Lithium-ion - combo, combo packs

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I received this product via free shipping, and like the other reviewers, mine was poorly packaged. No box in a box, just the mfr box. Corners were dented, box was torn up, looked like it had been dropped on one end a few times. Inside, I found all the tools, but some of the items had shifted and were scuffed up a bit. Some items were floating around, like the screwdriver bit, and the sawsall bit.



However, all the tools functioned properly, and I got this set for a good price. These are top quality tools. Even the radio sounds decent, with a aux input for a MP3 player. Would have been nicer if the radio played CD's, but it doesn't.



For the price, this is a great deal, so just refuse the package if it arrives beat up so you can avoid the return shipping charges and get another one.



A little unrelated, but when I first found this item it was priced at $494, but when I checked out about two hours later, the unadvertised "sale" on this item ended, and the price went up to $549. Called Amazon directly, and they wouldn't budge. A little cheesy in my opinion, but still a good deal at the new price.



Would be a five star with sturdier packaging. Makita LXT702 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 7-Piece Combo Kit

Absolutely love the tools!! The shipping problems also appear to be fixed, mine was shipped placed inside of a stronger exterior box with everything intact. I would also agree with previous reviews that I'm not too keen on the duffel bag, it has pockets for two drills, the recip saw, and the charger, most everything else just lays loose in the bag. I did find that if I packed the radio in the bag as well things fit snugly and didn't get banged around too much. A solid case would have been nice but on the other hand most likely would have been extremely large. Quick review of tools -



Drill - better than awesome

Driver - Even better than the drill, already survived a drop off the ladder unscathed

Recip saw - Very strong, yet soft to operate

Angle Grinder - Like it but rpm seems slow, doesn't back down though and it has a cool overload indicator

light

Circular saw - Great for a battery powered saw

Flashlight - Bright, but would have liked to see LED and also a flexible goose neck design

Charger - maybe time to update to a more modern looking design but works well

Radio - Compact design is very nice, much smaller than other job site radios and it isn't an odd shape so it packs well. Looks very sturdy. Would be cooler if it could charge a battery.

I wanted to get a good set of cordless tools for about under a year. I figured there are so many little side project around my house, one of my biggest deterents is set up, making sure the extension cord is long enought or sometimes requireing two, finding the right plug; then there is the packing up. In all the time it would take me to set up my work station, I'd talk myself out of doing my side projects.



I had settled on the Makita combo set or the Milwakee 28V. I hear great things about Milwakee, plus my dad corded Milwakee sawzall has been going strong for over 15 years.



But, this was the kicker for me in my decision making. I got more tools from this 18V set than I would the Milwakee 28V set. If I needed more power, then I could just get the corded tools which I happen to have. i.e. this hammer drill could not drive a screw through some old wood, I could neither back out the screw or drive it in. So, I brought in my Corded Porter Cable screw gun, and it drove the screw no problem at all. I know I could have drilled a bigger pilot hole, but needless to say, by that time, the screw was stuck.



The set from what I found cannot replace your corded tools power... But, that is if you have a good set of corded tools already. If you need max power in a battery pack, you should do more research on the 28V tools.



Quick run down of tools:

1) flashlight... Tremendously bright. Will light up a room even if you have it on the ground.



2) Sawzall... Tooless blade change is great. Has quite a bit of power. You could have endless uses for this sawzall even if it isn't construction handy work. I could see situations where I can trim 5" tree limbs with the right blade, no cables to cause dangers.



3) Circualr saw, cuts 2X4's well. I was able to cut several plywoods as well. Of course I'm not contractor so I'm not going to drain the battery with my small use of it.



4) Impact drill will screw a screw in with authority - the screw will be pipping hot when you take it out. I tried using this to remove the above mention screw, but the hammering action was eating the head of the screw.



5) Grinder, I haven't worked with it, but seems to give a good kick when you push the trigger.



6) Hammer drill... I had problems with utilizing as a screw gun. But the drill works quite well. The Hammer drill option works good as well.



7) Portable radio... works well. But, I find you have to move it around in order to get optimal reception. When I put it in certain places, the static will be bad, but if I move it around, I can put it where the reception is crystal clear. The MP3 plug is a good option, but the "SOUND IS LOW" in comparison to the normal radio option. You won't have to squint your ear to hear, but you will notice the difference.



Side note, you get all or nothing power, which is good. When the battery runs out, the tool just will not work. But you will get power up until the power drains enough not to operate the tools.

Fantastic strong tools with long battery life. Very well engineered. Would have given it 5-stars except the carrying bag is a little weird and the packaging had problems. The tool set was shipped in the factory carton which was designed to be placed on the retail store shelf. When I got the shipment, accessory parts had already and were still falling out of the box. Some parts like the cut-off wheel were broken as well. Amazon gave me what I thought to be a very reasonable discount for the problems. To avoid this in the future either Makita or Amazon needs to provide a real shipping package for what otherwise is a great set of tools. - Combo - 18 Volt - Makita - Combo Packs'

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Alarm Clock Radio - dual alarm, clock radio

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I bought this to replace my old alarm clock. It has a sleek design that takes up very little space. It has two alarms and can be set to radio, beeps or songs and has an adjustable snooze setting. The built in radio works well and there's a sleep setting so that if you like to fall asleep to the radio you can have it automatically shut off after a certain amount of time.



It has an adjustable brightness level, but I found its default/highest level to be suitable. At that level it's bright enough to see in the dark, but not bright enough to keep me up. The alarm is easy to wake up to and gradually gets louder on the beep setting. It automatically set itself to the correct time and date as soon as I plugged it in, all I had to do is set the time zone. It has a DST feature that can be turned off or on.



The only feature lacking is the ability to customize the alarm for either weekdays, weekends or both. It's not a big deal, especially with two alarms but it would have been nice. Overall I'm very pleased with this alarm clock. Sony ICF-C414 Clock Radio with Large 1.4 LED Display

Decent alarm clock for the price.

Pros: inexpensive, preset time, dst auto adjust, battery backup for power failure, easy to tune radio stations, easy to read display, brightness of display is adjustable.

Cons: Alarm "A" can be set to chime or radio, Alarm "B" can only be set to chime or an electronic tune. Both alarms cannot be set to the radio. Cannot adjust or view the alarm setpoint unless the alarm is turned on, so when you pass the current time the alarm activates. Radio sound is poor but in line with the price of the alarm clock. The snooze can increased from 10 min to 20 min to 30 min etc, but if you hit the snooze button twice while initially silencing the alarm, you go straight to the 20 min snooze.

Overall: a good alarm clock for the price but I would have paid more for a full featured clock radio had I know its limitations up front.

The item description is very accurate. If you want a dual alarm clock radio similar to those from 10 years ago, that is exactly what you will get and that is why I ordered it. Nothing fancy, just basic but with the Sony dependability. There are a few nice things though - the time is preset, options for the dual alarms sound, adjustable brightness, battery backup, very easy to operate and the AM radio actually works well, unlike other clock radios. This clock radio has no frills but for the price, it is good and dependable.

I have been using this alarm clock for 6 months now and I couldn't be happier. After years of searching for the right alarm clock I finally found it.



Positives:

1) I can see the display! I have moderately poor vision (glasses prescription is -3.75) and if I wake up in the middle of the night I can clearly see the time with this clock at my bedside. The green light plus the large numbers are very clear.

2) The progressive alarm wakes up even my heavy-sleeping husband. The first few beeps are slow and they gradually speed up to grab the attention of the heaviest sleepers.

3) You don't have to set the time! What more can I say? You set the timezone, plug it in, and it sets the time. It even catches daylight savings.

4) If the power goes out the small battery saves your alarm settings so when the power comes back on, the clock resets itself and you still have your alarms ready to go. This has saved me from being late to work more than once after a late night power outage.

5) The display light is adjustable. I've had green/blue alarm clocks before and the display was so bright it practically light up the whole room. The dim setting is fine at night, I can see it but it's not acting like a flood light, and I can still see the display just fine during the day too on the dim setting. Though during daylight hours I do have to get a little closer to the clock to see it.

6) I love the full 10 minute snooze. I don't understand why other clocks have a 7 or 9 minute one.

7) You can turn off the alarm when it's in snooze-mode, you don't have to wait for the alarm to go off again.





Neutrals:

1) The radio isn't great, lots of static and the speakers don't sound perfect. But I wasn't buying a radio, I was buying an alarm clock so that doesn't really matter to me. If you want a radio go buy a radio. *shrug*

2) The alarm isn't terribly loud. This is counter-acted by the progressive alarm beeping.

3) It's a little bit large, but for the big display numbers I assume that's kind of necessary.





Cons:

I really don't have anything bad to say about this clock.





One other note:

Some people have mentioned in their reviews that you cannot set the snooze back to 10 minutes if you go too far. If this happens wait until the snooze display clears off (takes a few seconds) then re-hit the snooze button, this will reset it to 10 minutes.

We live in the country and every other day, out of the blue, we loose power for seconds and sometimes when a storm hits for longer than that . That means having to reset the time in our old Sony Alarm Clock more often that we would like to. Our bedroom is huge and we have this clock on the dresser on the opposite side of our bed so that we both can see the time when we wake up in the middle of the night. The 1.4" LED display came in handy for that matter, also the fact that you can adjust the brightness of the display (yes, I tried the Sony ICFC138 to no avail because the numbers weren't displayed bright enough at night (let alone trying to see the time during the day). The color of the numbers is green just like we wanted (since we don't find the red color soothing at night). This unit suits our needs perfectly but would be even better if some other features could be perfected (like sound quality) or added (like the bi volt feature). - Dual Alarm - Alarm Clock - Battery Backup - Clock Radio'

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Old School 80 Music

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Five star is a familygroup from England. Two brothers and three sisters who became popstars and had some great successes in the eighties, especially in England. All these songs were hits in England and a lot of them also in the Netherlands, where I come from; they were quite popular. Hits like All fall down, Let me be the one, Find the time, Rain or shine and The slightest touch are catchy tunes, which were played a lot in the clubs in '85/ '86 and '87. Five star still makes records (Eclipse 2001) and the family lives in the States since 1990. I am a fan since day one and will always stay a fan. Especially the leadsinger Denise has a superb voice. This album represents the best of their work, but do not forget to check their latest album, which is still of the same high quality. Greatest Hits

If you love the 80's like I do, this is a must! Has the 80's stamped all over it...and the music is smooth and foot stomping too.

Sounds a lot like the Jackson 5 and En Vogue....but quite a few 80's bands sound the same anywayz. This band is not very well known in the US, and it is hard to find MP3 downloads for the tracks available here. But this greatest hits complilation is a good buy for all 'System Addict' fans. Happy groovin!

I cant believe I found this cd, its awesome.

It has all the best 5* songs and it brings back the great dance beat.

They have a likeness to The Jacksons and DeBarge and yet still they hold their own.

All the songs a great and they still sound great today.

This album is great, Five Star is a group I grew up listening to in the 80's a must have. It came in my post right on time when I need some musical upliftment. Good packaging,great music what more can I ask for. Thank you, I recommend this seller and product to all the old school 80's fanatics like me. Cheers.

There were many artists I loved in the 80s: Run DMC, Madonna, Whitney, Eric B.& Rakim, Jody Watley, New Edition, Prince, LL Cool J., Michael, Janet, and a 5 member R&B/Pop group of brothers and sisters that hailed from England named Five Star.



I loved these guys back in the day. Deniece, Doris, Lorraine, Stedman and Delroy could dance, sing, and had some of the catchiest R&B/Pop songs around. Sure some of the music was bubblegum, but it always catchy. The first video I ever saw of their's was "Crazy," (for some reason the song was left off of this collection!)

with them singing and having fun in an amusement park. From that point on, I was a fan. Their first CD, "Luxury of Life" got major spins in my house. My cousins and I learned the choreography from the "All Fall Down" video and would dance to it every time the video aired on BET. I even remember calling my local radio station and requesting "Love Take Over" when I was about 8 or 9 years old!



I was trying to find something for years on CD from Five Star but was unsuccessful. I received an Amazon gift card from a co-worker this past X-Mas. I was scrolling through New Edition CDs on the site and saw this Five Star CD advertised on that page. I almost flipped out of my chair! I quickly ordered the CD and have been playing it to death ever since! "Can't Wait Another Minute," "Strong As Steel," "When Ever You're Ready," and my personal favorite, "Let Me Be the One," which still sounds good and can go up against ANYTHING on the radio today and win!



I wonder what the group is up to nowdays? Deniece could sing her tail off and still should be recording. I wish the rest of the group well in their endeavors. If the Spice Girls and New Kids on the Block can reunite, then Five Star should do so. I might even travel across the pond to see a show!

I have loved this group since the 80s. I am American, and I know although they are beloved in England, we also loved them here in the States as well. I know ALL the songs on this greatest hits cd. I once had the casette tapes, but due to moving and items being shuffled around over the years... they were lost. Which is the reason why I am re-purchasing. I am actually commenting before my shipment arrives because I already know the songs, just haven't heard them in a while and looking forward to listening to them and re-living my teenage memories! I just love Denise and she has the best voice! If you are thinking of purchasing, I am here to say in advance you won't be disappointed! :)'

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Office 2010

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...unless you just must have the latest version. But without an upgrade-path pricing option, not sure this is worth the cost of full retail pricing.





Download time will depend on how long it takes your broadband provider to deliver the 665 MB executable. This is the only variable out of Microsoft's control. The things they could control don't add up to a compelling reason to upgrade from any earlier version of Office.



The interface is essentially the same tabbed interface from Office 2007 (that probably still stumps previous users of Office 2003 and earlier suites).



Installation on a desktop computer(4 GB RAM, 3GHZ Intel dual core processor) running Windows 7 Professional and with an existing Office 2003 Professional version already installed took about 20 minutes. Installation was trouble-free. While the document history entries in the Windows start menu were erased after the install, the recent documents history were available within each of the Office applications. I don't use Outlook for email at home, but do use it for calendaring. All of my existing entries were preserved and displayed immediately in Outlook; it also recognized my existing preference to start Outlook in the calendar view).



While the interface is familiar, application launch time is slightly faster, and there is improved feedback to users on recent files accessed in a navigation pane that appears under the File tab.



So, with a familiar interface, a problem-free install and apparent improvements in navigation and responsiveness...why 2 stars? Because the Office Professional suite is very expensive. The only reason I'm doing this review is because I had access to a deeply discounted purchase price via an educational licensing agreement. But if you are currently running an earlier version of Office, I can't offer a single compelling reason to sink anywhere from 220 dollars (for a product key to activate the trial versions on new PCs) to more than 400 dollars (for a version delivered on DVD).



If you have very basic productivity suite needs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) you can consider the stripped down "student version" instead for much less...if your needs don't include Outlook, Access or Publisher. Alternatively, if you have an affiliation with an educational institution that has an academic licensing arrangement, you should have a access to a very reasonably priced Professional version.



Otherwise, unless you're just a "current version junkie" who enjoys having the latest and greatest version of every application, all, I can't offer a good case for spending this much on a set of tools that looks, feels and performs almost exactly like its predecessor. Microsoft Office Professional 2010 - 1 User-2 PC [Download]

I had Office 2007 and this version of office appears to be basically the same. There have been a few tweaks in terms of format and icon placement, that takes time to adjust. The download from Amazon worked great for my laptop and still waiting to download the second copy on my desktop.

Our IT consultant suggested we upgrade all of our computers to Office 2010 to transition our Database applications. That's all fine, but we have one machine still on XP (which is still faster than Windows 7) and there seems to be a glitch with Office such that it loses its configuration on a regular basis. At least once a week when I start up an office application, it will go into the "Product Configuration" screen for about 5 minutes, then require the product key to be entered. Sometimes it then requires a reboot. Very annoying, and what's worse, after spending hours trying to get help from Microsoft, I might as well be asking my dog to help. This is beyond frustrating!'

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Planers - benchtop planers, rigid

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Planes boards to a perfectly smooth (nearly mirror) finish. Width of finished board is (as far as I can tell with my precision) dead on. I like the adjustments on the side for repetitive cuts (1/8,1/4, .. etc). The cut depth gague in the front is nice so I accidentally don't try to make it take too much board at once then it can handle. Powerful! This planer seemed to laugh at the 10 inch wide oak boards I sent through it. I cut the boards from a tree with a Alaskan chainsaw portable sawmill. Each board needed numerous passes to get it down to nice smooth usable lumber. The blades lasted quite a long time. Changed blades after 20 boards, 10' long, 10" wide, receiving around 5 (on average) passes per side, I just turned around the blades and continued planing. The double sided blades are nice. I had an old 12" delta and as I used to either have to get the blades re-sharpened or throw them out once the single side had dulled.



As always... love the lifetime warrenty



Cons:

The hex wrench that came with it for changing the blades stripped and was unusable almost immediately. It was stripped before I changed the first blade. I actually find it easier to use a standard hex wrench for the leverage. Just have to be careful....



Dust collection is "ok", but I don't expect perfection from my 5.5hp big box store shopvac... Ridgid R4330 Planer, 13-Inch Thickness

If your going to buy one of these units make sure it's the newer version three blade. At some point in the last year or so the design changed slightly and they added a third blade. Home Depot carries these in both the new three blade version and two blade version. Same model number and SKU#. The older vs has a tool box located on the left side of unit, looking at it from the entry side. The newer version the tool box is located under the exit tray. (Heads up)



We have had one of these for about four years. Only used on a couple of projects. The unit works great as long as you use dry wood. We bought some Premium 2x6's at Home Depot and on the third to fourth pass the motor on this unit fried. The so called Premium wood was still to wet for the two blade version Turns out that Ridgid won't honor the lifetime warranty.



Also the dust collection on the older version clogs too easily, even when your using a commercial shop vac system.

I purchased one of these about 3 1/2 years ago and can't stop emphasizing how good the peformance has been, especially at the price. I am a woodworker that builds just about everything I'm asked to. I've been using this planer consitantly, at least 3-4 hours a week for the last year...I cut my own lumber, joint it, resaw it, and plane it with this item.



I too have never changed the blades...not to say that they can't give better cuts if I did, but the fact that they have performed so well (for so long) to this point amazes me. I plane all kinds of woods...pine, douglas fir, oak, gum, persimmons (white ebony), hickory, and alot of cherry and black walnut. Alot of hardwoods listed!



Other reviews don't speak as high as they should due to processes they shouldn't be doing...wet wood is a no-no on any planer. When properly hooked up to a 4" dust collector system, it works great. Maybe a wrench that arrives to change the blades out is junk...but the planer itself is what this review is on. It may not be as powerful as some may have predicted, but for the cost it's awesome, just take lighter cuts.



Best Bang-for-Buck...and FYI, I'm not an employee of Rigid...I am a constant customer of Home Depot.

I've had my Ridgid 13" planer for several months now.. Run a lot of wood through and it works great. However, blade changing time comes along.. Most of the screws that hold the blades have welded in place.. Apparently, the cutter head is aluminum and the screws ( metric ) are steel. Dis-similar metals corrode and seize.. After ruining the cheap tool they send to remove the screws as well as another hardened wrench, slotting the top of the screw, chilling the screw with dry ice and several other methods, I'm probably going to have to grind the screw heads off, remove the blades and then attempt to get the threaded stud out of the hole.. If that doens't work, you replace the $140 cutterhead. From reading reviews, this seems to be a recurring problem..

I bought Ridgid's newest model thickness planer after I had beat the older model to death with daily use for over a decade. The brushes on the motor finally gave on the old one so I got the new one with plans to have the old one refurbished when I have time.



This newest model has plenty of power for me. I make historic window replicas and use this machine almost daily. I bought both machines, my old one and this new one at Home Depot so I wouldn't ever be without replacement blades, even on a Sunday.



So blade change time came and I went to Home Depot only to find out that my Home Depot only carries the blades for the old machine, even though they haven't sold it for years, and only stock the new machine. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.



But the part that makes this particular machine not worth the money isn't that. It's the blade changing design. These machines are designed to have the blades changed. No big deal. But you have to be able to get the blades out.



The old model used hex head bolts to fix the blades in place. That was a good idea. The new model uses allen head bolts that are rounded over on top. You use an allen wrench to get the blades out. That was a bad idea. Bad idea because if one of the bolts strip out, like four have done on mine, they are impossible to get out and change your blades. I can't get a wrench around it to turn it or anything, not even needle nose vise grips. Such a shame.



Now I have to remove it from the stand and take it in to get serviced, which means serious down time. Oh well. You live and learn. I guess next time I know what else to look for when I buy one of these machines. - Rigid - Benchtop Planers - Planers - Planer'

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Parker - parker

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Since I was young, I had awful handwriting. No matter how I tried, nor what writing instrument I used, my handwriting was terrible. My teachers, parents and even my classmates and friends would comment and lecture me on how very difficult if not impossible it was to comprehend my scribble. To make matters worse, I write left handed and often I would smear my words with my left pinky making my bad writing even worse. It was the story of my life and I simply accepted my fate of illegible handwriting and even printing.



Then a miracle happened. For my birthday, a great friend of mine sent me this Parker Sonnet fountain pen with a fine nib. Hah!!! I can't even use a pencil legibly and now a fountain pen? Well it worked! For some reason, my handwriting improved using this pen! Maybe it is because I do not have to exert much pressure on the nib as I have to with a ballpoint or pencil. Maybe it is because the nib "grabs" the paper. Maybe it forces me to slow down. I am not sure but I know that my handwriting has improved. Now, Thomas Edison's reputation (ever see his beautiful handwriting?) has nothing to fear but at least my handwriting isn't an illegible embarrassment anymore.



Also, Parker pens come with their brand of ink called Quink. It dries into the paper so fast, that my pinky does not smear the ink like a ballpoint or pencil. Amazing!!! Now my pinky does not appear to have the beginnings of gangrene.



This pen is also a good looking, classy instrument. With it's shiny black finish and gold accents and nib, it catches eyes whenever I use it. The finish is very durable and after a couple of months of fairly heavy daily use, there are no scratches to be seen. It seems to be very well made. The cap fits on securely and the details of the pen are sharp and clear.



I use the refillable ink reservoir every few days to fill my pen with Quink blue/black ink. I found that the blue ink, while beautiful in color, does not duplicate on at least my office's copier machine well if at all.



My son does not have the greatest handwriting either (the apple does not fall far from the tree). For the upcoming school year, he gets a fountain pen. When he is older, I'll get him a Sonnet too. Parker Sonnet Lacquer Fine Point Fountain Pen with Golden Trim, Black (1743579)

While it's not quite the MkI Sonnet of 15 years ago it is 1/3 the price. And while the S/S nib isn't quite the pleasure that the 18k unit is, it is a solid pen and a very good value. Highly recommended. - Parker'

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Sansa Fuze Cable - sandisk, mp3 accessories

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I had lost my Sansa USB cable, did not know which one to buy as people often complained that connectors don't fit... Well this one is excellent replacement for original, maybe even better... Works prefect. A+ USB Cable for Sandisk Sansa

It does fit my Sansa, but there was no product name on the cable as in the photo above. The quality is not as good as the factory cable, but I've misplaced my original. Until I can find it, this will do nicely.

Good inexpensive cable. Of course, its annoying that Sandisk chose to use a cable with such an unusual connector. I didn't want to have to carry a cable with me everywhere in case the battery in my Sansa ran down, and I didn't want to be left without a cable should I lose the one and only copy of this strange cable. Fortunately, this one fit perfectly. Highly recommended for anyone in the same situation.

I lost my MP3 player data cable on a mission trip to Guatemala. And without it the player becomes obsolete next time I need to load a song! I found the replacement cable for $15 plus shipping. Very steep considering the player cost only $30. So I looked in Amazon and found this replacement cord for less than $3, including shipping. I works perfectly and I could not be more satisfied. - Sandisk - Charger - Usb Cables - Mp3 Accessories'

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