Reviews – Page 153

Bestek 3-Outlet Vertical Cube Mountable Power Strip

REVIEW – Let’s have a real talk for a minute. Your house or office is full of electronics, and you know that the old clunky power strip you bought 10 years ago is getting a little… dated. It’s time for an upgrade! Today we’re reviewing a charger from Bestek that combines modern features with excellent usability. It looks good, too. Let’s plug in!

What is it?

It’s a cube-shaped power strip that includes 3 standard outlets, 3 USB ports, and a USB-C port. It’s also mountable on your wall.

Hardware specs

Input Voltage : 100-240V
AC Rated power: 1875W(125V 15A)
USB Output: 20W 4A(Total), 5V/2.4A Max(each port)
Size(Base included)/Weight: 3.4*3.4*3.2 in / 1.05 lb
Cord length: 5 Feet (14AWG)
Includes protection from overloading, overheating, short circuits, and power surges

What’s in the box?

The package comes with a power strip, detachable base, double-sided adhesive trips and screws for wall mounting, a self-adhesive cable clamp, and the instruction book.

Design and features

The Bestek 3-Outlet Vertical Cube is a cube-shaped design that packs some nice usability extras for managing all of your power sources. It’s compact exterior dimensions measure in at 3.4″ by 3.4″ by 3.2″. It also looks nice, which is a bonus if you’re mounting it on your desktop. Here’s a pic with my MacBook Pro power brick for a size reference:

If you’ve ever had to play Tetris with all of your odd-shaped power bricks, you’ll appreciate the form factor here. Three of the vertical faces each have one three-pronged plug, oriented sideways to accommodate those oddball bigger bricks (I’m looking at you, Apple!). Have a look:

On the top face of the block, you’ll find three USB ports, a USB-C port, and the power button for the unit. The button glows blue to let you know when it’s on. Placing these ports and the control on the top face is lovely, as none of the functionality fights for space with your traditional 3-prong blocks:

Here’s what the unit looks like in its natural habitat. Check out that 5′ long cable that allows you to position the block pretty much anywhere you want it, including on the desk if desired. I love that.

The block is also removable from the stand. Squeeze those little tabs and it pops off. Why is this useful? Well, you can mount the stand to any surface with the two screws included or the double-sided adhesive mounting strip if you want it connected to your desk or hung on your wall. You can then remove the block if you need to use it in another location in the house or office.

The block can be positioned in 90-degree increments, so you can drop the cable below your plugs if it’s vertically mounted.

Bestek has clearly thought about their customers in the little usability enhancements at work here. The chord includes its own velcro cable wrangler, and the package includes a second mountable clamp that uses self-adhesive backing to manage running chords (not shown):

The power plug itself is also nice. It’s designed to drop below your outlet, making room for other plugs. It’s also got some nice ergonomic grips on either side to facilitate removal. Little stuff like this make users (and product reviewers) happy.

You’ll have a total of 7 power ports when installed: three traditional three-prong outlets, three USB ports, and one USB-C port. I just got a new MacBook Pro, and I love the inclusion of the USB-C port here. It allows me to free up one of the three-prong outlets for other stuff. Again, this makes me happy.

As far as protection goes, you have a bunch of safety features to protect your precious electronics. There’s protection from over-heating, short circuits, power surges, and overloading. It’s also FCC certified for reliability and quality.

What I like

Designed to accommodate a wide variety of power blocks
3 USB and one USB-C port that won’t fight for space with your 3-prong plugs
Good looking, compact design
5′ long cord makes for easy positioning on your desk if desired
Wall-mountable
Nice usability features

What needs to be improved

None to be found

Final thoughts

The Bestek 3-Outlet Vertical Cube Mountable Power Strip is a great upgrade for your charging needs. It looks great, handles USB and USB-C duties in addition to traditional three-prong plugs, and you can mount it just about anywhere you need it. The little usability and safety details are all on point. What’s not to like?

Price: $27.99
Where to buy: Get it at the Bestek Web Site.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Bestek.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Batteries and Chargers

Bestek 3-Outlet Vertical Cube Mountable Power Strip originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 21, 2018 at 2:00 pm.

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Baron Fig Wander Dream Journal review

REVIEW – Are you the type of notebook or journal user who likes to have a separate notebook for different subjects or topics like travel, daily journal, tasks, etc? How about a journal that’s dedicated to recording your dreams. But, not dreams for your future, I’m talking about the dreams you have when you’re asleep. Baron Fig’s new Wander Dream Journal is a journal just for that task. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

The Baron Fig Wander Dream Journal is a 192-page hardbound notebook that has been specially designed to make it easy to record the dreams that you have during the night.

Design and features

The Wander Dream Journal is a 5.4″ x 7.7″ cloth-bound book that is dark blue with silver stars and a moon stamped into the front and back covers.

The journal has rounded corners and a grey elastic band that can be used to secure the top cover.

Each notebook has 192 pages of acid-free fine grain 90gsm paper that’s a light cream color.

When you open the front cover, you’re greeted with a lively geometric design and a blank area where you can write your name and contact info should you lose the book, or dates that the book covers, etc.

You’ll have to flip a couple pages before you get to the actual journal area of the notebook.

You’ll find a quick start guide at the beginning of the book that explains the page’s outer edge “gadgets”… at least that’s what I’m going to call them.

They say that the best way to remember your dreams is to document them as soon as you wake up. The Gadgets on each page help you do that by including things like emoticons for your mood during your dream, your sleep quality, when your dream took place in history, if your dream was in color or in black and white, the viewpoint of the dream, and type of dream.

Then the 2-page layout gives you a whole page to write about what happened in the dream on the left and a place to draw and interpret what the dream might have meant on the right side.

Notice at the top of the left page that there’s a place to circle the day of the week and add the current date. This dream journal has all the bases covered.

What I like

2-page layout for each dream
Lots of info to record about each dream
Attractive book
Lay flat design

What needs to be improved

The book isn’t a standard size, so it would be nice if they offered one that was A5 sized just so it would be the same height as other journals on a bookshelf

Final thoughts

The Baron Fig Wander Dream Journal is a nicely made notebook that has all the features that someone would want in a journal. It has acid free pages, a lay-flat design, ribbon bookmark, and an elastic closure. But then they add extra features to the pages to help you document each dream. All in all, this is a nicely designed dream journal. The only thing missing is a pen with a built-in red light so you can write your dream in the dark without bothering your sleeping partner or wrecking your night vision.

Price: $22.00
Where to buy: Baron Fig
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Baron Fig.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Notebooks, Sleep

Baron Fig Wander Dream Journal review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 21, 2018 at 9:26 am.

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Vankyo LEISURE 3 2200 LUX LED Portable Projector review

REVIEW – The Vankyo LEISURE 3 2200 LUX LED Portable Projector is a low-cost, easy-to-use, portable digital projector with a good amount of input options. At a price of $89.99, the Vankyo LEISURE 3 does what it’s supposed to do, but don’t expect too much from the viewing experience. The Vankyo is serviceable, but it takes a few hits for not being able to process Dolby Digital Sound, function as a digital presentation projector, or including cables for iPhone or Android devices.

What is it?

Portable digital projectors have become pretty popular recently. The ability to immediately project a wall-sized video of content from your phone or laptop is really exciting and when compared to the price of televisions of comparable size, the cost of a digital projector seems to make sense. The best digital projectors are usually in the $300-$800 range. They offer a viewing experience on par with that of a modern, reasonably priced television with the added benefit of portability. Generally, the smaller and more feature-rich the projector, the higher the price.

The Vankyo LEISURE 3 can’t compete on any level with those high-end projectors. This projector costs only $89.99 for a reason. The build quality, included features, and picture quality are all sub-par to mediocre. But, you get what you pay for, and there are a few instances where purchasing a projector of this caliber makes sense.

The Vankyo LEISURE 3 comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a carrying handle. This box would make a great case if the Vankyo didn’t already come with a cool zippered carrying case.

The carrying case is a great accessory and of good quality, it makes the Vankyo stand out a bit from other projectors in this price range.

The case has internal velcro straps to keep the projector safe, a separate adjustable compartment for the extra cables and remote, and a sleeve for the manual and quick start guide.

What’s in the box?

Vankyo LEISURE 3
Quick start guide and manual
Remote control (batteries not included)
VGA cable
Power cable
Standard HDMI cable
RCA to 3.5mm video cable

Hardware specs

LED Brightness: 2200 LUX
Contrast Ratio: 2000:1
Keystone: ±15 degree
Lamp Life: 40000 hrs
Aspect Ratio: 4:3\16:9\auto
Projection Size: 33-170 inches
Native Resolution: 800 x 480
Display Technique: LCD
Weight: 2.12 lbs
Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.9 x 3.1 in

Design and features

With the provided cables and inputs, the Vankyo LEISURE 3 can accept video input from a few sources. The included cables let you input video from an HDMI source, a computer with a VGA output, an RCA video output, an SD Card, or a USB source. Because you’re only given three included cables, you need to buy additional adaptor cables to be able to input video from your iPhone, Android device, or newer laptop.

You can also output audio from the projector to an external speaker. The internal speaker on the Vankyo works OK in a quiet room or if there isn’t a lot of background noise. The fan on the Vankyo is pretty impressive in how quiet it is. You know it’s running, but it doesn’t really affect the viewing experience.

The USB input is what I found most useful. If you format a USB stick with movies, music, or images and insert it into the USB slot, the Vankyo can access the folders with a rudimentary file system. By using a low profile 128gb USB stick, I was able to pack up the Vankyo projector along with about 30 movie files for outdoor viewing on a recent camping trip.

The remote for the Vankyo proved useful at times, but since the Vankyo works best in absolute darkness, I found myself wishing it had a light-up feature to help make the keys visible. Additionally, the IR receiver for the remote is on the back of the projector, so if you’re sitting adjacent to or in front of the projector, the remote is useless.

Setup

Setting up the Vankyo LEISURE 3 is pretty easy. Just plug in the power cord, connect your video source, power on the projector and you should have some type of image projecting. There are control buttons on the top of the projector and it takes a bit of time to understand them, but once that’s been figured out, the rest of your setup time will be spent on trying to get the best picture and focus.

Focus can be adjusted with the Focus dial on top of the projector or by turning the lens itself. The Keystone adjustor allows you to fix the geometry of the picture if it’s not hitting your screen correctly. It’s of note that the keystone can only be adjusted vertically, which I found frustrating.

Performance

For my testing, I set up a screen using a white bedsheet and had the projector about three feet away projecting an image comparable to a 32 inch television.

I watched several movies and television shows to test the Vankyo, but mainly tried it out using “Thor: Ragnorak” because of the bright color palette and great audio tracks.

It took me a while to find the best configuration for the picture settings. The picture from the Vankyo LEISURE 3 looks best in COMPLETE darkness, so using the remote to change the picture settings in the dark was frustrating at times.

After some trial and error, I was able to get some decent contrast and color although this varied as the scenes changed.

I was impressed with the color, but disappointed and frustrated by the focus and sharpness of the image.

I was never able to get the bottom of the frame to stay completely in focus, no matter how I adjusted the keystone, focus, or position of the Vankyo. Also, at times the picture would take on a pinkish hue in the whites.

The internal speaker handled the music and cinematic sound from the movie fine. There are a few audio parameters that can be adjusted as well and that helped a lot, but not having the ability to enable Dolby Digital Sound really hurts the experience.

And this is why the Vankyo LEISURE 3 is just a mediocre performer, there was no point during my testing where I was like, “This is so much better than my TV.” The whole point of digital projectors is that “wow” factor to kind of bring the cinematic experience home; the Vankyo just doesn’t come close to evoking that feeling.

Ultimately, for me, the Vankyo LEISURE 3 is kind of like a novelty purchase. It’s cheap and fun to take on camping trips or maybe to play the occasional movie outside after a BBQ or family gathering, but it’s not of good enough quality to use and enjoy on a regular basis.

Additionally, and most importantly for some, you can’t even run a digital presentation on it! Of all the reasons I mentioned to get and use a digital projector, that’s one of the main ones and the Vankyo can’t even function in that sense.

What I like

Easy to set up
Inexpensive
Carrying case included

What needs to be improved

No support for PowerPoint, Word, or Excel presentations
No support for Dolby Digital Sound
Mediocre picture quality and focus
Large for a “mini” projector
No included smartphone cables/adaptor

Final thoughts

The Vankyo LEISURE 3 2200 LUX LED Portable Projector is a mediocre product at best, but some of its shortcomings are offset by its low cost. The Vankyo functions properly and does what it’s supposed to do, but it lacks options offered in a number of other products in its class, like support for Dolby Digital Sound and the ability to run digital presentations. This might qualify as a good novelty purchase, but you’d be better off investing a little more money in a more versatile, higher quality projector.

Price: $89.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Vankyo.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Projector

Vankyo LEISURE 3 2200 LUX LED Portable Projector review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 20, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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JESE Air Purifier review

REVIEW – If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s breathing. When the chance to review the JESE Air Purifier came along, I figured “why not” – I could use yet another air purifier.

What is it?

The JESE Air Purifier is a small air purifier that not only filters the air but also has an ION function to produce negative ions, which can enhance human immunity, improve myocardial and lung function.

What’s in the box?

JESE Air Purifier
Power cord
Air Filter
User manual

Design and features

The JESE Air Purifier has an attractive design with easy to operate controls. With power, fan speed, and ion buttons, the controls are simple and easily accessible. Unlike other modern products, the controls are labeled with words instead of just relying on icons that you have to figure out or remember.

LED’s indicate power, fan speed, and ION mode. The front LED ring is blue when on low fan speed, and white when in high fan speed mode. The front LED ring is indented and looks like a button, but it isn’t.

Not surprisingly, the fan can be heard in any standard household room (less than 23dB – about what a quiet whisper is) but isn’t loud enough to be annoying. Pretty much any fan that pushes a fair amount of air is going to make a bit of noise. If you’re the type that likes a little bit of noise when you sleep, this might just make the perfect bedroom addition.

The air is drawn in around the bottom and expelled out of the top of the unit, so in most instances, you don’t have to worry about air blowing directly on you.

The 3-in-1 air filter consists of a primary filter for pet dander and scurf (skin flakes), the second is a HEPA filter for dust, bacteria, mold, and pollen, and the third is an activated carbon filter for smoke and organic pollutants. The JESE Air Purifier gets rid of particles as small as 0.3 microns and the filter is rated for 6 months of use. The filter is supposed to remove 99.97% of household dust. At $15.99 for a filter replacement, filters are a little on the spendy side.

My only complaint (if you can call it that) about this product is the amount of air it circulates. Although it does draw in a fair amount of air, it draws it from a very close proximity to the unit. My previous residence was a bit dusty while we were packing to move, and I expected to find much more dust in the filter than I did. In fact, I ran it for several weeks and I could not see a build-up of dust as I expected.

The ION mode works great and produces a noticeable amount of negative ions.

What I like

Attractive design
Ease of use

What needs to be improved

Expensive filter replacements

Final thoughts

As the JESE product description states, this air purifier is for small rooms and as such, it would be best for a bedroom, bathroom, or on a desktop as a “personal space” air purifier.

Price: $57.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by JESE.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Air Filtration, Home and Kitchen

JESE Air Purifier review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 20, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Sleepgram adjustable pillow review

REVIEW – Lately, I’ve been obsessed with finding a replacement for my 10+ year old pillow (yeah, I’ve heard that’s gross, but let’s move on) and I have been reviewing various pillows as they are offered to me. The newest one to land on my bed is the Sleepgram pillow. Let’s take it for a nap!

What is it?

The Sleepgram pillow is an adjustable polyester microfiber pillow that has three parts and is available in a queen or king size version.

Design and features

The Sleepgram pillow arrives in a vacuum sealed plastic bag which makes me feel like I’m about to take a mission to Mars or something.

Cutting the bag open and removing the smooshed pillow immediately causes it to inflate into a traditional pillow shaped lump.

The outer cover is made of white cotton with a teal green label in one corner that has the Sleepgram logo sewn on it.

The white cotton cover is zippered on two sides which is something I’ve not seen before and now think it’s a must-have feature for all pillows with removable inner cores because it makes it infinitely easier to insert the pillow into the cover after a wash.

Unzipping the Sleepgram pillow reveals that the cover itself is filled with microfiber and inside is not one, but two inner pillows. Yes, mind blown…

One inner pillow has a red tab and the other one has a blue tab. The instructions that come with the Sleepgram pillow tell you to put all three pieces in your dryer for about 10 minutes on low or no heat to fluff them up.

Ten minutes later, the pieces are fluffed and reassembled into a pillow.

Standard/Queen size is 18″ x 26″ + 2″ gusset
King size is 18″ x 33″ + 2″ gusset

I was sent the Queen size.

Time for a nap!

Remember that the two inner pillows have colored tabs? The blue tabbed pillow is the soft/thinner pillow and the red tabbed pillow is the medium/thicker pillow. The idea is that you are able to customize the thickness and firmness by using both the blue and red tabbed pillows or just one of them.

For my first nap, I just used the blue (soft) pillow and left the red (medium) pillow out.

I should preface this by saying that I am not a big fan of down/feather style pillows and that’s actually what the Sleepgram is minus the feathers. It has a down-like feel, with a down alternative made of polyester microfiber. That means it’s animal-friendly, allergen free, and dust mite resistant.

The pillow is soft and doesn’t have any weird smells. But like down pillows, it doesn’t provide any bounce back when you lift your head like a foam pillow will do. BTW, a foam pillow is the type that I’ve been sleeping on for eons and is what I like best.

With all that being said, I took a 2hr nap on the Sleepgram and I didn’t hate it which is a not typical for me when I try new pillows. I usually give them a good 5 minutes before switching back to my old favorite. I didn’t do that with the Sleepgram pillow. I slept on it for the entire nap. Does that mean I’ve found my new favorite pillow that I’ll use for the next decade? Hmmm, not quite. As I said, I like foam pillows. So my biggest issue with the Sleepgram is that it gets a bit flat and as a side sleeper, it made my ear hurt, so I found myself trying to fluff it up a couple of times.

For other sleep sessions, I tried other combinations of the two pillows and I didn’t find one that was just right for me, but the blue pillow with the zippered was the most comfortable of all the combinations that I tried.

What I like

Machine washable
Customizable
100-night money back guarantee
100-year warranty

What needs to be improved

No bounce back
Sleepgram advertises that this pillow will keep you cooler than other pillows. I didn’t notice a difference.

Final thoughts

I feel a little guilty reviewing the Sleepgram and not loving it because it is a nicely made pillow and I really wanted to love it. I liked everything about the pillow except for the most important thing which is how it felt for me to sleep on it. I’m pretty confident that if you love a feather pillow, you will love the Sleepgram. But if you prefer a pillow with some bounce back like a foam pillow, you might want to look elsewhere. However, you are free to try the Sleepgram pillow since they do offer a 100-night money back guarantee.

Price: $49.95 (standard/queen size), $64.95 (king)
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Sleepgram.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Pillow, Sleep

Sleepgram adjustable pillow review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 19, 2018 at 1:00 pm.

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