Archive for the ‘Just Reviews’ Category

This Omrom is a wonderful Pal to have!. I decided to get the Omron pedometer to help me keep track of my daily activity… and to keep me motivated to exercise more frequently. I love how small it is, I can slip it in my pocket every morning and be on my way. I’ve found that it’s super accurate and doesn’t get tricked into counting false steps due to shaking, riding on the subway, etc. The memory function is really useful’ it’s nice to be able to look back and see how much I’ve walked on previous days. If you’re looking for a low cost-investment to help motivate you to get more active this is definitely worth the money.
Portable GPS Holder Friction

This cleaner got out stains that carpet cleaning companies were never able to get out.
Zoo Med Repti Temp

We have had some wonderful vacuums and I have always been under the impression that you need to spend a lot to get a good vacuum. Not true! We moved across the country and gave our last vacuum to a friend. I researched and researched, finally deciding on the Hoover Tempo. It was cheap but had such good reviews. We have been really happy with this vacuum. It is noisy but that doesn’t bother me. I just like that it really picks up everything. If you purchase this vacuum, stock up on belts. They seem to last about four or five months before needing to be replaced. We are really happy with this very basic vacuum.
Diamondback Translucent Bicycle Water

I took an instant dislike to the title character, and the more I read, the less I liked him. It is easy to see the appeal to a certain age group: the kid is smart, he has resources, and he has his own private goon squad to sic on anyone who displeases him. The author has created a sociopathic little monster with the moral compass of a pit viper. Great role model for the younger set! Every once in a while, the author tries to insert something to make us like Artemis better. He loves his mommy – so have most of the serial killers in real life. Now and then he questions (sort of) what he is doing, then he goes ahead and does it anyways. His victims in the first book are the fairies, and I give the author credit for a nice take on the little people – I was rooting for them all the way. If it hadn’t been for this imaginative portrayal, I would have been looking for a way to give this book a negative star rating. The story is well written, which makes the subject matter even more appalling. I will not be purchasing any more books in the series.
Iomega Pocket Zip Disk

I purchased this scale a few weeks ago and when I received it, it was defective. I emailed the company and with 1/2 hour they called me on the phone. They told me they were so sorry that I received a defective product (happens with less than 1% of their scales). They told me to throw away the defective scale as they did not want me to incur any expense by sending it back. They put a new scale in the mail the same day and I received it less than a week later. The accuracy of the scale is amazing! Very easy to read display and it is very attractive too. I have NEVER recieved this kind of customer service (not even in the days of “customer service” in the 80’s). This company was a true pleasure to work with. I wish I needed 10 more scales as I am just so impressed I want to give them more business. Great company…great scale!! I just really can’t say enough good about this.
The Ages of Man

Took a chance and bought this after reading the other reviews. I am really impressed, it really pulls up the water well, in fact, much better than my old machine that cost a lot more. I would recommend this to others.
Memory in the Cerebral

Practically, I had to format this item on my computer. It came unformatted. That irked me.
Nerf Nerfoop Basketball Hoop

I first saw this on a shelf a couple years back and was intrigued by it but hadn’t picked it up to read it until my 8 year old insisted that it was an awesome story and that I’d love it. So, with him continually asking how I liked it, I read Artemis Fowl.

When asked by my wife about the plot, my best quick answer was that it is sort of an “evil Richie Rich carrying out a dastardly scheme against the world of fairies.” (For those unfamiliar with Richie Rich, he’s the super rich kid with tons of fun gadgets and crazy adventures to save his family/friends/world). In this case, the rich kid is 12-year-old Artemis Fowl, and his motives are less altruistic.

Style
The writing was well done. It was written very simply and straightforward which was good considering the audience. It was something that a young reader could pick up and push through without getting bogged down by the language. The writing and dialog was natural and flowed well. Overall, very nice.

I have only 2 gripes about the writing itself:
1. Numerical consistency. Specifically, the phrasing “[something happened:] in as many [amount of time:].” You’ve likely heard this phrase before…along the lines of “He fell on his butt three times in as many seconds.” Which means he fell on his butt 3 times in 3 seconds. Colfer uses this phrasing enough that it got distracting to me, especially the times when he used it without a good frame of reference or without numbers. I don’t have the text with me to provide an exact example…but the memory I have is something like “he passed out again in as many minutes.” The numerical reference “again” isn’t really concrete (can be alluded to as it being 2 since it’s the second time) and the timeframe mentioned didn’t fit based on everything that happened in between.
2. Swearing. This is a book presumably for an audience of young kids. Through the first ~2/3 of the book, the author introduced a fairy swear word and used it a handful of times. The word itself is meaningless an
Hewlett Packard Procurve Switch

The pedometer works exactly as described; I have not experenced any problems with it. I must credit Amazon for an outstanding job with my order. When the original pedometer I ordered was lost in the mail, Amazon shipped me a replacement immediately.
Do to Amazons outstanding service, I placed a recent order for another product. They are a trustworthy company.
Exacting Ear The Story

I have to admit, i didn’t want to read this book. I read the 1st chapter to appease my daughter, and 1 chapter is all it took. I got so wrapped up in Stephenie Meyer’s extremely detailed writing about the main (human) character, Bella, that i felt like i was actually in the story. I found myself wanting to read “just one more page” before putting the book down. I fell asleep reading the book every night until i finished it. I have read it 5 more times since then. I love the connection between Bella (human girl) and Edward (vampire guy). To put a twist on things, Bella becomes best friends with Jacob, who is a werewolf (more a shapeshifter than actual werewolf). Needless to say, Jacob wants to be with Bella, and the love triangle is formed. Both male characters have such adoring qualities, that it makes it difficult to decide who we want to see Bella with. That said, there is so much more to this series than just a love triangle. There is lots of action and fight scenes as well. I can’t praise this series enough.
Fuji HD R Digital