FRIEQ® New Conductive Fiber/Rubber Hybrid Stylus for iPad Nexus Android

This stylus is 5.5" long, 1.25" in diameter at the grip point, 0.4 oz in weight. The tip of this stylus looks like a metal fiber mesh waved into a rounded tip. In the past I have only used rubber tips. I did not notice any difference in performance or precision control. This tip worked just as well as others on Samsung Galaxy 7.7 screen (no screen protector).



I am attaching a collage of two photos (which can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo) that I will be referencing in this review



✔ Sensitivity and performance of this stylus was very good. I most frequently use the stylus for typing and editing text, as it gives me best precision for positioning insertion point between characters. Photo #2 shows the pen in use.



✔ The I really like the grip of this stylus. The textured area is very grippy, so it does not slip out even when wearing gloves. I find the width of the stylus, the weight and the length of the stylus very comfortable to hold even when I used it for a long time. Photo #1 provides a close-up of the pen.



✔ It comes in several very attractive colors: cyan, magenta, black and silver.



✔ It has a clip, which allows me to clip the stylus while carrying it around. It does not get separated from my tablet in my purse, so it is there as soon as I need it.



Overall, I really like how this stylus fits and balances in my hand, and the how the grip feels under my fingers.



I received a sample stylus for evaluation and an unbiased review.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

SimplyVibe SV-X6U1-Black Rechargeable FM, MP3 Player and Portable Speakers

SimplyVibe a mini boom box that can tune FM radio and as well as play the content of USB flash memory stick or SD memory card.



To illustrate my review I am attaching a video and a collage of 4 photos. The video demonstrate FM reception for voice and music, as well as SimplyVibe's ability to play MP3 content from a memory stick.

1. The first photo shows the content of the entire package. Besides the unit itself, the package includes a USB charging cable, an audio cable, a rechargeable lithium battery, and instructions. The unit's size is 6.41 " x 1.50" x 2.30". The photo of the unit show is on 1 inch gridded mat for size reference, I also included a pen in the photo for relative size.



2. I found FM tuner to be a bit weak and a number of stations sounded a bit hissy. The attached video will give you a good idea of the reception I get on two different stations, one station will demonstrate speaking voice, the other will demo music. It is acceptable, but not as good as a larger receiver (I compared it to CC Crane radio FM reception). Photo #4 shows the display during an FM radio broadcast. The display is fairly small, and stays on only for a few seconds. As you see in the video I had to touch the button many times to keep the display active. The unit has a mode which displays a clock, but because the display turns itself off so quickly SimplyVibe cannot function as a general purpose clock. The controls take some getting used to, they are not totally intuitive and the display is faint and might be hard to read for people with presbyopic eyes.

3. Photo #2 show the side of the unit where you plug in USB memory stick, a charging cable, and a SD memory card. The speaker performed much better when playing MP3 music from a memory stick. The sound was louder and it was very clear. It even did a reasonable job with the base for a unit of such small size.



4. Photo #3 shows the back of the unit - the battery compartment and the audio plugs. You can attach headphones to the unit, or attached the unit to a laptop as an external battery.



I found this speaker to be a nice size to stand on my night table. The bottom of the unit is flat and it balances well.



My main use for this unit is when I want to have an mp3 player which has an external speaker instead of headphones. I listen to a lot of audio books, and when I am sick I like listening to the audio books in bed. I don't like falling asleep with the headphones in my ears so SimplyVibe gives me a nice alternative.



I was provided an evaluation unit for testing and review. I noted the pluses and the minuses of my experience in this review, and if you have any questions about the features I have not covered I am always happy to answer comments.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★☆

SimplyShred PSC310D 10 Sheet Micro Cut Heavy Duty Paper Cd Credit card Shredder

I am very impressed with SimplyShred PSC310D shredder:

(1) The shredder easily handled 10 sheets of paper at once

(2) When I shredded a credit card and wanted to take a picture of the shreds to include in this review, I could not find them among the paper shreds. I had to empty the bin and do it again so I could be sure what they looked like. They were totally minced!

(3) The shredder did a nice job on CDs.

(4) This shredder can handled staples



I am attaching a video demonstrates this shredder working on 10 sheets of paper, a credit card, and a CD. I am also attaching a collage of 6 photos that I will be referencing in this review.

1. This shredder is a pretty substantial unit. Photo #1 shows it next to my Fellows DM-6C shredder and you can see that SimplyShred is significantly taller.

SimpleShred is 26" high x 10.25" front to back x 14.5 inches wide



The shredding mechanism of this shredder is built into the frame of the unit. The bucket can be removed like a draw, which makes disposal of the shreds much easier. The glass window in the front of the shredder has an opening which serves as a handle to move the bucket in and out. The shredder does not operate when the bucket is removed.

The removable bucket is 15.75" high x 9.5" front to back x 12.5" wide. It capacity is 7.4 Gallons.



2. Photo #2 shows shredder working on a single piece of paper. It does a fine job on one or multiple pieces, but it is fairly loud. The video will give you an idea of how quickly the shredder works as well as the level of the noise it generates. The speed of the shredder is 8.5 feet per minute. The blue light on the front panel is on when the shredder is operating.

3. Photo #4 shows the size of the paper shreds produces by this shredder. SimplyShred cuts them into tiny pieces. For size reference the line you see the photo is 1/4 inch grout line. Shreds size is 0.12in x 0.31in (3 mm x 8 mm)



4. CDs are shredded by inserting them into the second slot on the top of the machine. Photo #3 shows how the cd was broken up by the shredder.



5. Credit cards can be shredded either in the front slot or the back slot. Photo #6 is showing the credit card going into the front slot. Photo #5 shows shredded credit card. You can see why I had trouble finding those remnants, they are very small and have the same shape as shredded paper.



6. Shredding starts automatically when you insert paper/credit card/CD. If the shredder jams the front panel has forward and reverse buttons which can be used to backup the paper and unjam. Shredding of papers with labels is not recommended as it can gum up the blades.

The manual states that one should not shred continuously for more than 7 minutes. If the shredder overheats it shuts off and red LED light is displayed on the front panel. If the bucket becomes full another red LED light will be displayed on the front panel.



7. The manual has a nice tip on how to oil the shredder. It recommends applying oil to a sheet of paper in a zigzag pattern and feeding it through the machine, rather then applying the oil directly into the opening of the machine.



Comparing SimplyShred PSC310D to my Fellows DM-6C Shredder I like SimplyShred better:

1. The micro shreds generated by SimplyShred are smaller and thus more secure

2. SimplyShred can handle credit cards and CD where as Fellows does not

3. In order to empty my Fellows shredder I need to manually lift the shredding mechanism (which litters the floor with small pieces of paper). SimplyShred shredder has the shredding mechanism attached to the frame of the unit so I can just remove the bucket.

4. SimplyShred handles staples, where as Fellows required me to remove stables before shredding

5. Fellows Shredder has a lip around the top of the shredder so it is easier to move around by putting my fingers under the lip. SimplyShred has no handles and is difficult to get a hold of for moving or lifting.



There were a couple of small things about SimplyShred shredder that I did not like:

1. The unit does not have any handles. It has totally smooth sides. This makes it very cumbersome to carry. It would have been better if it had either indentation or bumps to form handles on the sides.

2. The shredder has wheels with locks. But even after I unlocked the locks the wheels did not roll well.



However, SimplyShred does the job of shredding so well that these minor points do not prevent me from enthusiastically recommending it.



I received this new shredder model for testing, evaluation and providing an honest review. I described both positives and negatives of my experience with this shredder. I hope you found my observations, measurements, video and photos helpful. If you have any questions I have not addressed I am always happy to answer comments.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

comparison of 4 different lip balms: Burt's Bees Mango Butter, original ChapStick,Blistex raspberry lemonade and Mentholatum Natural Ice Medicated Lip Protectant

I often have dry lips and have been using ChapStick for years. Recently I got a bit bored with the old reliable choice and tried several different lip balms.  I experienced significant difference in satisfaction with them, and I thought a comparison between them might be useful to others.



The original Chapstick provides a very good moisturizer, it spreads well and provides long lasting effects.The flavor however is not exciting and that lead to this experiment. My most favorite turned out to be Burt's Bees Mango Butter. It provided a very good moisturizer for my lips, which was long lasting.  The mango flavor is very pleasant yet light.  Blistex raspberry lemonade has a strong but nice flavor. When you just put it on it taste like a burst of lemon and raspberry almost like licking a candy.  This strong flavor does not linger however, it mellows out pretty quickly.  I liked the flavor, but found that the moisturizing effect on my lips  did not last as long as some of the other balms. It also has more many chemical ingredients than the other lip balms. Mentholatum Natural Ice had a flavor that I really did not like, it was hard to spread, and the moisturizing effect did not last.

________________________________________________________

★★★★★ Burt's Bees Mango Butter / Burt's Bees Mango Butter on Amazon

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

Sunblock: None

Taste:.................Mango, light and very pleasant

Effect:................Long lasting

Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread

Cost:..................2.25 per stick

Ingredients:...........helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), aroma (flavor)*, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil,  mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, lanolin, ammonium glycyrrhizinate, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, canola oil (huile de colza), limonene, linalool. *natural flavor

________________________________________________________

★★★★★ ChapStick, Original / ChapStick on Amazon

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

Taste:.................Light almost not noticable

Effect:................Long lasting

Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread

Sunblock:..............None

Cost:..................1.40 per stick

Ingredients:...........Active Ingredients: Padimate (1.5%), White Petrolatum (44%). Inactive Ingredients: Arachidyl Propionate, Camphor, Cetyl Alcohol, D&c Red No. 6 Barium Lake, Fd&c Yellow No. 5 Aluminum Lake, Fragrance, Isopropyl Lanolate, Isopropyl Myristate, Lanolin, Light Mineral Oil, Methylparaben, Octyldodecanol, Oleyl Alcohol, Phenyl Methicone, Propylparaben, Titanium Dioxide, Waxes.

________________________________________________________

★★★★☆ Blistex raspberry lemonade / Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast on Amazon

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

Taste:.................Strong raspberry lemon, burst of nice flavor, almost like candy for a second

Effect:................Not long lasting

Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread

Sunblock:..............SPF 15

Cost:..................1.21 per stick

Ingredients:...........Active ingredient: dimethicone 1%, octinoxate 7,5%, oxybenzone 2.5% Inactive ingredients: alumina, beeswas, diethylhexyl adipate, ethylhexyl palmitate, ethylhexyl stearate, flavors, glyceryl stearate, hydrogenated coconut oil, isopropyl myristate,

isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl stearate, jojoba esters, microcrystalline wax, myristyl myristate, phenoxyethanol, phenyl trimethicone, polyethylene, polyhydrixystearic acid, saccharin, silica, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, titanium dioxide, tocopheryl acetate.



________________________________________________________

★★★☆☆ Mentholatum Natural Ice  / Mentholatum Natural Ice on Amazon

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

Taste:.................Medicinal and Minty

Effect:................Not long lasting

Stick:.................Hard and hard to spread

Sunblock:..............SPF 15

Cost:..................1.17 per stick (note when I bought it on sale for 60 cents per stick)

Ingredients:...........Active Ingredients: Dimethicone (1%), Octinoxate (7.5%), Octisalate (5%). Inactive Ingredients:..Fragrance, Lanolin, Menthol, Mineral Oil, Ozokerite, Petrolatum.

________________________________________________________

   

If I had to pick a winner in this comparison it would Burt's Bees Mango Butter.  It is all natural, great flavor, and it works well as a long lasting lip moisturizer.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review

Yubi Power® YP840A 8400mAh External Battery Charger Tested with Nexus 7 Tab, Galaxy Nexus Phone, Galaxy 7.7 Tab and Sansa Clip+ MP3

In the last 6 months I have tested 6 different power banks using the same set of tests so I can compare them to each other. Yubi Power® YP840A performed better than any of the power banks I tested so far. The best performance before Yubi YP840A was PowerGen PGMPP12000, which charged my Android phone 5% in 10 minutes. As you will see in the table below Yubi did better.



Description of my tests:

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

I test each devices by charging each unit for 10 minutes and noting how the charge % change.



I use Battery App by Elvison to determine how each device recognized the charging source. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.



Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone

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

Port1______Yubi cable________AC source_____7% charge in 10 minutes

Port2______Yubi cable________AC source_____8% charge in 10 minutes



Nexus 7 Tablet

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

Port1______Yubi cable________AC source_____4% charge in 10 minutes

Port2______Yubi cable________AC source_____3% charge in 10 minutes



Nexus 7 Tablet and Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone at the same time

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

Port1______Yubi cable________AC source_____7% charge in 10 minutes (phone)

Port2______Yubi cable________AC source_____3% charge in 10 minutes (tablet)



Port1______Yubi cable________AC source_____4% charge in 10 minutes (tablet)

Port2______Yubi cable________AC source_____8% charge in 10 minutes (phone)



Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7

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

Port1______Yubi cable________AC source_____3% charge in 10 minutes

Port2______Yubi cable________AC source_____3% charge in 10 minutes



Port1______Samsung cable_____discharging___0% charge in 10 minutes

Port2______Samsung cable_____discharging___0% charge in 10 minutes



Disconnected__________________discharging___2% discharge in 10 minutes



SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player

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

Port1 - worked

Port2 - worked



The MP3 player recognized the charger on both outlet, however it behaved differently than charging from the charger it came with the player itself. When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger, the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon. When it was plugged into the PowerGen external battery it continued to play the content. I listen to books on my MP3 player so this caused me to move forward in my book and I had to manually reset my position by a few chapters to get back to where I was when I started charging. The positive side of this, is that is possible to continue listening while MP3 is recharging. This is very handy for Sansa MP3 player since it has built-in battery that cannot be swapped for a charged one. I used to have to stop listening to have it recharged and now I can continue to listen while it re-charges. I was very happy to have this feature during hurricane Sandy when I lost power and my books on MP3 player were my only source of entertainment.

 



Notes:

1. The manufacture is offering a free connector tip for Samsung Galaxy Tablets. This connector is not available as part of the standard package, but is made available to Galaxy owners free of charge per request (documentation includes a note about a free P1000 connector for Galaxy). I tested my Galaxy 7.7 Tab with this connector and it worked very well. With my Samsung charging cable the unit was only able to slow down discharging, not recharge. The retail package includes a 30 pin Apple connector which looks very similar to P1000 Galaxy connector but does not fit the Galaxy port. I am attaching a collage of several photos. Photo #2 and Photo#3 show these two connectors next to each and show the subtle difference between the two.



2. After using the micro adapter tip successfully on 7 tests (total of 70 minutes of use) the micro adapter tip stopped working. I isolated the problem to the tip by tested the cable with another micro adapter tip (that combination worked) and then this tip with another working cable (that combination did not work). I contacted the manufactor to find if there is a policy for handling bad adaptors and he said that customers who encountered this problem should contact the manufacture for a free replacement. The product comes with 1 year warranty. Another option is to replace the multi part charging cable with a single piece generic charging cable.



Difference between a power cable and a data cable:

Charging cables short the two data connections together (rendering them useless for data transfer), but this fools devices to see them as an AC power connection, and thus accept the higher current of the charging source. Both my generic cable and PowerGen cables used in my tests are charging cables.



3. The unit is nice looking black brick, its size is 4" x 2.5" x 3/4". Its weight is 7.3 oz.



4. The box contains 4 adaptor tips: micro USB, mini USB, Nokia 2mm round, and 30pin Apple. 30 pin Galaxy adaptor as avaible free upon request. The box also contains one 7" USB cord. You can see the entire content of the package in Photo #1.



5. Yubi power bank has two USB ports. They are not labelled. Documentation states that you can change devices requiring 2.1A and 1A from both outputs. Both ports behaved the same in my tests.



6. Some power banks included LED flash light as part of the unit. Yubi YP840A does NOT.



7. The blue lights on top of the battery pack indicate the level of power in the battery: 3 lights indicate full charge, 2 lights indicate 2/3 of full power and so forth. To turn on the device you need to press the button on top of the unit. The device can be turned off by pressing the button on the top of the unit again.



8. The Warranty period for Yubi YP840A is 1 year (as stated in Amazon product description). The manual I received stated that the warranty period is 6 months. I contacted the manufacture to clarify which number is valid, and I was told that 1 year is correct and the newer versions of the manual will have this information corrected.



Yubi YP840A showed the fastest re-charging of all the power bank I have tested to date. But the adapter tip died prematurely. I debated whether I should deduct a star for this defect. All power banks use these tips so they can work with multiple devices. The adapter tips are the weak points of this design and I think failures will happen in some random number of devices. I decided that based on 1 year free warranty replacement policy, the overall excellent performance of the unit, and availability of the Galaxy adapter tip (which none of the other power banks I tested offered) this unit deserves a 5 star rating.



I received a sample unit for testing and writing an unbiased and honest review. I described the positives and negatives of my experience with the unit. If you have questions about my tests or features I have not addressed, I am happy to answer comments.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review

E-Z Ancor Tap-N-Lock Utility Hooks

I picked up a set of Tab-N-Lock ancors for hollow walls at a local store. The pictures shows that 3/4 of an inch of the green plastic will fold and will form a fairly long anchor compared to the other models of anchors I have tried. That sounded like a good idea,



Before starting the job I checked for studs. The area I needed to put the hook in did not have a stud. The instructions said to just tap in the green ancor without pre-drilling. I made a small pilot hole just so the anchor went in exactly where I wanted. Then I began tapping in the anchor. The ancor went in about half way but as the ancor got thicker and had more resistance from the wall it would not budge. I pounded it harder and was able to get in more but the thick head of the anchor  just would not go in. I attempted to remove the anchor first my hand, then with pliers. At which point the head of the anchor broke off, leaving a couple of mi-limiters of green plastic sticking out of the wall, and chucks of the anchor head in my hand (those chucks are included in the photo). Then I had to spend a lot of time sanding the plastic and re-speckling the wall. I tried again in a new spot with similar results - the thick part of the anchor is just no strong enough to go through plaster. At least the second time I was able to pull out the ancor without leaving plastic in the wall. After another re-speckling session, I went back to the standard anchors and the job was completed quickly.



These anchors sounded like a good approach unfortunately in practice they do not work.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★☆☆☆☆

2013 Daily Planner / Organizer from Tools4Wisdom

I am a list person. Each day I keep a list of tasks I need to accomplish that day, crossing out the ones I have completed and adding new ones through out the day. When this planner arrived in the mail I had a list of 17 tasks on a sheet of paper. Even though I work with computers every day and love my tablet, I prefer paper-based lists. It seems that I remember things better when I write them down, and there is serious satisfaction in crossing things out from the list when the task is done!



When the Daily Planner arrived in the mail I transferred my 17 tasks to the daily planner and lived with it for several days before writing this review so I can fully evaluate how it is working for me.



The Daily Planner is 8.6" by 11" spiral bound notebook. It is made out of high quality matte paper that is easy to write on. Its weight is 1 pound 5.4 oz on my digital scale. I am attaching a collage of 2 photos. You can see the organizer on the postal scale in photo #2.

The minder has several sections:

(1) A monthly section shows one month at a glance. The days are labelled with a day of the week but no Month or Date labels, which allows you to use it for any year or month you want after you add labels yourself into the provided spaces.

Each month fits on one side of the organizer, so you can see two months if the organizer opened (i.e. not folded in half). There are 12 pages that show the monthly layout.

(2) Monthly goals and ideas section allows you to identify top goals for the month. It also has a section to write down steps to accomplish these goals. Each month goals/steps take 2 pages. This section follows the 12 month layout pages, and there are total of 24 pages for goals/steps.

(3) Daily planner section follows the monthly section. The daily planner pages take 3/4 of the book, as obviously you will be using them up faster than the other pages. This section allows you to break down your daily tasks in to three sections: top priority, important but not urgent, and not important and not urgent. It also helps you to determine the top goal for the day and specific steps to accomplish it. This section takes the top half of each page. The second half of the page contains continuous improvement questions, e.g. "what will I do to improve my mental focus?" At the bottom of the page there is an hourly chart, spanning from 9 am to 7 pm where you can mark things that have to happen at a certain time.



After living with the daily planner for a number of days here are my observations



I LIKED:



1. I loved how the daily planner forced me to sort my daily tasks into three priorities. This is my favorite feature of the book as it helps me organize thoughts and priorities about the tasks for the day.

2. I liked the time line at the bottom of the daily page, as I could see my entire day schedule quickly

3. I liked the spiral binding of the book, it stays open on the day you want and it is easy to flip back and look at the previous days. It is easy to lose loose paper pages, the daily minder keeps them all together.

4. I liked that I can tear out pages without damaging the construction of the minder.

5. I liked how the goals of the month lead you into dividing your project into smaller steps, making the task less daunting.



I DID NOT LIKE:



1. I wish my favorite section - the three columns of the daily tasks - was longer. When I transferred my 17 tasks to the daily planner I had hard time fitting them all in. The three columns currently have 8 lines each. Each column is 1/3 of the page, so some task descriptions I had took more than one line (sometimes I had a phone number associated with a task or some additional info that did not lend well to abbreviation). On the other hand the continuous improvement questions section was not that important to me, so I would have been okay giving it up to have a larger area for tasks.



MY ADDITION:



1. I tied a ribbon to the back of the spiral of the organizer. This gave me a bookmark that I keep on the current day so it is easy for me to open the minder to the right page. (See photo #2 which can be found by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo)



I received a copy of this minder from Tools4Wisdom for the purpose of evaluation and an honest review.

As a person who likes making (and completing!) lists I enjoy working with this minder. There are a few things that could have made it fit how I work better (e.g. allow for longer tasks lists) and I wrote my suggestions to the manufacture who was very receptive to new ideas, clearly they care about their products and customers. I recommend this organizer!



You can find 'Daily planner' on Amazon by following this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆