Gurin Professional Rechargeable Oral Irrigator with High Capacity Water Tank

I started using Gurin rechargeable oral irrigator on March 15, slight over 1 months ago. I wanted to test how long the irrigator will work on one charge, I have been using it once a day and it is still going (I will update this review when it runs out of charge). Yesterday, I had my 6 months dental cleaning. The hygienist got done with me faster than normal and complimented me on doing a good job cleaning. I asked her opinion of oral irrigators and said she told me they are helpful especially in the hard to reach areas in the back of the teeth.



This is my first irrigator (I received a unit for evaluation) and it took me several tries to master using it. The things that are obvious to those who used this hygiene tool before were something that a new user needs to discover by trial and error. To use it properly you need to keep your lips tightly closed, and move the wand inside the mouth. The water from the irrigator will fill you mouth, so you will need to spit it out. This means you need to be able to stop the irrigator multiple times during the cleaning session. In order to avoid spraying the walls of your bathroom (been there done that!), keep the finger on the on/off button and use it before opening your lips. I typically do 1/2 of each side (e.g. button left) before stopping to spit out the water.



The first few days I used it I was not sure I would stick with it past the evaluation period. By the third day of use, I loved it! I definitely feel I get a better cleaned mouth especially on the inside of the back teeth. I can usually complete cleaning the entire mouth one full fill of the reservoir. Occasionally, I need to refill but that does not happen every time. The strength of the stream is the same until it is totally empty. My favorite setting is light pulse.



I am attaching a couple of photos. The irrigator is shown on 1" gridded mat for size reference. The bottle is 7.5" tall, The nozzle is 3" long. The bottle is ergonomically shaped and is easy to hold. The empty irrigator weight 8.9oz. When it is full with water it weighs 13.7 oz. The buttons that select the setting and turn the unit on/off are on the back of the unit, right at the grip area.



I like

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The fact this unit is rechargeable, does not need a cord. So far it exceeded my expectations of how long I can use it without needing to recharge the unit.



The unit is rather compact, and does not take much room on my vanity top.



I feel I am getting a better cleaning. The comments by the hygienist was a nice confirmation.



The unit came with two color-coded heads, each one can be used by different people.



I dislike

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Nothing so far.



If this is your first experience with an oral irrigator give it a few days before you decide if you like it. It did take me a few days to learn to use it in a way that felt good.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★



Update 5/22/2013 - The irrigator ran out of its first charge half way through the application this evening. My first use of the irrigator was on March 15, so the first charge lasted slightly over 2 months.

I'll update this review so there is a record of how long the second charge cycle lasts.

Light Duty Hand Sprayer/Mister - .5 gl

I have a rock garden which I try to keep free of grass. On occasions when the grass breaks through the garden fabric, I use Weed-B-Gon spray to treat these small areas. The sprayer on Weed-B-Gon container takes quite a bit of squeezing to cover even a small area, and over the last summer it stopped working altogether - it just foams and spits out a bit of liquid. I still had quite a bit of solution left, so I went to a local home improvement store looking for a solution without knowing exactly what I was looking for. When I saw this air bump sprayer I thought it was worth a try.



I just completed my first application and I could not believe how well it worked. After just a few pumps the sprayer emitted a nice even spray with just a finger touch. I did not need to squeeze and pump and I was done with my application within a couple of minutes. The sprayer can be adjusted from a stream to a spray, and could reach an area several feet away easily.



I can't be more pleased! This sprayer will save me quite a bit of time and effort.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Bolse® 7-Port USB 3.0 HUB USB 3.0 Cable (VIA VL812 Chipset), Compatible with USB 2.0

The Bolse USB hub is 5" x 2.75" x 1". It has 7 USB slots are located on the front panel of the unit. The back panel take the power code and USB plug that plugs into your computer. The top contains a light for each USB slots, and lights up when something is plugged in. The USB cord is 39". Its power cord cord is 45" long. The USB unit weighs 5.1 oz, the unit with the power plug and 2 cords weigh 11.6 oz.



The documentation states that this hub USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. I tested with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, and it is backwards compatible with both.



I tested the hub on Windows XP, Windows 7, and Linux. Each operating system I tested saw the memory stick plugged into the hub without problems.



To evaluate each port I tested each port by copying a large set of mp3 files totalling 638916 Megabytes. I measured CPU time and clock time. I wanted to test that all ports worked, I wanted to test if there was a significant difference in performance between ports, and I wanted to see if copying to multiple memory sticks at the same time would slow down the copying.



✔ First, I tested each port using 2.0 USB memory stick. I ran each test twice and the tables below show the average of two results for each port. I ran a total of 14 tests in this part of the test. All ports worked with a normal small variations in performances. The results of these are presented in the tables below.



✔ Second, I tested copying files onto two 2.0 USB memory sticks at the same time, to see of the copying slows down compared to working with one stick at a time. I ran 2 tests with 2 sticks at the same time, and the results below show the average of the two tests. The performance was slightly slower compared to test 1 (this is normal and expected).



✔ Third, I used USB 1.0 memory stick for comparison in speed and to verify that 1.0 USB memory stick works.



✔ Finally, For comparison I plugged the same memory sticks directly into the computer without the USB hub.



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TEST#1 (single USB 2.0 stick)

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Port1:_______0.551s (cpu) 1:19.06 (clock time)

Port2:_______0.544s (cpu) 1:19.12 (clock time)

Port3:_______0.542s (cpu) 1:15.96 (clock time)

Port4:_______0.890s (cpu) 1:23.06 (clock time)

Port5:_______0.408s (cpu) 1:18.72 (clock time)

Port6:_______0.547s (cpu) 1:18.77 (clock time)

Port7:_______0.536s (cpu) 1:19.41 (clock time)



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TEST#2 (two USB 2.0 sticks at the same time)

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Memory stick #1: 0.926s (cpu time) 2:02.37 (clock time)

Memory stick #2: 0.826s(cpu time) 2:02.21 (clock time)



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TEST#3 (single USB 1.0 stick)

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Port5:_______1.184s(cpu) 5:05.11 (clock time)



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

TEST#4 (single USB 2.0 stick plugged directly into the computer)

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

CPU time: 0.851s

Clock time: 1:54.24



I am attaching a collage of 2 photos of this unit.  The first photo shows the front of the USB unit during

2 memory stick test. The second photo shows the back of the unit.



I was provided a sample for evaluation and I ran it through 19 tests in order to provide unbiased and honest review. The unit performed well and met my expectations for a 5 star rating.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review : HooToo® HT-CR002 External USB 3.0 Multi-in-One Card Reader (4 Memory slots)

HT-CR002 Multi-in-One Card Reader combines three USB slots and four memory card readers. The unit itself is fairly small 3.25" x 2.5" x 0.25". It needs to be plugged into AC power as well as USB slot on the computer. USB cord is 32" long. The power cord is 58". The card reader weighs 2 oz, the cords are 5 oz (most of the weight is in the power plug).



I tested the card reader on Windows XP, Windows 7, and Linux. I tested with USB 2.0 memory stick, USB 1.0 memory stick, 133x CompactFlash memory card, microSDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card, and Class 10 SD card. The only slot I was not able to test is Sony's MS memory stick as I don't have any devices that use it.



Each operating system I tested saw USB memory sticks and cards plugged into all slot in the card read without problems. USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. I tested with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, and it is backwards compatible with both.



To evaluate the card reader I tested each port by copying a large set of mp3 files totalling 638916 Megabytes. I measured CPU time and clock time. I wanted to test that all ports and slots worked and measure their performance. To test various USB devices I run the same set of tests so I can compare them to each other in "apples to apples" comparison. If some unit does not perform well I notice it by comparing it to the other devices I have tested. I ran a total of 18 tests and the results of these tests are presented in the tables below.



✔ First, I tested each of the three USB ports and three of the memory cards. I ran each test twice and the tables below show the average of two results for each port.



✔ Second, I tested copying files onto two 2.0 USB memory sticks at the same time.



✔ Third, I used USB 1.0 memory stick for comparison in speed and to verify that 1.0 USB memory stick works.



✔ Finally, For comparison I plugged the same memory sticks directly into the computer without the card reader.



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

TEST SET#1 (single USB 2.0 stick)

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



Port1:_______1.060s (cpu) 1:23.83 (clock time)

Port2:_______0.584s (cpu) 1:15.84 (clock time)

Port3:_______0.559s (cpu) 1:15.30 (clock time)



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TEST SET#2 (two USB 2.0 stick)

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Port1:_______0.883s (cpu) 0:57.01 (clock time)

Port2:_______0.566s (cpu) 1:24.53 (clock time)



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

TEST SET#3 (memory card slots)

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



CF card:___________1.234s (cpu) 1:27.81 (clock time)

Micro SD card:_____1.523s (cpu) 1:09.36 (clock time)

SD card:___________1.241s (cpu) 1:46.49 (clock time)



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

TEST#4 (single USB 2.0 stick plugged directly into the computer)

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

CPU time: 0.851s

Clock time: 1:54.24



I received this card reader for testing and review from the manufacture. I ran a large number of tests on this unit to provide an unbiased performance evaluation. Overall, the card reader performed well and based on these tests earned a 5 star rating. I particularly like that it has microSD port that I can use without an SD card sleeve.



I am attaching a photo of the unit that shows everything that came in the package including the card reader in a position where you can see all of its slots. The photo can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Gurin Electric Compact Dehumidifier

Add caption

Gurin Dehumidifier is 9" tall and 5.75" wide at the base. Its best feature is that it very quiet because it does not have a compressor, the worst feature is that it is not very effective in removing humidity. Both are not surprising and stem from the technology used in this unit. More on the technology itself at the end of the review, but first a few examples of what I observed in my use of this unit.



1. I originally hoped to use it in the bathroom while it is used for showers to keep the air dry, and to prevent fogging of mirrors. For several day, I turned on the unit each time the shower was taken, and turned off the unit when the shower was over. In that use the humidifier tank remained empty. Thinking back to how the Peltier method works as well to our Koolatron cooler (which also uses Peltier technology) I realized that short periods of usage do not work because the unit requires some time before it becomes effective. When we go on summer trips we pre-cool the cooler in the house for it to work well during the trips.



2. Then I took the dehumidifier to the basement, where we have a standard 50 Pint dehumidifier which fills its entire bucket in several days. I turned off the large dehumidifier, and left Gurin Dehumidifier there for 24 hours. After 24 hours the reservoir of the unit had 1 oz of water. I am attaching a photo of how much water it collected. After 24 hour of use the big electric plug of the unit got rather warm to touch, so I suspect it uses a significant amount of electricity.



Gurin dehumidifier is quiet and light because it uses thermoelectric method called Peltier. This method is most commonly used in cooling. In 1834 Jean Peltier noticed that when electrical current is applied to the junction of two different metals the heat is removed from one of the metals and transferred to the other. This is the main principal of thermoelectric cooling (and known as Peltier effect). The dehumidifier has cooling unit which is constructed from tiny metal cubes made from different metals. As electricity passes through the junctions between the cubes the heat is transferred and a fan vents the heat outside, a small amount of moisture is removed from the air in this process and condensed and this is the water we see in the reservoir of the unit.



So for this unit to work, it has to be turn on continuously, and it removes a fairly small amount of moisture from the air. It is very quiet, and if you need to remove only a small amount of humidity it will do an ok job.



I was provided this unit for a review and honest evaluation.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

NEEWER LED Macro Ring Light 48 X LED with 6 Adapter Rings for For Canon/Sony/Nikon/Sigma Lenses

NEEWER LED Macro Ring Light is not as good as I hoped, but good enough to be useful in some situations. I am including a collage of 6 photos to illustrate my review.



The ring light came with 6 adapters (49mm/52mm/55mm/58mm/62mm/67mm), which fit both of the cameras I use. The adapters work similar to Cokin filters where you attach a metal ring of the adapter to the lens of the camera, and then slide the light ring into the adapter.



I selected this particular light ring because it could run on DC power as well a battery pack. The power pack is mounted in the hot shoe but the mount is used purely to hold the batteries in place on the camera. The ring does not communicate with the camera, once you turn on the light it is permanently turned on. The power unit is 3.75" tall and 1.5" x 1.5". It weight 4.2 oz with the batteries installed, and 8.7 oz together with the right light itself.



I hoped I would be able to hook up DC power to the ring without going through the hot shoe mounted battery back because my SONY NEX5 does not have a standard hot shoe mount. However, even without the batteries you need to use the power unit. Luckily the power unit has a 17" power cord so for the table top photography I can leave the power adapter laying on the table, and when shooting outdoors I can stick it into a pocket (I just need to remember to wear a shirt or vest with a pocket at the chest level). I like this approach better than using the cumbersome hot shoe adapter for SONY cameras.



As I mentioned earlier the unit provides continuous lighting (not flashing). There are a total of 48 LED lights and three settings: all lights on, left half of the ring is on, and the right side of the ring is on.



To demonstrate how the light ring works I am using a 17 inch power strip (this is a boring subject for sure but the length of the strip shows the light distribution very well).



There are two sets of photos, four are taken with the light 2 feet away from the object. Another two are taken with the light 6 inches away from the object. The photos are not edited in any way, just shrunk and stitched together. I took all pictures with a wide angle lens (18mm) so you can see the light ring in the shot - this makes it easier to see which lights of the ring were turned on, and also shows what you get if you use a wide angle lens. The photos were taken with the ring light being the only light source.



Photo #1 shows show the strip at 2 feet with the full ring of lights.

Photo #2 same lighting and distance but above the power strip rather than to the side.

Photo #3 shows strip at 2 feet with half the lights on, on the right side of the ring.

Photo #4 shows strip at 2 feet with half the lights on, on the left side of the ring.

Photo #5 shows the strip from 6 inches from above

Photo #6 shows the strip from 6 inches from the side



For photos take from 6 inches the ring produced pretty good results, however photos with the subject 2 feet away were not good. I hoped to be able to use the ring light at 2 feet, but the it did not produce sufficient amount of light for use at that distance. It does reduce shadows at the 2 feet distance when used in combination with another light source.



The bottom line, I found good uses for this ring light, but it did not totally live up to my high hopes.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Transcend 8 GB microSDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card

Transcend 8GB card and the sleeve worked well. I used the card for a video camera and it worked well. The card in the sleeve was recognized in my PC without problems.



To test the speed of the card I tested Transcend 8 GB microSDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card by copying a large set of mp3 files totalling 638916 Megabytes. I measured CPU time and clock time. For comparison I including numbers for copying the same set of files from and to hard disk of my computer, and to USB2 memory stick.



I ran each test twice, and the numbers you see is the average of the two tests.



✔ Transcent microSDHC : 1.482s (CPU time), 1:33.97 (clock time)



✔ USB2: 1.358s (CPU time), 1:23.53 (clock time)



✔ Hard Drive: 0.573s (CPU time), 0:00.58 (clock time)



Good price, card works well, I would buy it again.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★