Product review: AVANTEK In-Car Universal Wireless FM Transmitter Radio Adapter Car Kit

I have been using FM transmitters in my car for many years as I like listening to audio books in my car. I have used several FM transmitters in the past and this one falls in the middle of the pack.



First thing you need to know that this transmitter is not bluetooth enabled. You can use either with an audio cable to connect to the phone or MP3 player or by streaming audio from a USB memory stick. So this transmitter is ideal for MP3 players that are not bluetooth enabled and my favorite method USB stick, but I don't see it being particularly useful with a phone that is bluetooth enabled.



As you see in the video it works the memory stick well. The sound is as good as your car speakers, of course. The main job of the transmitter is to stay in contact with an empty FM station for a clear sound, and this transmitter allows you to select any station you want - no limited number of pre-sets as some of the other FM transmitters I encountered.



To find vacant FM stations in my area I used a web site "radio-locator (dot) com/cgi-bin/vacant" where you can enter your zip code and get a list of stations to try.



Once the station is selected Aventek remembers it even when I unplug the transmitter and then plug it back in.



Since I listen to audio book having a bookmark capability (i.e. ability to return to exactly where I left of last time) is key. My favorite FM transmitter by Satechi has a bookmark capability, Aventek does not. This feature is most useful to audio book listening, for music it is not all that significant.



Aventek fits my cigarette firmly. It does not move even when I go over bumps. However its neck is pretty short and it is a little awkward to reach in my car as the car port is very close to the floor. Satechi has a remote control so I don't have to bend down and touch the unit, Aventek does not have a remote.



At the time I am writing this review Satechi transmitter is twice as expensive as the Aventek. So for the music lover who does not need bluetooth the feature difference is not significant, if you need bluetooth or you listen to audio books that the bookmarking feature might be worth the extra money.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Gembonics Portable Charger 6000mAh - External Battery Power Bank

This is a very compact external battery for its size. It has one port and based on my current monitor readings it is a 1 Amp port. My Android phone draw a current somewhat below average, and iPad Mini draws a current typical for 1 Amp port (which is below optimal for Apple devices that need a 2A port to charge at the optimal rate). For those who are interested attached images captures the results of each test.



The size of the battery is 3 7/8" x 1 7/8" x 7/8" and it weighs 4.9 oz.



My favorite use for it is with my MP3 player that has a built-in battery which no longer holds a charge well. I keep always plugged into the external pack, this way I never need to worry about the battery running out.



This battery really has the best size to capacity ration among all external packs I own.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Dbmier A4 LED Ultra-Thin Light Tracer

I have been using Artograph light tracer for years for doing quilting and embroidery design transfers. Dbmier light trace is similar but much thinner, so it is a lot easier to use because my hand is in a much more comfortable position. Dbmier thickness is exactly the same as the thickness of the pencil (about 1/4").



The tracer has three modes of brightness. The light is bright without being blinding to look at. The surface of the box does not get hot, so you can work with it for a long time.



Note that the light is not totally even, there are slight variation lighter and darker areas which might be an issue for some application, but works perfectly fine for my purposes.



The size of the lighted service is 12.75" x 9", but it does not limit me to that size artwork. It is easy to transfer larger drawing by doing them in sections. I just shift both the source drawing and the drawing I am making, since it is so easy to see through both of them to re-align them once I moved to the next section.



What could be better?



The left and top of the box have measurements in centimeters. I would have found it helpful to have measurements on all 4 sides to help me align the drawing perfectly plum. I would have liked to see both centimeters and inches not just centimeters.



I am not sure what caused the slight uneven lighting, if it can be made even the lightbox would be usable for other application such as photography.



I have loved using a lightbox for years and the thinnest of this lightbox is a nice improvement over my old lightbox. The old lightbox got demoted to the basement storage!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: ECALOO Kitchen Tool Stainless Steel Shovel-shaped Food Grater

This attractive looking shredder did not work as well as I hoped. First issue I had with it that a short handle made it inconvenient to hold. Its short stature also made it a bit hard to find a dish that would well supporting it to provide stability during shredding. Finally, this shredder has a solid back and metal teeth on the front. This made it harder to work then a traditional thread where shreds can fall through.



I tried zesting an orange, shredding an apple and a cinnamon stick. All were hard to do. I had very little results to show for quite a bit of work. It doesn't work nearly as well as a zesting tool. It produces very fine particles which mostly stick to the tool and it's hard to get them off into the batter. I don't see using this shredder on a regular basis.



I received this shredder with a request for a brutally honest review. And here it is.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★☆☆☆

Pocket Chain Saw Survival Gear Cool Outdoor Camping Tools

This pocket chain saw is a 25" long chain saw blade attached to two nylon handles. The length of the saw with the handles is 40 inches. It comes in a handy pouch which keeps the package neat and compact. It weighs only 4.7 oz on my digital postal scare.



To test the saw I enlisted the help of my husband to do the sawing while I held the end of the branch he was working on in place. The video shows the cutting of 1/2 inch branch. The entire process took slightly over 5 minutes. The attached video includes two short snippets in the beginning and the end of the sawing session.



Observations:

1. The saw worked but required a lot of energy and a good amount of time

2. The blade did not flip while it was in use, no adjustments were required

3. The blade came out pretty clean and no time consuming cleaning was required



The chain saw is most effective for cutting old trees or stumps still standing upright. Limbs on the ground require stepping on the tree limb to give it enough weight to counter the sawing motion. To cut a horizontal branch on a tree it helps to have two people, as the second person can hold the branch steady.



I received this saw from Stunning Gadgets with a request for an honest review, be it good or bad. This is a useful gadget to have in emergency, its small size and light weight are its biggest assets. Putting it to use does require effort and time, which is not unexpected, of course.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

iFlash® Ultra Slim 3200mAh Portable Power Bank Backup External Battery Charger with Embedded Micro-USB and Flashlight

Ultra Slim 3200mAh External Battery Pack looks very slick, it is quite thin. One unique feature of this external power pack is that it has a micro USB cable built into the side of the unit (see attached photo collage). It pops out of the side on a coiled cable, so if your mobile device takes a micro USB connector you don't need to carry any extra cables. This built-in cable delivers very rapid charging (see test results below). The power pack also has a port which allows you to connect other connectors, so it works with devices that have proprietary connectors as well.



I tested Ultra Slim 3200mAh External Battery Pack with Galaxy Nexus Phone (running ICS 4.0.4), Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet (running ICS 4.0.4) and iPad Mini.



I received this power bank from the manufacture for an honest review be it positive or negative. Top reviewers are often asked to review new battery packs and one of the benefits of being asked to test different power banks is that it gives me an opportunity to compare them to each other using the same charging test, so I can compare them using "apples to apples" comparison. This set of tests allows me to provide unbiased results as the numbers speak for the performance of each unit.



I received two identical units black and white, having two of them allows me to test for consistency in manufacturing. Ideally I want to see the same performance numbers for both units, and this was the case with the two Ultra Slim power packs .



My methodology is to charge each mobile device on each port of the unit for 10 minutes and measuring how much each unit was charge in that 10 minute period. In addition I tested charging two mobile devices at the same time. Each line in the table below represents a separate 10 minute test. 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.



➨ General features:

======================



Ultra Slim 3200mAh external battery weighs 3.2 oz. Its size is 2.25" x4.25 " x 0.375". The pack has one USB output port and one built-in micro USB cable.



In addition to the built-in micro USB cable Ultra Slim comes with a charging cable and two tips - micro USB and iPad. It did not have tips for Samsung Galaxy Tab or lightening connector for iPad Mini and I used my own charging cables during the tests. I am attaching a photo of the Ultra Slim 3200mAh during one of the test next to my tablet for size reference. You can find this photo by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo in this listing.



Ultra Slim 3200mAh looks very slick: it is thin, has a nice finish, and in general has a look and shape of a smart phone. It shows the charge level by displaying 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% on panel. When it is charging, however, this indicator gets turned off. But the charging continued even when the lights were off. This is a little different from how other external power pack indicators work (they stay on when you are charging),so I wanted to mention it. In addition to the charging capabilities, Ultra Slim has a built-in flashlight.



➨ Test Results:

======================



✔ Galaxy Nexus Phone

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

White unit: AC ~~~~~ 6% change in charge in 10 minutes (built-in mciro USB charging cable)

Black unit: AC ~~~~~ 6% change in charge in 10 minutes (built-in mciro USB charging cable)



White unit: AC ~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)

Black unit: AC ~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)



✔ Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet

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

White unit: AC ~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)

Black unit: AC ~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)



✔ iPad Mini tablet

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

White unit: AC ~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)

Black unit: AC ~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes (separate charging cable)



➨ Key finding:

======================

✔ This power pack has great performance with built-in micro USB cable.

✔ Using your own charging cables the power pack works with both Galaxy 7.7 Tablet and iPad Mini but performance is on the slow side.

✔ I observed the same performance for both the black and white model, which is good and reflects consistency in the manufacturing process.



I highly recommend this power pack to people who can take advantage of the built-in micro USB cable.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

GreatShield Mariner (IP-68 Certified) 100% Waterproof Protective Pouch Case for 8" tablets (iPad Mini, Galaxy 7.7, and others)

Mariner looks very cool and feels well made. It is very different from several other waterproof cases I own.



When not in use it looks like a neat looking white cylinder. This cylinder turns into a seal for a waterproof bag that is stored within it.



The cylinder lid opens when the connectors on both sides of the cylinder are pushed in at the same time. It is closed by snapping the lid shut. Listen for the click to be sure it closed.



In attached video I show opening the cylinder, inserting each of my two tablets (iPad Mini and Galaxy Tab 7.7) inside of it. The video also shows my water test with iPad mini: putting the case under water and using the iPad Mini while it is wet and inside the pouch. I also show removing the tablet and packing up the case back for storage by rolled it up into the cylinder.



The whole system is very neat and good looking. It worked well both in terms of being waterproof and keeping the ability of using the tablet while it is in the bag. I would rank it above other waterproof bags I have tried.



I received Mariner from the manufacture for testing and sharing my experience be it positive or negative. I am not compensated for this review or have a business relationship with the manufacture. The manufacture does not have any influence over the content of my review. I've done my best to test the product and provide an honest review. I hope the video gives you a good idea of what to expect.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★