Fiskars 7972 15-Inch PowerGear Anvil Lopper

I needed a pruner to fight bittersweet vine. Due to several back surgeries I don't have a lot of strength in my hands, so I was looking for a pruner that was light and easy to use. I got this 15" Fiskars pruner this weekend in local home improvement store and spent several hours cutting my pesky vines. The pruner worked great! It cut every vine I found and it was easy!



The pruner weights 13 ounces, and has a PowerGear design that really helps amplify the strength needed to do the cutting. I am attaching a collage of 5 photos (you can find the photos by following 'customers photo' link under the main photo). The photos show the pruner and some of the vines I cut and took home to measure.



Photo #1 and photo #2 show the pruner opened and closed. Photo #3 and Photo #4 show one of the bigger vines I have cut: 3 inches in circumference and a bit over 7/8 inches in diameter. Photo #5 shows the vine that was snaking up one of my big fur trees.



Overall, I am very pleased. This pruner was easy to use and did a good job!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Gurin Renewable Wireless Mini Dehumidifier

This dehumidifier is 6" by 4.5" by 1.5". Crystallized silica gel inside of the case absorbs moisture in the air (documentation says it can absorb 8-10 ounces of moisture). The window on the front of the unit show moisture indicator crystals that change color from dark blue (when dry) to pink (when wet). When the crystals indicate that the content is wet the unit needs to be plugged in for 12-14 hours to dry out the gel.



The unit is designed to work in small enclosed areas. I keep some paperwork in the basement and want to prevent it from smelling musty. I put the Gurin dehumidifier into the enclosed box with my paperwork and left it there for 1 month. I took pictures of the indicator after this 1 month test and after I dried them out again.



The first photo shows the unit from the side. It comes with a hanger which is handy to finding a good way to place the unit. I used it to hang the unit inside of the box from one of the sides.



The second photo shows the power outlet which is used when you need to dry out the silica gel. After 1 month test I kept the unit plugged in for close to 20 hours as crystals continued to get darker after 14 hours recommended in the manual.



Photo #3 shows the "dry" crystals after they were dried out. Photo #4 shows the "wet" crystals after 1 month in the basement. Under the bright lights I was able to tell a subtle difference between purple and dark blue. The top of the unit contains a color chart that shows blue for dry, purple for medium, and pink for wet. After one month the color was somewhere between the blue shade and the purple shade shown on the chart.



Having a small unit preserving valuable papers is very useful. I believe the unit did absorb the moisture in the box. The indicator is a bit hard to read, but at least this test told me that I don't need to recharge (i.e. dry out) the silica every month.



I received this dehumidifier from the manufacture for an honest and unbiased review. Note that the manufacture provides a 5 year limited warranty for this product.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

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

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



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

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



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.



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

TEST#1 (single USB 2.0 stick)

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



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)



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

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

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



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

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



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

TEST#3 (single USB 1.0 stick)

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

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)



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

TEST SET#2 (two USB 2.0 stick)

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



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

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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 ★★★☆☆