2019 – Page 231

Apple Said to Be Exaggerating iPhone Battery Life from 18% to 51% on Multiple Models

There aren’t many among us who don’t get irritated when our phones die. And the more we ask our phones to do, and the more features they include, the sooner they die. Apple often touts the great battery life on iPhones, but an advocacy group ran tests that show Apple could be exaggerating the battery life of iPhones by up to 51%, more than half. iPhone Battery Life Failures The advocacy group, “Which?” tested nine iPhone models and none of them fell within the battery life Apple claims. The iPhone XR was the worst when claimed battery life was compared to actual battery life. Apple… Read more

HDMI Splitters vs. Switches: When Should You Use Them?

A lot of our visual and audio entertainment is powered by HDMI these days. No more fiddling with SCART plugs or setting up VGA cables; just plug an HDMI cable into both ends and you’re good to go! Did you know, however, that you can purchase small devices that allow you to have even more control over your HDMI management? These are called “splitters” and “switches,” and they both play an important role in keeping your HDMI outputs organized. Let’s take a look at what both of these are and how they help. Related: What Is HDMI and What Is It Useful For How to… Read more

How to Fix Flash Player Crashes and Errors in Chrome

Have you ever encountered this problem? You’re working online using Google Chrome, when suddenly a page that you need pops up an error message saying the (Flash) plugin cannot be loaded. Or worse still, your Flash player crashes. Do you look for another page? That may work in the short term, but you may still have the underlying problem with the plugin. It can come back to inconvenience you again. Instead, it’s better to resolve plugin errors now. Plugins help render web pages or provide specific functionalities on the page. For example, the Flash plugin helps load web pages with videos or other flash… Read more

Polk Audio Commander Soundbar review

REVIEW – I’ve owned or reviewed several soundbars, hoping to more closely approximate my beloved cinema experience. Looking to upgrade, Polk Audio’s Commander Soundbar has entered my living room to tantalize my eardrums.

What is it?

The Polk Audio Commander Soundbar is a self-contained, wall mountable speaker system with an integrated amplifier, Bluetooth receiver, built-in Amazon Echo (AKA Alexa) and wireless subwoofer.

What’s in the box?

Soundbar
Wireless subwoofer
Remote control
Two AAA batteries
Two-meter HDMI cable
Two-meter optical cable
Soundbar power supply and cord
Subwoofer power cord
Product manual

Hardware specs

Soundbar Dimensions 2″ (5.08 cm) x 42.95″ (109.09 cm) x 4″ (10.16 cm)
Soundbar Weight 4.95 lbs (2.25 kg)
Soundbar Dimensions 2″ (5.08 cm) x 42.95″ (109.09 cm) x 4″ (10.16 cm)
Soundbar Weight 4.95 lbs (2.25 kg)
Bluetooth 802.11a/b/g/n/AC – 2.4GHz & 5GhzPower 160 watts, Class D amplifier
Two HDMI (ARC) inputs, 4K HDMI 2.0a (HDR Compatible)
One Toslink OpticalVideo Pass-through input
One output, 4K HDMI 2.0a (HDR Compatible)
Subwoofer dimensions 14.43″ (36.65 cm) x 7.4″ (18.8 cm) x 14.5″ (36.83 cm)
Subwoofer weight 8.65 lbs (3.92 kg)
Ported enclosure with integrated 6.5″ (16.51 cm) diameter subwoofer
Plastic construction

Design and features

Setup

The box the equipment arrives in is a behemoth, protecting her contents with egg-carton loving care. Unboxing reminded me of pulling a car out of a tight-fitting garage.

The Polk Commander soundbar hardware assembly is straight-forward –plug-in power, HDMI or optical to your TV, put batteries in the remote and place the soundbar on or under the TV.

I elected to put mine on top for cabling reasons.

The subwoofer plugs in and that’s it. There are pairing buttons on the soundbar and subwoofer, but I didn’t need to use them because the components paired automatically.

Next, the soundbar needs to connect to your home network with assistance from the Polk Connect app. After downloading and creating an account, the app walks through the Wi-Fi connection process and linking your Amazon account. All went smoothly with friendly voice prompts. Once connected, the Polk App no longer needed, save for FAQs or setting up another soundbar.

…and so on…

Performance

After everything was connected, I started Netflix and started a few different titles with lots of booms and “clink-clinks.” A few tweaks and my living room was shaking with thundering bass, crisp treble, and excellent high-quality audio, literally vibrating my sternum and hardwood floors, raising a few concerned expressions from our house bunny, Oki.

Even the contra-bass in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival overture could be clearly discerned – not an easy feat for audio reproduction. I had been listening to the same recording for years before I purchased headphones of sufficient quality to hear these near 20Hz notes. In fact, for some, the notes are so low they are more “felt” than heard. The Polk Commander had no problems coaxing these hidden musical gems out to play.

The Commander’s volume can be controlled through my TV so there is no need for juggling remotes.

PCM audio and 2-channel Dolby digital are supported. Make no mistake, this is not a true surround-sound system and won’t give you the sensory experience of having side and rear speakers, but the audio from the Polk Commander is pretty darn good.

I connected Bluetooth and fired up a playlist with some heavy bass and cranked up the volume. For the first time in many years, I felt so enraptured by my tunes that I broke into spontaneous air-guitar. So much fun! I’ll need to be cognizant of the volume as to not annoy my neighbors too much.

Using Amazon Echo was essentially the same as the other units I have in my home, but the microphones appear to be much more sensitive than my “Echo Dots” and audio is muted while Alexa is annunciating. I was impressed that Alexa actually heard me calling her other audio cranked up.

There’s also a dedicated remote control button should this be your preference.

What I like

Premium quality sound
Easy set-up
Great value

What needs to be improved

Some Amazon Echo functions are missing but may be introduced in subsequent updates.

Final thoughts

The sound quality is pristine and is a major improvement over other sound bars I’ve used and, at about $300 is an excellent value. Room-filling sound, faithful audio reproduction, and solid performance make the Polk Commander soundbar a big winner in my book.

Price: $249.00
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Polk Audio.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Audio, TV, Video

Polk Audio Commander Soundbar review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 5, 2019 at 10:30 am.

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Roidmi F8 cordless vacuum review

REVIEW – Perhaps one of the most annoying things with vacuuming is the cord. The Roidmi F8 cordless vacuum aims to make that a thing of the past.

What is it?

The Roidmi F8 cordless vacuum is a lightweight yet powerful cordless handheld vacuum featuring a wide range of useful attachments.

What’s in the box?

Main vacuum body
Large Soft brush head (Includes a hard floor brush and a carpet brush)
Small anti-mite brush head
Bendable extension pipe
Multifunction brush
Long flat suction head
Long connecting pipe
Spare HEPA filter
Multi-function brush for cleaning brush heads
Operation manual
Charging plug
Magnetic wall mount

Hardware specs

18,500 Pa vacuum degree
115W suction power
55 minute battery
3.3 lbs (1.5 kg)
75dB(A) low noise
No nail magnetic mount

Design and features

The Roidmi F8 cordless vacuum features a sleek design that incorporates easy to use controls and a modular system that adapts to many different configurations.

The heart of the F8 is a battery that lasts for 55 minutes under standard mode (3800 square feet), and 10 minutes under maximum power. The charge time is rated at 2.5 hours. The 100,000 rpm brushless DC motor generates strong suction power.

Second to suction power for a vacuum is its ability to filter the air and debris that it sucks up. The Roidmi F8 features a 4 stage filtration system. The filtration system absorbs participles as small as PM0.3, purifying up to 99% of your air.

Metal Mesh
Cyclonic air flow
HEPA filter cartridge
Sponge filter.

The Roidmi F8 also includes many attachments which make it very versatile.

Large Soft brush head. Includes a hard floor brush and a carpet brush.
Small anti-mite brush head.
Bendable extension pipe
Multifunction brush
Long flat suction head
Long connecting pipe

The brush heads are electrically powered, unlike some vacuums that just spin the head via air flow. The soft woven nylon roller brush is designed for hard floors and the carbon fiber brush is designed for carpeted areas. The brush rollers are easy to change without tools.

The biggest advantage to a cordless vacuum is obviously the time saving and convenience factor of not having to deal with unwrapping and wrapping up a cord. The magnetic mount is just for holding the vacuum in an upright position, the charging cord still needs to be manually inserted which does detract slightly from the convenience of it.

As for doing what it’s designed to do, the Roidmi F8 certainly has the power to vacuum quite a bit of space on one charge. I don’t think I would vacuum an entire carpeted room regularly with it, as a regular corded vacuum would do a better job, however for small areas or small cleanup jobs it will do just fine on carpet.

For hard floors, it does a great job. It’s so much easier than chasing around dirt and dust with a broom. It does take a little to get used to the weight being at the top instead of the bottom like a normal vacuum.

The head on the main brush also swivels nicely, making it easy to maneuver around obstacles.

The other attachments make it so easy to quickly clean small things as you see them instead waiting to do them after you get out the regular “big” vacuum. When so see that cobweb or small pile of dirt you simply grab the Roidmi F8, clean it up, and then put it away.

I really like the extension tube as it can be used with all of the attachments. The dust cup is also easy to empty and clean.

There is also a smartphone app available that connects via Bluetooth and provides battery status, filter status, firmware updates and more.

What I like

Portable and powerful
Simple to operate and configure
Many attachments

What needs to be improved

Review unit came with a 240v charging plug so I had to use a travel adapter to charge it
It would be nicer if the brush went closer to the sides to clean closer to the wall
Manual plug-in for charging instead of charging from the mount

Final thoughts

Overall I think this vacuum is a great device, and will definitely see a lot of use around my house. Despite a few of the things I would like to see improved, none of them were a “deal-breaker” for me.

Price: $299
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Roidmi.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Cleaning, Home and Kitchen, Vacuum

Roidmi F8 cordless vacuum review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 5, 2019 at 9:30 am.

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