Product review: BUREI Women's BL-3029LA-01E Swarovski Crystal-Accented Black Ceramic Bracelet Watch

I never had an all black watch before and I really like how it looks. Both the black band and the crystals make the watch look very dressy. Yet the crystals are not overdone, the watch looks elegant. It has a stainless steel body. The band's maximum width 8.75". The package includes a tool to take out links out of the bracelet for a custom fit but I would not recommend doing so. I have a lot of experience taking out links but on this watch it was very difficult because each spring is made out of two parts (a pin and a head), and required more effort than bands without a head.



The face of the watch is 1.346" wide and the watch is 0.332" thick. The back of the watch states it has Japanese quartz movement. The watch is water resistant to rain and splashing but cannot be submerged into water.



This watch is made in China but includes an English manual. I found the controls to be simple, everything is controlled by the position of the crown. It can be pulled out into two position, the first position allows change the day of the month, the second position moves the arms to adjust the time.



Overall, this is a very attractive classy looking watch. It comes in attractive package, the box has a pillow and include a gift bag.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Rosewill Quark Series 1000 Watt Power Supply

This is an excellent power supply with enough power for any personal computer. Its capacity of 1000w and it has a large number of connectors (total of 10) that gives lots of room for growth. Its size is 7.25" x 3.5" x 6". Quark 1000 uses heavy duty round cables (i.e. not ribbon cables). All connectors are modular rather than hard-wired. I prefer modular power supplies so the case has only what it needs and thus is less crowded, so this is a big plus.



The power supply can handle motherboards with both 20 pin or 24 pin connectors. It supports two SLI graphics cards. It is very quiet.



Connectors:



(1) One 20 +4 Main plug (modular)

(2) Two EPS12V CPU plugs (modular)

It supports two CPUs. This is useful for server systems, desktops have 1 CPU.

(3) Four PCIe plugs (modular)

It supports four high power PCIe cards, typically SLI graphics cards but there are other cards requirind extra power.

Most PCIe cards use only the power from the PCIe plug, but high performance high performance graphics cards use this plug (e.g. gaming graphics cards).

(4) Five SATA or Molex cable plugs (modular)

They use the same plugs and package comes with different cables that can be used as needed.

4 SATA cables, each with 4 SATA plugs for a total of 16 SATA devices supported

2 Molex cables, each supports 4 IDE drives or FANs



I measured the power supply with a power supply tester and all voltages are within tolerance. The attached video includes screen shots that show the power supply tester output. The top number for each rail shows the expected results, the number below (in a slightly larger font) shows the actual reading. 0.5V is the acceptable tolerance. All readings are well within the tolerance.



This power supply is provided by Rosewill testing and review. Its a good one!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: JENNIE LIU Women's 100% Cashmere Long Sleeve V Neck Sweater Blue Large

Buying clothing on line can be an adventure, especially with some clothing made in Asia (because Asian sizes are different from American and that is not always clearly marked). Jennie Liu clothing however are true to American sizes and they fit very well.



This sweater is made out of thin cashmere. It is a light sweater, perfect either for laying or to wear on its own. The cashmere is very soft and nice to touch (100% cashmere). I got teal color and the stock photo is accurate in color. The v-neck opening is 8" (measure when laid flat starting from the colar in the back to the opening). I like the long cuffs which allow me to roll them nicely. The workmanship is very good. In attached photo I show close up of the sweater as well as the reverse side. Looking at the inside seams is a good way to see the workmanship - if the parts that noone can see look good it means it is well made.



Cleaning instructions: dry clean.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Pergear A216C Touchless Sensor 216 Led Video Light Panel

The seller combined several different light panels in this listing. My review is for Pergear A216C Touchless Controller with Air Switch.



The light panel works with F550 SONY compatible battery (the package includes two batteries which is great as I can recharge one while using the other). I own several light panels and this panel has a couple of unique features that I like (1) touchless switch lets me save the battery life by turning it off and on quickly. Once I set up the light level and color I can turn the light on and off without having to move the panel or fiddle with the switches. With the other panels I need to either move them or reach around which may reposition the lights (2) I can control the color of the light without using filters. This light panel also has a switch that changes the light intensity. This feature is not unique to this panel, I consider it a must-have feature as it is incredibly useful.



Another minor but nice feature that my other panels do not have is a button that ejects the battery. This will prolong the panel light. I dropped and broke one of my old panels trying to remove a stiff fitting battery.



The panel comes with a light diffuser. I like that it snaps in snugly into the panel and does not fall out even when I turn the light upside down.



The light panel generates continuous light. Once you turn it on the light panel stays on. This panel does not communicate with the camera like a flash. I use it mounted on a tripod so I have more control of how the light is directed.



The photo panel is 5" by 3" and 1.5" deep. The light weighs 8.15 oz. It 216 LED lights.



Color temperature of the lights: 3200K-5500K



In addition to the extras I already mentioned the package also includes gloves which are sized small (I have small hands and they fit me perfectly) and a cleaning cloth (7.75" x 7.75").



Overall, I like this light very much. It is easy to set up and easy to change the amount of light I get to fit any situation.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: ROMOSS Sense 6 Plus 20000mAh Portable External Power Bank

' size: 6 1/4" x 3 1/8" x 7/8"

' weight: 16.85 oz

' number of ports: 2 ports

' flashlight: no

' cables: 1 charging cable



This external battery performed very well (1.36A/5.01V) on 2A port with my iPad Mini, the second port is 1A and it showed typical performance for this tablet on 1A drawing 0.93A/5.00V (this is below optimal, but normal for 1A port).

My Nexus phone drew only USB rate on 2A port (0.42A/5.00V), and below average on 1A (0.89A/5.01V).



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.



I check if the cable that came with the battery is a charging cable (i.e. capable of charging at full AC rate or if charges at slower USB rate). This is easy to tell by using a current monitor and I happy to report that this package includes a charging cable that works at AC rate.



The best feature of this battery is the large capacity. Given that it is not a fast charger my main use for this battery is to have it power my my MP3 speaker with external speaker. I use it a lot and normally need to switch the external power pack every day, but using this battery I can go for several days without a swap.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Wavertree & London Limoncello luxury soap

As soon as I opened the box the scent was fantastic! The soap bar is a large bar, its size is 4"W x 2.5"L x 1.375"H. It weighs 7 oz. The bar itself is very plain, but scent is complex and wonderful. It smells nice as it sits on counter and as I wash my hands. It generates a nice amount of suds.



The soap is made in Australia and provided by Simple Scents.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Jackery Titan Premium Travel Charger 18000mAh

' size: 5 7/8" x 3 1/4" x 3/4"

' weight: 15.65 oz

' number of ports: 2 ports

' flashlight: no

' cables: 1 charging cable



This external battery performed pretty well for charging both my Android phone and Apple iPadMini tablet. iPad Mini performed in line with the best external batteries I have tried, and Nexus phone did very well on one port and slightly worse on the second port.



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.



I check if the cable that came with the battery is a charging cable (i.e. capable of charging at full AC rate or if charges at slower USB rate). This is easy to tell by using a current monitor and I happy to report that this package includes a charging cable that works at AC rate.



Samsung Nexus phone:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

port 1: 1.00A / 5.05V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 0.84A / 5.01V (below the best, but above USB rate)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)



As noted above these tests are not designed to test the maximum capacity of the port, so 2A port not showing 2A is not an indication of a problem



iPad Mini tablet:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

port 1: 0.83A / 5.00V (typical for 1 A port)

port 2: 1.43A / 5.09V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)



The battery has a nice capacity and fast charging rate for both Android and Apple devices



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Le Touch 3200mAh Ultra Slim External Battery Bank

LeTouch 3250 mAh external battery is super slim and it weights only 3.5 oz. It comes with a short (3.5") built-in cable and it chargers my phone at a good clip (9% in 10 minutes). I run this the same test on all external batteries with built-on cable (since I cannot use a current monitor on these cables). I run the test with phone battery at the same level running the same apps so I can compare different batteries to each other and it compares well with the other batteries running the same test. Its capacity is only 3200 mAh and some of it wasted towards heat, but it is just enough to fully charge my phone with a large battery. It also works very well with my MP3 player. When I have it along on my exercise walks I want a battery that it very small and light and LeTouch works very well.



This battery has a charge level indicator (some slim batteries like Le Touch 1350mAh give up this feature) but to me a charge level indicator is very helpful so I have an idea that the battery is about to run out of juice, so I am glad that Le Touch 3500mAh has it.



When you don't need a power house charger and weight/size matters this battery is just the right thing.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Rz Guanqin Men Automatic Mechanical Watch

Guanqin watch is a mechanical watch. At the time when I am writing this review the watch is just under $80. Despite the price is looks quite elegant and works well. This watch does not need winding, it auto winds just from the action of the hand. My husband has been wearing for the last two weeks and have not need to wind it. He really likes the looks and the function of the watch.



There is one big gotcha with this watch. The manual covers several watches but the watch that looks most like this one has incorrect information on how to adjust the day of the week and the day of the month (the manual talks about 2 positions of the crown while the crown on this watch has only one position). To adjust these two settings on this watch you need a tool! A small screwdriver works best. I captured how it works in the attached video, you need to poke the indented controls on the side of the watch.



What is really nice is that the package includes a tool that can be used to remove links from the band, no need to take the watch to the watch maker. The wrist band is 8". My husband has a fairly slim wrist and we had to take out 3 links for a perfect fit. The tool worked perfectly and I show this process in the attached video.



The case and the band are made out of stainless steel. The watch weighs 5.3 oz. It is water resistant to rain and splashing, but cannot be submerged under water.



Overall, this is a very attractive classy looking watch. Given the price of many mechanical watches this watch is a good deal. My husband has been wearing it for 2 weeks checking its accuracy against his smart phone - it keeps accurate time. The only negative thing I can say is that needing a tool to adjust the day of the week and the day of the months is not a user friendly interface. Since this is mechanical watch the days of the month need to be adjusted every other month.



The watch comes in attractive box with a pillow and the package also included a gift bag, so this watch works well for gift giving.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Durapower 500lm Rechargeable LED Work Light Bar Cordless

This work light exceeded my expectations. I did not fully understand how versatile it is until I began using it.



✔ I can hang the light horizontally using magnets on my HiLoft storage system. HiLoft shelves are a metal grid. The magnets are strong enough that they work even with this "sparse" support. The magnets work great on a solid sheet of metal, of course, like a hood of the car.



✔ I can hang the light by one or two hooks, providing me light either horizontally or vertically depending on the space I need to light. I have a long a narrow area behind the furnace where I every few months we need to change the filter, it is always a struggle to see what is happening because the furnace shades the overhead light and it is difficult to hold a flashlight while changing the filter. Now the problem is solved.



✔ The light can be rotated so the light provides the light to an area but not beam into my eyes.



✔ The light runs on a rechargeable battery, so when I use it I don't need to have it plugged in. (In fact the manufacture warns not to use the light while it is being charged).



✔ It has two modes low and high, both of modes are quite bright.



When I first opened it I wondered where the hooks are. Turns out they are hidden within the ends and can be either extended or retracted. The next puzzle was to find the port for charging, it is hidden on the end of the light and you need to rotate the hook to expose the opening. I show it in the video, as it is easier to show than describe. When the light is charging you red LED light is on, when the charging is done the red LED is turns off. The manufacture recommends not leaving the light charging continuously.



Overall, I am very pleased. Good amount of light and it can be mounted in many different ways.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: YOTOSAN Smart 16-Outlet Home Vertical Power Strip

This outlet tower fits perfectly behind my computer. I don't have a lot of room there and need a lot of outlets - both AC and USB powered - and this tower is perfect in that space. There are 15 AC outlets and 2 USB outlets. The AC outlets are well spaced out. I am able to mount two large chargers next to each (see video), no outlets are blocked! This is a very clever design.



The two feet power cord can be coiled in the base of the tower and I can release only what I need. This reduces the cord jungle I have behind the computer.



I tested each USB port with a current monitor an Android device and an Apple device. Both ports are 1A ports. They charged my Android devices at the optimal rate, and my Apple devices below optimal (since they need more than 1A to perform at the optimal rate). I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to compare them to each other in a fair way. I use the current monitor to see what current is delivered to each device which tells me how well each external battery is working.



Samsung Nexus phone:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 port: 0.97A/5.03V (excellent)

2 port: 1.01A/5.01V (excellent)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)



iPad Mini tablet:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 port: 0.93A/5.02V (average for 1A)

2 port: 0.93A/5.01V (average for 1A)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)



I love the shape of this power strip, it gave me more than enough outlets in the area which barely has any space.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Kinps 20000mAh Portable Power Bank

' size: 8.25" x 5.5" x 1.5"

' weight: 1 pound

' number of ports: 3 universal ports

' flashlight: no

' cables: 1 charging cable



This external battery performed very well charging both my Android phone and Apple iPadMini tablet. Each port of this battery is universal, i.e. each of my devices does equally well on each port.



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.



I check if the cable that came with the battery is a charging cable (i.e. capable of charging at full AC rate or if charges at slower USB rate). This is easy to tell by using a current monitor and I happy to report that this package includes a charging cable that works at AC rate.



Samsung Nexus phone:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

port 1: 1.02A / 5.10V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 1.02A / 5.09V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 3: 1.02A / 5.10V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)



As noted above these tests are not designed to test the maximum capacity of the port, so 2A port not showing 2A is not an indication of a problem



iPad Mini tablet:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

port 1: 1.23A / 5.08V (good comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 1.15A / 5.09V (good comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 3: 1.35A / 5.10V (good comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)



The battery has a nice capacity and fast charging rate for oth Android and Apple devices. I use it to power a 4" speaker which is used several hours a day and it runs for many days without needing a recharge.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Chafon Cf-UPS008 Portable Backup Power UPS

Charon UPS documentation claims a very impressive performance. To verify the numbers I started by testing Chafon performance with my laptop to see if it comes close to the documented performance.



Chafron documentation states that they expect a 13" laptop to run for 6 hours. I took out the battery from my laptop, set the power options to never go into sleep mode and not to shut down the screen and measured how long it can run after I charged Charon UPS to its full capacity. The laptop ran from 5:50 pm to 12:25 am, for a total of 6 hours 35 minutes. For the last 5 minutes the battery level was shown as 0% and blinking, so I had a warning that it was about to run out of juice. This is the best case power usage scenario as I was not running any programs on the laptop other than the idle mode of the operating system. If the computer was doing some more intense work the power consumption would be higher and the battery would last less time. Never the less my test confirmed the numbers stated in the documentation and this backup battery has an impressive performance.



Once I exhausted the battery in my laptop experiment, I timed how long it took to fully recharge the Chafon battery.



8:20am start - 3% full

9:30am - 56% full

12:30pm - 88% full

1:00pm - 100% full



It took 3 hour and 40 minutes to fully recharge the battery.



I like how Chafon clearly identifies how long the battery will last. They state that it produces 288 WH, which means it can produce 288 watts per hour. To find out how long any devices will run on this battery you have to divide 288 watts by the amount of power a device draws. A watt is current multiplied by voltage. For example, if I measure my USB fan with a current monitor I get 0.40A and 5.05V which is 2.02 watts. This means this fan should run for approximately 144 hours (6 days) before this battery is exhausted.



The unique feature of Chafon UPS its portability. The Chafon box comes in a case with a handle, it weights 7 pounds and 1.2 oz, and its size is 11"L x 4.25"WS x 5.25"H.



Chafon has both AC and USB port. I found many uses for this large portable battery from using it as a back up when the power goes out at home to re-charging my Ghost drone (its battery requires an AC plug so my other battery chargers could not do it).



It lives up to the numbers they promise.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: VonHaus ABS 3-piece Small, Medium & Large Luggage Sets

This luggage is built like a tank. It is made out of hard plastic. This is my first set of hard shell luggage. It is beautiful, offers great protection for the content, but what I did not realize that these bags are quite heavy even when they are empty (see weight for each below). However when I roll the bags the rolling is smooth and effortless. Each suitcase has four wheels and all wheels have 360 degrees of freedom. This means they can be rolled upright and sideways so they would fit into narrow spaces like airplane isles as well as pulled by their handled when there is room to move around. The telescoping handle operates smoothly and locks in various positions. For each of the four bags the maximum height of the handle is 42". The handles are ergonomically shaped and don't dig into my hand. The zippers work well and have large pulls so they are easy to grab.



You can pack items in both halves of the hard shell. Items on one side are held in by the elastic gators, items on the other side are held in by the divider which is also a pocket.



I like that for storage the suitcases fit into each other like nesting dolls



One other nice thing is that they have built-in combination locks. Note they NOT TSA approved locks, if you want TSA locks you can find them in the premier version of this luggage VonHaus 3 Piece Extra Strong ABS TSA Luggage Set

Here is how to change the lock combination:

1) Open the lock (the original combination is 0-0-0)

2) Push and hold the main locking button away from the combo lock toward the edge

3) Turn the numbered disks to your desired combination

4) Release the main locking button

The lock combination can be changed again by repeating these steps



Large bag

External size 29.7" x 21" x 11.9"

Internal size 27" x 19" x 11"

Weight 9 pounds 7.5 oz

Length of the handle at max height 42"



Medium bag

External size 26.2" x 17.7" x 10.3"

Internal size 23.5" x 16" x 9"

Weight 7 pounds 19 oz

Length of the handle at max height 42"



Small bag

External size 21.3" x 14.1" x 8.3"

Internal size 18" x 12.5" x 7"

Weight 5 lb 10.5 oz

Length of the handle at max height 42"



If you have questions on something I did not cover post a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★