Ray video files (m2ts) directly from hard drive via. USB connection. Menu is not supported but the files played successfully. - Blu-ray - 1080p - Wireless Network - Netflix'

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Graphic Arts - adobe, mac

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WARNING! Adobe out-sources its academic verification process for products like Photoshop to a privately held, six-employee company in Wisconsin that has terrible customer service and cannot be reached by telephone. If you purchase academic software from Adobe, be prepared for a long wait to receive the serial number required to use your software. And forget about contacting Adobe if you fail to receive the numbers. They will not help you. Adobe Photoshop Extended CS5 Student & Teacher Edition [Mac]

Great product, quick delivery from Amazon. Just make sure you have the student verification materials to send to Adobe so they will send you the activation numbers you need to install this program. It is usually a jpeg of your student's college ID or a tuition bill or both if the ID does not have a date on it which I believe is often. Our college student had all the documentation she needed and had no problem.

It took more than 2 weeks to get my software code so that I could install the program, including multiple calls and emails to Adobe's customer service. Very dissatisfied with Adobe's process - if identification is required, then it should be approved up front so that the customer doesn't have to spend hours tracking down their authorization code.

this is much the same as CS4 but with a few new features,but one thing you should know is that most plug-ins currently only work in 32bit,therefore you must start it in 32bit(double click on the PS icon in finder and "get info",then tick the box "open in 32bit").The problem here is that PS CS5 can only access 2gb ram max(because its been rewritten in cocoa as opposed to CS4 being written in carbon,and cocoa has a higher ram overhead),unlike 32bit CS4 which can access 4gb ram,so perhaps it would be wise to hold on to your cs4 until all the plug-ins are re-written as 64bit,most will be available in the next 3 months.apart from this its a nice upgrade! the previous review by Nathan Andersen covers the new features well,I subtracted one star for the RAM problem.

It was extremely difficult to get the serial number. I purchased the software from Amazon because it was $10 less than the Adobe site. I sent a valid ID that was issued in July 2010 for the fall semester. I recieved a notice that the date was not acceptable because it didnt have a start/end time period. I then sent the letter of acceptance from the school that indicated I had been accepted to the program for fall 2010. It was rejected also, they wanted more evidence. I called Adobe who said they couldnt help because the software was purchased from a retailer. They suggested I return the software and re-purchase from them. I couldnt return the software because I had to open it to get the information on how to get the serial number. In the end, I finally got the serial number but that was after much stress and time. If you are in college and have one ID that is issued and meant to last for the full 4 years you will need to submit more. At least if you buy from Adobe, they wont send you the product until after the verification process.

I purchased this product for my high school junior to use to develop her photography editing skills. I saw there was a criterion that had to be met to verify that this product was to be used by a student. Not a problem, I thought, I have a homeschool student. When I received my order there was a big warning sign on the box that said if we didn't qualify proof as an enrolled high school student (in a public or private school), college student or teacher then don't open the box. The product was not returnable otherwise. I didn't think that Adobe would block my homeschooler from using the product, but called their customer service before I opened the box to make sure we qualified. The customer service rep at Adobe began walking me through the steps to see if she qualified. Then he found out that I bought the product through Amazon rather than directly from them. He suggested that I send back the product to Amazon then buy directly from them to obtain an easier track to my answers. When I questioned the sense of that, he told me to use an e-mail through their website for people who purchase from "other means" to ask my question. There was NO phone number, only an e-mail form to fill out. The form said to fill out the form including the serial number (inside the box). I explained that I was hesitant to open the box because I wasn't sure my daughter would qualify. This was 3 weeks ago. I e-mailed twice and have gotten no response. I can't call because I didn't buy directly from Adobe. I still have an unopened box and a very disappointed student eager to learn this program. Amazon shouldn't sell a product that takes such a toll on the end user. I felt I was being punished for buying through Amazon.

I bought this for my son who is in high school, and this is what he has to say:



The Student-Teacher Edition discount (roughly 80% off of the commercial retail) is astounding. This version is the EXACT same version that non-students/faculty must pay around a thousand dollars for (you just cannot resell it). If you choose to upgrade in the future, you will have to pay commercial upgrade pricing, so if you are still a student, it may be cheaper just to buy the new version in Student-Teacher Edition.



That being said, for around $200, this is the most powerful photo-editing software available. I used Photoshop CS3 beforehand, and the user interface remains very similar, so it is very easy to adjust to CS5. Many of the new features are very useful. I find that the content-aware fill works well at removing unwanted objects from images.



The program loads much quicker than CS3, and I have yet to experience a crash (which was rare with CS3 anyway).



A previous reviewer mentioned that student verification was not easy and took too much time. Personally, I had no issues with verification. After purchasing the product, I followed the directions in the box (going to a website and submitting some information and a scan of my student ID), and I received my serial number less than 24 hours later. Quick and efficient.



Final thoughts: Adobe's CS series is no toy; it is made for professionals. Consequently, there is a very steep learning curve, and this program is not for those who are used to minor editing in iPhoto, etc. Adobe Photoshop Elements may be a better step forward for such users. For those who have prior experience with Adobe CS products, it will be very easy to get used to Photoshop CS5, and the program is the very best at doing what it is advertised to do. - Editing - Mac - Adobe - Photography'

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