Product review: RecorderGear FD50 USB Flash Drive Voice Recorder 8GB

At the time I am writing this review the price of this recorder is around $90 and for the price I expected a better all purposes recorder. It did a reasonable job recording human voice, but did a very poor job recording music. The recorded music is clipped and sounds distorted. When I held the recorder in my hand the recording picked up a lot of crackling. I did not purposely do anything to generate that noise but as you hear in attached audio the difference between me holding the recorder and having it put down is dramatic.



The recorder looks like a regular flash memory stick. To make it discrete looking the interface that makes it work is not obvious. The recording switch looks like a loop for hanging the recorder on a key chain. The switch has three positions left, center, right. The center position is off, and left/right are the two modes. The two modes are "continuous recording" and "voice activated recording". They are indicated by a small dash and two small dots on the front of the recorder. The markings are black on black and are barely visible. The dash indicates continuous recording and the two dots indicate voice activated recording. The charge level indicator is barely visible as it points down when you plug the recorder to be charged. When it is charging you see an occasionally shadow of a red flash. I took about a dozen photos and on one of them I managed to time my photo and captured this flash of red light, so you would know where to look to see it.



To set the time and to see the recorded files you need to use a Windows computer. Normally fat32 flash drives can be read by Linux desktop, but this flash drive is not seen by my Linux computer so it is doing something non-standard. My Windows laptop has no problem accessing the memory stick.



I included several audio clips in my video so you can judge the quality of the recording for yourself.



My video includes four types of clips under different situations:

(1) Two clips with human voice

The recording has some echo, but not bad.

(2) Classical music

Clipped and distorted, not acceptable

(3) Pop song

Clipped and distorted, not acceptable



The recorder can be re-charged in any USB outlet. It runs on built-in 180mA rechargeable Lithium. Documentation states that battery lasts da day on stand-by. The recordings are produced in MP3 audio file format.



RecorderGear provided this voice recorder for an honest review be it good or bad. What is the bottom line? I thought it did a decent job for human voice in a quiet environment. The microphone is pretty sensitive so in a noisy environment it picks up a lot of surrounding sounds. It works for recording lectures and presentations where is one clear source of sound. It did a terrible job recording music. If it was priced in the $20-30 range I would have rated it as 3 star - ok for lecture recording. For $90 (the price at the time I am writing this review) I expected a more general purpose recorder which produced better results.



You can locate RecorderGear FD50 on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review

Fire, 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers, Black

 

$49.99 & FREE Shipping

 

 About Fire, 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers, Black

• Beautiful 7" IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600) and fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. Rear and front-facing cameras.
• Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $20,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free - including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more
• Enjoy more than 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps and games
• 8 or 16 GB of internal storage. Free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire devices. Add a microSD card for up to 128 GB of additional storage.
• Updated user interface - Fire OS 5 designed for quick access to your apps and content plus personalized recommendations that make it easy to discover new favorites
• Up to 7 hours of reading, surfing the web, watching videos, and listening to music
• Stay connected with fast web browsing, email, and calendar support 

Beautiful 7” IPS display

Fire features a 1024 x 600 IPS display with 171 ppi for a bright display with vivid colors and whiter whites. Enjoy a great viewing experience at all angles through a combination of IPS (in-plane switching) technology and an advanced polarizing filter. 

Fast and responsive

The fast quad-core processor consists of four high-performance 1.3 GHz cores for quick app launches, smooth games and videos, and great overall performance

Power when you need it

Don’t be tethered to an outlet—with up to 7 hours of mixed use battery life, Fire gives you the flexibility to go wherever the day takes you. 

Stands up to everyday life

Amazon engineers Fire tablets to hold up against everyday life. As measured in tumble tests, Fire is almost 2x more durable than iPad Mini 4

Capture life’s moments

Fire features a 2 MP rear-facing camera for taking photos or recording 720p HD video. The front-facing VGA camera is perfect for Skype calls with friends and family. 

Watch

Enjoy all your favorite movies and TV shows on Amazon Video, Netflix, HBO NOW, and more. Discover hundreds of thousands of TV episodes and movies, plus fling Amazon Video content to your TV using Second Screen. 

Play

Over 300,000 apps including favorites like Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify. Plus Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $20,000 in apps, games, and even in-app items are 100% free. Play great titles like Frozen Free Fall, Angry Birds Slingshot Stella, and Sonic Dash from developers like Disney, Gameloft, Rovio Entertainment, and more

Read

Choose from millions of e-book and magazine titles. Connect with the largest online community of book lovers on Goodreads. Discover over a million titles with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Also, listen to your favorite books with Audible

$49.99 & FREE Shipping

Product review: AVANTEK 15"-17" Ultra Slim Laptop Cooler Cooling Pad

I really like this cooling pad. I have a lot of experience with cooling pads and in this review I will highlight the features that I like.



I use a lot of cooling pads because I have a lot of computers with difference operating system so I can test the software I write on different machines. Having that many computers creates a real space problem, so I have various laptops, netbooks, and network computers tucked away in small places. All of them are on cooling pads to overcome the lack of natural circulation and to prevent overheating.



This cooling pad has two fans and a large mesh which allows a nice flow of air. The pad has two controls. On/off buttons controls of the LED lights are on or off (great! because I do not like when everyting electronic in my room insists on having a bright LED light). The second controls is wheel which allows me to select the speed of the fans or turn them off.



A cooling fan does not have to blow hard to do its job, it just needs to create circulation. A cooling pad should be blowing towards the device you are trying to cool. I select the lowest fan speed that makes a difference to cut down on noise. What is the best temperature? It is best when computer CPU core temperature is under 50°C, if it is in the range of 50°C it is a sign of not sufficient cooling, if it is the in 60°C or higher it shortens the life expectancy of the computer components.



This fan is practically silent at the lowest speed and produces a slight whirl on the highest speed. My video includes the sound it makes on various speeds.



How well it cools depends not only on the cooling pad but on how many ventilation holes the device itself has on the bottom. In addition ventilation holes on the computer tend to fill up with dust. If you are not getting good results with a cooling pad try vacuuming the ventilation holes.



I have a little netbook that tends to run too hot with core temperature of 65°C when it run unventilated. I was able to get it down to 61°C with this cooling pad. This is still a bit hot, I am probably pushing the little netbook beyond its design by doing a lot write disk operations.



Number of fans:_______________ 2

Air flow:_____________________ dial allows variable speed control

Cord:_______________________ detachable USB cord (25" long)

On/Off switch:________________ yes

LED lights On/Off switch:_______ yes

Size:________________________ 14.75"W x 10.875"L x 1"H (height with feet retracted)

Noise:_______________________ low almost none, high very slight whirl

Color:________________________ black case, blue LEDs (which can be turned off)

Feet:________________________ Has rubber pads

Stand:_______________________ 2 feet on the back that can be raised

Flaws observed:_______________ None so far

USB ports:___________________ Has two USB ports, one used to power it another is free for other use

Packaging:___________________ No manual, specs are on the box (in English)



So far (continuous use of several weeks) I had no issues, the fans are operating quietly. I hope the video helps to illustrate my review.



This cooling pad is provided by AVANTEK for testing and review.



I really like this cooling pad. I have a lot of experience with cooling pads and in this review I will highlight the features that I like.



I use a lot of cooling pads because I have a lot of computers with difference operating system so I can test the software I write on different machines. Having that many computers creates a real space problem, so I have various laptops, netbooks, and network computers tucked away in small places. All of them are on cooling pads to overcome the lack of natural circulation and to prevent overheating.



This cooling pad has two fans and a large mesh which allows a nice flow of air. The pad has two controls. On/off buttons controls of the LED lights are on or off (great! because I do not like when everyting electronic in my room insists on having a bright LED light). The second controls is wheel which allows me to select the speed of the fans or turn them off.



A cooling fan does not have to blow hard to do its job, it just needs to create circulation. A cooling pad should be blowing towards the device you are trying to cool. I select the lowest fan speed that makes a difference to cut down on noise. What is the best temperature? It is best when computer CPU core temperature is under 50°C, if it is in the range of 50°C it is a sign of not sufficient cooling, if it is the in 60°C or higher it shortens the life expectancy of the computer components.



This fan is practically silent at the lowest speed and produces a slight whirl on the highest speed. My video includes the sound it makes on various speeds.



How well it cools depends not only on the cooling pad but on how many ventilation holes the device itself has on the bottom. In addition ventilation holes on the computer tend to fill up with dust. If you are not getting good results with a cooling pad try vacuuming the ventilation holes.



I have a little netbook that tends to run too hot with core temperature of 65°C when it run unventilated. I was able to get it down to 61°C with this cooling pad. This is still a bit hot, I am probably pushing the little netbook beyond its design by doing a lot write disk operations.



Number of fans:_______________ 2

Air flow:_____________________ dial allows variable speed control

Cord:_______________________ detachable USB cord (25" long)

On/Off switch:________________ yes

LED lights On/Off switch:_______ yes

Size:________________________ 14.75"W x 10.875"L x 1"H (height with feet retracted)

Noise:_______________________ low almost none, high very slight whirl

Color:________________________ black case, blue LEDs (which can be turned off)

Feet:________________________ Has rubber pads

Stand:_______________________ 2 feet on the back that can be raised

Flaws observed:_______________ None so far

USB ports:___________________ Has two USB ports, one used to power it another is free for other use

Packaging:___________________ No manual, specs are on the box (in English)



So far (continuous use of several weeks) I had no issues, the fans are operating quietly. I hope the video helps to illustrate my review.



This cooling pad is provided by AVANTEK for testing and review.



You can find 'AVANTEK 15"-17" Cooler Cooling Pad'





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard 87 Keys, Blue Switches with White Backlight, Pure Aluminum Top Cover Blue Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard 87 Keys, with White Backligh

This keyboard could have been great if the manual was in English and if manufacturer did not choose form over function in a couple of default settings. Over time I figured out how to change the visual effects I found annoying, I hope this will help someone else as there is no English manual that tells you how to do it. The seller did provide some instructions in the Amazon description but it took some experimenting to get the keyboard to work as I wanted.



I am a through back - I love the feedback of the mechanical keyboards and before I switched to this keyboard I was using a very old DELL keyboard that I loved above all other keyboards I have tried prior to this one.



So here is what I like about this keyboard as well as what I don't like.



I LIKE:



1. Excellent mechanical feedback, as good as my old DELL. I can type fast, my touch is very light, yet this key boards picks up every character I type and gives me a loud click feedback and a mechanical feedback to my finger.



2. I like to work with dimmed lights and my old keyboard did not have backlighted keys. This is the main reason I switched to using this keyboard. It took some work to get the lighting effects to work the way I wanted but once that was done I really like it.



3. The bottom of the keyboard has rubberized keys and they form great tracking with my wood desk. It does not move at all.



4. It has a standard layout of keys (and I mean all special keys not just letters). The only thing it does not have that my old DELL has is the numeric keypad on the right. However, this makes the keyboard smaller and it fits better on the keyboard tray of my computer desk.



I DON'T LIKE:



1. By default the back-light effect is not steady on, instead it shows waves of light that light a small section of a keyboard at a time. I found this lighting effect to be annoying and often I had to sit and wait until the side of the keyboard I needed lights up. Sure, have this funky lighting effect for whoever likes it, but it would have been better to make the steady light be the default. Below I give the steps on how to change the default.



2. The company logo is bright and blinking. I find it very distracting when I look at the screen. I was able to slightly dim it via available control but I was never able to fully turn it off. I solved this problem by taping over the logo with a black electrical tape. I show what this looks like in the video.



3. The manual is entirely in Chinese. The only information on how change back-light modes is in the Amazon description. I have tested this keyboard on both Windows and Linux and the function key combinations work on both.



FN+F1'Calculator

FN+F2'Sound Off

FN+F3'VOL Down

FN+F4'VOL Up

FN+F5'My Computer

FN+F6'Media Play/Stop

FN+F7'Previous

FN+F8'Next

FN+F9'Normal mode/Game Mode (Indicator Light G will light up) Disable WiN & Alt'Tab

FN+L' Adjust"MXX"LOGO Light [*my comment* can change brightness but not turn it off]

FN + F10'Opt Default lighting Mode/User Defined Mode

FN + '/''Adjust the speed of dynamic light effect [*my comment* can change how fast effects move but this does not stop flashing]

FN + F11'Backlit Turn Down [*my comment* can change brightness but this does not make it steady on]

FN + F12'Backlit Turn Up [*my comment* can change brightness but this does not make it steady on]

Fn+F10 twice into user defined mode

Fn+delete to edit.



HOW TO CHANGE FLICKERING BACK LIGHT TO STEADY BACK LIGHT

----------------------

I found a way to change flickering back light into steady back light.



Fn+F10 into default mode then Fn+page up/down to select one of the six modes. I just kept hitting FN-page up until the entire keyboard lit up. The key is to do Fn+F10 and then immediately after if FN+page up/down.

----------------------



Initially I thought only half of each key had backlight, for example on numeric keys I could see the upper part of the key (the special characters) not the numbers. The same was true for the period, comma, and forward slash. However, I was able to resolve this issue by increasing the amount of backlight and now I can see both parts of each key.



The keyboard comes with a braided USB to USB cable. It is a heavy duty cable and I like that it is nylon braided and long (70"). In video I show this keyboard on top of my dell keyboard for size reference. It is 14" long and 5" wide.



Overall, this keyboard was good enough for me to change from a keyboard I used for many years, but it is not perfect as I outlined above. I was able to cover up the logo and changing the default for lighting effects.



This keyboard is provided by Rantopad for testing and review. I hope the tip on changing defaults will save someone time.



YOu can find "Rantopad Mechanical Keyboard" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Ambient Weather WS-8600 Weather Station

We have been using weather stations for many years, for the last year we have been using Oregon Scientific weather station. Oregon Scientific is a pretty well known brand, so I thought it would be useful to compare Ambient and Oregon Scientific.



The most noticeable difference is the display. Oregon scientific has a black and white LED display, it runs on batteries and the display gets dimmer as the batteries get weak. Ambient weather station home base unit runs plugged into AC. It has a bright digital display with a large choice of colors: red, green, blue, yellow and each color has different shades (for example, blue is dark blue or cyan). The visibility of the display is terrific, however if you are keeping the weather station in the bedroom it does generate quite a bit of light in the room. I came up with a solution for this by making it a "night hood" (you can see in my video) it is a square piece of felt which with glued edges that I put on it during the night. I remove it every morning and keept it under the weather station as a dolly.



The display has a lot of information, the display is easy to see, and most significantly the temperature is accurate as I used several different thermometers and the old weather station to cross-check the results.



The weather station is 4 1/8" tall, 5.5" wide, 2.25" front to back. The base is heavy, so the weather station is well balanced.



The setting of all functions was very easy. Each function has a dedicated button on the back. I thought the set up was easier than Oregon Scientific.



The outdoor unit runs on two AA batteries (which are not included). The location of the outdoor unit is critical to the accuracy.



FINDING A GOOD LOCATION:

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

(1) The outdoor unit should be in the shade

(2) The outdoor unit should be somewhat protected from the rain

(3) Should be placed on the surface that does not get warm (for example glass or metal are bad choices, wood is a good choice)



I have been placing my weather station sensors under the deck. This is close enough to the main unit to provide strong signal and meets all of the recommendations listed above. I would estimate the distance between the two units to be 20 feet. The signal has to go through one wall.



I received Ambient weather station with the request for testing and review, as well as the request to provide feedback on the manual. I thought the manual was very good overall, very detailed. I provided some minor feedback on clarifying some diagrams and the seller makes the latest version of the manual available on line.



You can find "Ambient Weather Station" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: SENTRY Call Blocker Blocking, Black list and White list

I have been using CPR call blocker for almost exactly a year. Sentry call blocker is easier to use and has features that do not exist CPR. In this review I will compare the features of these two call blockers and explain why I like Sentry better.



MODES AND CALLER ID

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

Sentry blocker can operate in two modes. In in-line mode the blocker is connected to the line and the phone is plugged into the blocker. In parallel mode both the blocker and the phone plug into the wall with a splitter. I could not use in-line mode because my phone no longer displayed the caller id. In parallel mode my phone displays the caller id. In both modes the blocker itself only displays the numbers, it cannot display the caller id.



How does this compare with CPR? When I used in-line mode with CPR blocker I also lost the caller id info. I have been using CPR blocker in parallel mode. However, to block calls with CPR I also had to have a spare phone attached in line with the blocker. I needed to use the phone to enter commands on the key pad, for example to block the last number called I needed to enter #*2#. Sentry blocker makes blocking easier - all I have to do is locate the number in the call log and press "reject" button for 3 seconds.



WHITE LIST

~~~~~~~~~~~

The documentation suggests that before you start using the Sentry blocker you create a white list. This is a list of phone numbers for your friends and family that will never be blocked. This list can be created manually by entering each number in the blocker (this is a fairly tedious process as Sentry blocker does not have a keypad and you need to hit a sequence of up/down and reject buttons for each number in every phone number you want to enter). Alternatively you can have this person call your phone, and then find his/her number in the call log and press "accept" button for 3 seconds. There is a third way to add a person to the white list, this is done by the caller when they press '0' on their end (more about this feature under "CHALLENGING THE CALLER").



CPR does not have a concept of a white list.



BLACK LIST

~~~~~~~~~~~

There is no way to manually enter the numbers into the black list. Since I have been using CPR for a year I have list of particular annoying marketeers who has called my number many many many times. Since I know they will continue to call I would have taken the time to enter their numbers in the block list but this is not possible and I will have to block them again when they call.



CPR does allow me to manually populate the block list.

Sentry does have a way to show how many times a particular number called.



DELETING NUMBERS FROM BLACK AND WHITE LIST

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

Deleting numbers from the lists is easy. All you have to do is press either Black list or White list button, scroll to the number you want to delete, and press DELETE key twice quickly.



CPR works in a similar way.



CHALLENGING THE CALLER

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

This is my favorite feature of the blocker. In this mode the callers who not listed in either the white or the black list are challenged (see my video to hear what the challenge says). The caller has an option to press 0 which adds them to the white list and the phone rings. This feature totally takes care of robo calls, the phone does not ring. I would have preferred that the person could not add him or herself to the white list, I would have just liked the call to go through. I would have like to be the only one that can add names to the white list. The way it works now, I would need to scan the white list periodically and make sure some telemarketing caller did not add themselves to my white list.



Update: today a human telemarketer hit zero and added himself to my white list. To move him to the black list I found this new number in the white list and held "reject" button for three seconds. The number got removed from the white list and added to the black list.



People on the white list do not get a challenge. People on the black list do not get a challenge.



You can select if the voice that answers is male or female. The choice is shown in the top right corner as A (female voice) or B (male voice).



CPR does not have the challenge feature. CPR has only one list, the black list. Either the caller is cut off or the phone rings.



MODES

~~~~~

The phone can operate in "BLOCK NO CID" mode. The block mode automatically blocks callers that do not have a caller id. To add this option press and hold "reject" button. To remove this option press and hold "reject" button until "BLCK NO CID" disappears.



BASIC mode will let though unlisted numbers, while still blocking black listed numbers. Unlisted numbers could be something like automated doctor appointment reminders.



SETTING TIME

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

Sentry automatically sets the current time when the blocker is connected to the phone line.



WHAT DOES THE CALLER HEAR

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

I had a friend call me and we experimented with blocking numbers as well as numbers on the white list. Blocked callers hear nothing, they are just disconnected. The callers on the white list get connected normally. The callers who are not on either one of these lists get a challenged and are asked to press zero if they are not marketing solicitations.



HOW MANY NUMBERS CAN BE BLOCKED / WHITE LISTED

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

The total number of the two lists is 1500 numbers. The system divides this capacity between two lists automatically as needed.



WHAT CAN CPR DO THAT SENTRY DOES NOT

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

I switched to Sentry after one year of using CPR. However it had a couple of features that I will miss. What can CPR do that Sentry does not?

- Using CPR I could pre-populate the black list

- CPR shows me the count of how many times a specific blocked number called. I get a satisfaction seeing a high count number of blocked calls and if Sentry's black list could be pre-populated I would have known which numbers to enter in the black list.



FINAL THOUGHTS

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

Like many people I hate marketing calls. There is a great mental benefit to being able to do something about these annoying calls. Now when I get a marking call I am not annoyed, I think "Gotcha!" and block it.



This call blocking device is provided by Sentry for testing and review.



You can find "SENTRY call blocker" on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: ADATA USA SP550 480GB 2.5" Sata_6_0_gb III Solid State Drive 480.0

I own a couple of SSD drives and always run the same tests on each new ssd so I can compare their performance. The ADATA has an excellent READ speed performance and fairly good WRITE speed performance. There are more expensive SSDs available that have write speeds that are about 15% faster than this one, however in real world use such small differences in write speeds have no impact on system performance.



I tested the ADATA SP550 SSD on an Intel iCore 7 Haswell system running Fedora 23 with 32G of memory. The Adata SP550 SSD has read speeds that are limited only by the SATA 3 interface (excellent results). It has good but not industry leading write speeds. The manufacturer specifies read speeds of 530 Mbytes/second and write speeds of 480 MBytes/second which I confirmed using two bench marking tools, Gnome Disks and Sys_basher.



I took three sets of measurements with Gnome Disks, a set with a 1 MByte sample size, a set with a 10 MByte sample size and a set with a 100 MByte sample size.



Average Read

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

1 Mbyte sample:______407.5 MBytes/second

10 MByte sample:_____525.5 MBytes/second

100 MByte sample:____534.5 MBytes/second



Average Write

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

1 Mbyte sample:______230.2 MBytes/second

10 MByte sample:_____359.4 MBytes/second

100 MByte sample:____433.5 MBytes/second



Average Access (latency)

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

1 MByte sample:______0.13ms

10 MByte sample:_____0.13ms

100 MByte sample:____0.15ms



Another interesting measurement is to measure transfer rates for different file sizes. At small file sizes (less than 256K) the overhead of the operating system has a large impact, as file sizes grow larger the SSD approaches it's maximum transfer rates. Because of the limitations of the SATA 3 bus no SSD has faster read transfers than the ADATA SSD.



' Read performance

Size__________Transfer Rate

KWords___________MBytes/Sec

4__________________21.56

16_________________64.00

64_________________143.09

256________________344.93

1024_______________465.83

4096_______________512.31

16384______________530.49

65536______________545.45



' Write performance

Size__________Transfer Rate

KWords___________MBytes/Sec

4__________________2.42

16_________________10.13

64_________________40.18

256________________100.44

1024_______________191.49

4096_______________254.52

16384______________409.05

65536______________443.47



I am using this SSD drive for SSD caching using DM-CACHE which is part of Linux logical volume manager. This is a perfect use for SSD because the write do not go to SSD when the files are created, they only go to SSD after a read occurs, which means it is used only for files that I am actually using to make access to them faster. I am seeing a noticable speed up in i/o operations



Overall, this is an excellent SSD drive and my tests confirm the benchmarks provided by manufacturer.



" on Amazon via this link



AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: FD10 8GB USB Flash Drive Voice Recorder

his is a very simple voice recorder. It looks like a flash drive (2.5" x 0.80" x 0.25"). It has just one button on and off switch. I included several audio clips in my video so you can judge the quality of the recording for yourself.



My video includes four types of clips under different situations:

(1) Speaking right into the recorder

The sound it records has a bit of an echo, but not too bad.

(2) A noisy party

This is a challenging situation. The microphone picks up a lot of ambient noise, many voices, it is hard to understand.

(3) A lecture

During this lecture I was sitting in the first row, about 10 feet away from the speaker. The hall capacity is 330 seats. The voice is recorded at low volume but clear.

(4) The lecture is about music and included musical passages. The recorder is not capable of recording music. The clipping and distortions are severe. The recorder is not suited to recording music.



For simplicity of use this recorder is hard to beat. To start recording flip the switch to ON position, to stop recording push the button into OFF position. To copy the files to the computer insert it into computer just like you would insert a flash drive. The records in are in RECORD directory.



The recorder can be re-charged in any USB outlet. The red light will remain on while the FD10 is charging, and will turn off when charging is completed. It cannot record while recharging or connected to the computer. It runs on built-in 11OMAH Rechargeable Lithium. Full recharge from empty took about 3 hours. The recordings are produced in wav audio file format.



If the battery runs out of juice in the middle of the record the file is automatically saved before it stops. If memory is full before recording is completed it will save what recorded so far.



RecorderGear provided this voice recorder for an honest review be it good or bad. What is the bottom line? I thought it did a decent job for human voice in a quiet environment. The microphone is pretty sensitive so in a noisy environment it picks up a lot of surrounding sounds. It works for recording lectures and presentations where is one clear source of sound. It did a terrible job recording music.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

Product review: aLLreLi USB 3.1 Type C Charging Cable for Nexus 5X / 6P

This listing combines several products, my review is for aLLreLi Type C to USB charging cable. I am using this cable with Nexus 6p.



I have been following Benson Leung reviews of Type C cables for a number of weeks prior to buying Nexus 6p. Benson has pointed out that many cables, including this one, violate the USB 3.1 specification that states that the termination resistor that advertises the maximum available current has been set incorrectly at 10K which advertises 3A of current, the correct value should be 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. However many Type A USB chargers are rated at 2.5A and some as high as 3A which are safe to use with this cable. I tried using this cable with a number of different chargers and the Nexus 6p phone. All of the chargers were self limiting to their specified capabilities, i.e. if the charger port is labeled as 1.5A that's what it approximately delivered, and charger ports that were labeled as 2.4A delivered approximately 2.4A.



To identify the maximum draw of the phone, I charged it with depleted battery using Type-C to Type-C cable and a Type-C charger provided by Google. My Nexus 6P has never drawn more that 2.5A when charging from the Type-C Google provided charger. Charging with aLLerLi cable and my various chargers stayed under this number as well. So I feel that the aLLeLi cable is safe for use with the Nexus 6p and a QUALITY charger. I don't want to say that it's safe for all combinations of devices, laptops like the Chromebook Pixel and the Apple Macbook draw more current than a phone, and there may be badly made chargers that lack current limiting and might burn themselves out. However with a quality charger that's rated for higher currents this cable will charge faster than a USB 3.1 compliant cable.



Below are the details of my tests. All test were done keeping all conditions the same: same level of charge for the phone, same apps running, keeping the screen on so I can see the results.



1) Type C to Type C cable that came from Google in Nexus 6p package with the phone discharged to the level at which is does rapid charging to see maximum draw

The phone draws 2300 mAh, the status indicates that it is charging rapidly. The phone battery level is at 61% to 62%.



2) aLLreLi Type C to Type A cable with several wall charger. I am using a current monitor to see how much it draws and compare the results with the cable received from Google in Nexus 6p package

With the battery level at 76% to 78% the phone does not use rapid charging. With non-rapid charging both cables behave the same

- aLLreLi cable 1.32A, Google cable is 1.31A



3) aLLreLi and Google cable with several different car chargers. The phone battery is at 58%, at this level it uses rapid charging if possible.

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 3 port charger, 2.4A port: 2.31A (charging rapidly), Google cable on the same port 1.73A (charging)

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 3 port charger, 1.5A port: 1.76A (charging rapidly), Google calbe on the same port 1.52A (charging)

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 2 port charger, 2.1A port: 2.13A (charging rapidly), Google cable on the same port 1.51A (charging)



Attached are images from my tests that show the results with both cables.



The aLLreLi cable is 40 inches long. The cable inserted without a problem on the phone with a silicone skin on.



I received this cable from aLLreLi for testing and review. Bottom line: aLLeLi cable is not USB 3.1 compliant and does behave differently from a USB 3.1 compliant cable provided by Google in "rapid charging" mode however I see no harmful effect on the phone with good quality self-limiting chargers and I am using this cable on regular basis.



YOu can find "aLLreLi USB 3.1 Type C Charging Cable" on Amazon by following this link







AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Rosewill 750W ATX12V EPS12V Power Supply Capstone G750

This is a nice power supply with enough for any personal computer. Its capacity of 750w and a large number of connectors (total of 8 connectors and 10+4 Main plug that is hard-wired). This power supplies provides a lot of room for growth.



Capstone 750 is 6 3/8" x 3.5" x 6". It uses ribbon cables, which are more flexible than round cables.

Connectors:



--> One 20 +4 Main plug, it is hard-wired

It can handle motherboards with both 20 pin or 24 pin connectors.

--> Two EPS12V CPU plug (modular)

The power supply supports two CPUs. It maybe be used for servers that use two CPUs, most desktops use one CPU.

--> Two PCIe (modular)

Supports two SLI graphics cards

--> Four SATA or Molex plugs

2 SATA cables, each with 4 plugs, total of 8 SATA devices

1 Molex cable, four Molex plugs and one floppy plug



I measured the power supply with a power supply tester and all votages are within tolerance. The attached video includes several 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 tolerence. Its a good one!



This power supply is provided by Rosewill.



You can find it by following this link



AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: NewNow 20000mAh Power Bank Portable

This external packs turned out to be larger than I imagined from the stock photos. Its size is 5.75" x 1.75" x 0.75" and it weighs slightly over a pound. The power pack has two ports, both of them are 1A. The external pack as a small built-in flashlight. It generates a very small beam of light and is not very bright.



The external battery performed very well charging with my Android phone. It did not perform at am optimal range for IPad Mini. My current monitor showed that neither of the ports delivers over 1A, which is required for an optimal charge for Apple devices.



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. 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 also tested to see if the battery supports pass-through charging (i.e. whether the battery can charge mobile devices while it is being charged). This battery does NOT supports charge through charging. It can not charge while being charged.



Samsung Nexus phone:

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

port 1: 1.02A/5.05V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 1.00A/5.04V (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)



iPad Mini tablet:

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

Neither of the ports delivers over 1A, which is required for optimal charge for Apple devices.

port 1: 0.93A / 5.08V (average for 1A port for the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 0.93A / 5.10V (average fpr 1A port for the same device with other chargers)

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



Summary:

' size: 5.75" x 1.75" x 0.75"

' weight: 1 lb 7 oz

' number of ports: 2 - both ports are 1 Amp

' flashlight: yes

' pass through charging: NO (i.e. the battery CANNOT charge while being charged itself)

' cables: 1 charging cable



Since neither of the ports produced more than 1A this battery is best suited for Android devices, MP3 players, portable speakers etc. Just not devices that work best with 2A ports such as Apple devices.



This battery pack is provided by NewNew for testing and review. Getting a review product does not influence what I say, I run tests and report what I see purely based on a performance of the product.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Eye-Fi Mobi Pro 16GB WiFi SDHC CARD

I am using this card in SONY-NEX5 phone and Android phone. The set up was incredibly smooth. All I had to do was install the the EyeFi app, it came up and told me "insert the SD card and take a picture". That's it! No hotspot to connect to, no need configuration of any kind. I took a picture a 1 minute and 5 seconds later it appeared on my phone. After the initial upload the images were uploaded a little fast, videos took a little longer.



EyeFi app also allows some basic operations such as deleting files, sharing, and a few other basic operations. It is easy to use.



Is it perfect? No. After using the card for a couple of weeks I ran into several practical issues. They are not deal breakers for me but prevent it from being a perfect experience:



1) It uploads ALL photos, so if you shoot a lot of photos in raw format this can fill up the phone memory.



2) It would be nice if there was an option to delete images from SD after a successful transfer. Such options does not exist and SD card needs to manually cleaned up - either periodically or when one runs out of space.



3) I wish it had is a switch that allows me to turn off WIFI on the card (at a hardware level). I have this feature on my old WIFI SD card and do use it when I do not want uploads to occur.



I received Eyefi sdcard for testing and review. It exceed my expectations for ease of use and set up. I have no problem using, although after several weeks of use some functionality that I would have found useful is not available.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: CHUWI HI8 8" inch Windows 10 + Android 4.4 Dual Boot

This is a good budget tablet. I rank my overall experience as good (i.e. pleased overall, but it does have some weak points). The strongest point points of this table is the high resolution screen (1920 x 1200 resolution). I can fit a lot on the screen while maintaining clarity. I set the font to large to make it easier to see the text. The weakest points are battery life, WI FI performance and the speaker.



In some low cost tablets the total memory is divided into two partitions restricting the amount of memory available for installing apps. I was happy to see that it is not the case with this tablet. I show the storage layout in my video, where this restriction appears if it exists. I show th storage after I installed about a dozen of the applications that I use all the time.



WI FI performance is not stellar. To test its wireless capabilities I run OOKLA speed test app. I ran the test 5 times and then repeated the test on my Samsung tablet. The old Samsung tablet performed significantly better. Chuwi tablet results ranged from 14 Mbps to 27 Mbps for download, and 10 Mbps to 19 Mbps for upload speed. By comparison, my Samsung tablet did 37.88 Mbps download and 33.67 Mbps upload.



Some budget tablets do not support bluetooth functionality. Chuwi tablet does support bluetooth. I am using a bluetooth speaker and a bluetooth keyboard with it, both work smoothly. In attached video I show pairing and using the bluetooth speaker.



The tablet is running Android 4.4.4 (Kit kat) operating system. I tested many of my favorte apps and so far have not found any that did not work. Here are example of the apps I am using on on Chuwi tablet: Battery widget, OOKLA speedtest, Tune-in Radio, iHeart radio, Nexflix, Firefox, YouTube, OI notepad, OI file manager, iPerf, OTG disk Explorer, Dropbox, Kindle, camera. I also tried a few of my favorite games and they all work.



This tablet also supports Windows 10. By default is starts as an Android tablet and under settings there is an options to "Switch OS". Windows comes up in a minute or two. To return back to Android OS there is an Android icon on the tool bar.



I found the touch screen to be very responsive. Using on-screen keyboard generates good feedback.



The built-in speaker is not great and cannot be made very loud. However, because the tablet has bluebooth capabilities when I want to make it loud I use a bluetooth speaker.



The battery life on the tablet is less than the other tablets I own. I can run my iPad Mini or Samsung tablets for more than I day without recharging. This tablet needs to be recharged every day even when it is not used constantly.



The tablet has an uncommon size (8 2/8" long and 4 7/8" wide). I am yet to find a case that fits it well.



Bottom line? A pretty a decent tablet. In attached video I included a variety of short snippets of running various apps such as Netflix, Tune in radio, Pandora and others.



This tablet is provided by Chuwi for testing and review as part of the new product introduction. Getting a free product does not influence what I say. I always cover pluses and minuses as I did in this review.





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: IPC Telephone Call Blocker

The good news is that device really does work and solves a much needed problem. However the interface is so non-intuitive that my mother, for example, is not able to use it. The feedback generates weird long numbers which she finds confusing. I will describe the interface and the issue with the caller id so you can decide if the draw backs out weight the ability to deal with the annoying marketing calls.



I saw two main issues. First that if you hook this device to the phone that has Caller ID capability you will lose the caller id display on that phone. To solve this problem I dedicate a separate phone to this device. This phone is not used for calls just for blocking. The caller id is shown on other phones, just not the one hooked to the blocking unit.



The second issue has to do with the user interface and the feedback displayed on the screen.



When the number is blocked, there is no clear indication that it happened. It just displays a long string of numbers (not the phone number). When I press various buttons, for example, blacklist to see which numbers were blacklisted it shows another long sequence of numbers (some diagnostic information?) when my list is empty, and includes these long strings after the blocked numbers if my list is not empty. The last time I blocked the number and it was saved to the blacklist the confirmation that the number has been saved is the display as a number '2012'. Very strange design!



The manual (which is written in broken English and is hard to understand) does mention that when you press various button the screen displays '1234567' as a confirmation but does not explain the long number sequences. This appliance has the most unfriendly user interface I have ever encountered.



During the initial set up to set the time you need to hit "set" on the unit, then pick up the phone and dial "1" (the phone will give an error that it is an invalid number, but the blocking unit will enter time setting mode). Once it is in the setting mode you need to press set button to change value, but the values you see are not sequential they appear what seems to be in a random order. To to set the time to 10:12 pm I had to see random numbers for the year, month, day, hours and minutes. I just had to keep pressing up or down button until I saw the number I wanted and then had to press "set" and it advanced to the next number. I managed to set the year, month, date and time. However, it displayed the wrong day of the week and I was not able to correct it. On Sunday it displays Thursday.



IPC documentation states that the unit can block 1500 numbers. This number is actually comprised of 1000 individual numbers and 500 other number achieved by blocking set of prefixes, which are too general for my personal use.



On the positive side, the blocking does work. I have called my home number on my cell phone and was able to successfully block it, observe it being disconnected when I called, and then I was able to remove the blocked number from the list. When I block a real telemarketer and they call again I hear one ring and then the call is disconnected.



There are two ways to block calls. One is to push Blacklist button as the marking call is coming in another one is to enter the phone number by hand and save it. The number displayed on the unit does not show the caller id, so it is not easy to identify a marking call without picking up the phone or looking at another phone which shows the caller id.



I have been using IPC for a couple of weeks. Now when I get a marking call I am not annoyed, I think "Gotcha!" and block it.



This call blocking device is provided by IPC for testing and review. If you can deal with the bizarre user interface the unit does work and not only blocks the calls but makes me feel more empowered that I have a way to fight back the annoying marketing calls.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆