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Ron W.

Ron W.

Joined on 10/29/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 34
Most Favorable Review

Superior eBook Reader

Ectaco 5" High Resolution e-Book Reader with Rechargeable Li-ion Battery WHITE (jetBook JB5W)
Ectaco 5" High Resolution e-Book Reader with Rechargeable Li-ion Battery WHITE (jetBook JB5W)

Pros: Excellent value, well designed, and a convenient easy-to-use device; very simple to navigate since the controls are consistent and logical; for the many file formats supported, simply throw the books on an SD card (or load via USB) and start reading; jetBook combines SD files seamlessly into file views; display very readable from direct sunlight to lower light conditions even with small font size; many advanced features (dictionary & language translate/lookup per word, text search, records portrait/landscape plus font size for each bookmark per file, can play MP3 in background while reading); native PDF and Mobi/PRC support; long battery life per charge; excellent size to fit in coat or pants pocket; protective case included; regular software feature upgrades/patches (e.g. new file formats); page turns are relatively quick (but PDF images take longer on every other page); monochrome graphics (in JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP) are surprisingly good for only 16 shades on 640 by 480 TFT display

Cons: Minor issues: no native DJVU support yet; device documentation is minimal (not all capabilities written up so user is left to discover them) but less needed since the context menus function so logically; I don't believe hyperlinks are supported with the software but it could via navigational controls (even without a touch display); audio hardware geared toward speech reproduction (don't buy as an MP3 player) but that's consistent with jetBook's primary purpose; minor but noticed light-gray appears to "strobe" in bright sunlight especially with a larger font size (and _underline_ character)

Overall Review: I've only had it for a few hours but can see it doesn't have the same deficiencies as my eBookMan 911 (e.g. long battery life, more font size choices, file conversion steps not necessary). jetBook is not a PDA so all features are consistent with providing an excellent reading experience. Not really competing with Kindle since that product focuses on book buying via 3G connection; I wanted a device to leverage my existing library of ~30K ebooks. jetBook delivers the features with no negative surprises. Tried all file formats so far (except RTF); especially pleased with versatile FB2 format so may convert many titles to FictionBook. I found that PDF in landscape mode is best plus you control the zoom level. Sort by author or title if you use jetBook's author#title convention. Easy file management of internal flash or SD card is unusual. Newegg delivery was fast and set a good price; another happy customer!

Perfect size and shape

10k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Heart Necklace (H-I, I1-I2)
10k White Gold 1/4ct TDW Diamond Heart Necklace (H-I, I1-I2)

Pros: Gift for my wife; she says it's "perfect". Looks like a quality piece. Nice color for its gold mounting and diamonds glisten. Good length for supplied necklace chain. Definitely looks better in person than pictured here. Very light weight.

Cons: None really; necklace creeps up chain over time toward clasp so need to re-center every couple of days

Overall Review: Not as nice as a $700 heart necklace looked at months ago but close enough. It's a hit with my wife so that's what really matters. Pleased with purchase.

Excellent value, does its job well

Arctic Cooling P253BT Bluetooth Headphones with Mic
Arctic Cooling P253BT Bluetooth Headphones with Mic

Pros: Microphone and sound is great. Pairs with phone instantly. Range is very good for Bluetooth; I can walk around a large room without loss.

Cons: None really; although the micro-USB charging socket is in a slightly awkward spot, yet the socket is out-of-the-way when wearing.

Overall Review: Talk time before recharging is adequate for me; I don't know how long/limit yet since I haven't used them for more than four hours straight. I was not able to pair with Nexus 7; only tried once but never recognized in search by the tablet and not certain why since I assume it should be compatible. I'll try with other devices when I get time but really meant it for use with my Android phone. Not uncomfortable but takes some minor getting used to; my wife doesn't like the feel behind her neck but I didn't buy it for her use.

good value MB

ASUS A88XM-A FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
ASUS A88XM-A FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: Has all the features sought, overclocked my A10 APU like a dream to 4.7GHz; can add RAM up to 64GB in a desktop is surprising (sounds costly); Win7 experience level rates 7.8 across all components

Cons: none

Overall Review: Upgrade to my son's desktop and he's impressed by the overall performance; reused almost all prior components including medium-speed ATI video card

good value

AMD A10-5800K - A-Series APU Trinity Quad-Core 3.8 GHz Socket FM2 100W AMD Radeon HD 7660D Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic - AD580KWOHJBOX
AMD A10-5800K - A-Series APU Trinity Quad-Core 3.8 GHz Socket FM2 100W AMD Radeon HD 7660D Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic - AD580KWOHJBOX

Pros: Advanced budget CPU/GPU; overclocked to 4.7GHz w/o voltage tweaks

Cons: Even overclocked to 4.7GHz, this APU benchmarks considerably lower than my AMD 965 CPU at 4.2GHz

Overall Review: my first APU for the desktop, already had mobile A10 in a laptop; To Christopher S., MSI specifically list the A10 as supported on their motherboard FM2-A75MA-E35. However, make certain your BIOS is up-to-date in case the A10 support came later than when the board was shipped to vendors.

Bright, warm great-value bulbs

Feit Electric 40 Watts Equivalent A19/E26 LED Light Bulb, Non-Dimmable, UL, 3000K, Soft White, 2-Pack
Feit Electric 40 Watts Equivalent A19/E26 LED Light Bulb, Non-Dimmable, UL, 3000K, Soft White, 2-Pack

Pros: Brighter than other LEDs previously purchased. Actually replaced a Phillips LED that claimed to be 40W equiv.; this bulb is nearly as bright as a 60W equiv. (should've measured the lumens) I have elsewhere in the room. My first purchase from Feit Electric, but took a chance at 3.50 per bulb; now my favorite brand so will purchase again.

Cons: claims cool white but yellow component makes a warmer light (which I prefer) than stark white

Overall Review: I bought 4 of these bulbs and wish I'd have purchased more with their December discount. Was shipped via UPS but handed off to USPS for local delivery.