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 ★★★★☆

HP launches rugged Chromebook 11 G4 Education Edition laptop from $199

Something of a curiosity when they launched, Chromebooks have eventually settled in as the leading computer for schools, recently outpacing Apple and Microsoft's efforts to keep the market under wraps. HP is tapping into that trend with its latest laptop running Google's Chrome OS, which is designed to deal with the rough-and-tumble conditions of the classroom.

Dubbed the Chromebook 11 G4 Education Edition, the notebook is most notable for its fully rugged construction, meeting the MIL-STD testing standards for durability. For instance, it can withstand drops of 70 centimeters (or roughly 28 inches), according to the company, thanks to co-molded rubber edges. It also features a spill-resistant keyboard to deal with clumsy children with drinks nearby.

Underneath the "bubble wrap" protecting it from schoolkids' not-so-gentle handling, the G4 Education Edition shares the basic spec philosophy of other Chromebooks: not much for not much money. According to SlashGear, you get an Intel Celeron N2840 processor, and it can be outfitted with up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage. The 11.6-inch display has a resolution of 1,366x768 and includes a 180-degree hinge that allows the screen to lay flat for easier collaboration between students.

HP says the G4 Education Edition will be available starting this month at a typical school-budget-friendly Chromebook starting price of $199, but it doesn't yet appear on the company's website.

Product review: Vinsic 20000mAh Smart Dual USB Port Slim Power Bank, External Battery Charger

When I shop for external batteries I always seek out those that have smart charging chip. This means it can charger any device at its optimal charge - Apple devices require 2A, most Android devices require 1A (note that the new Nexus phones do rapid charging at 2.4A when the phone battery is low).



To test if in fact this claim is supported I used a current meter and a resistor with 2A and 1A settings. As advertised both ports were able to deliver the rate advertised by the resister. 0.96A/5.13V delivered with 1A resistor, and 1.85A/5.06V delivered on 2A resistor (it is normal to see some loss due to inefficiencies such as heat loss). Attached are images showing the tests.



The battery has a large capacity (20,000mAh) and is fairly large: 6 3/8" x 3 1/4" x 1". It weighs 1 pound and 0.3 oz. It has two ports. Another feature I like is the digital display showing how much capacity the battery has remaining. The display comes on automatically when I charge, or I can see it at any time by pressing an icon next the display. This is external battery does not allow charge through (i.e. it cannot charge while being charged). I have been using this battery for just over 2 weeks as I write this review. It holds the charge quite well (very little loss when disconnected) and the rating to appears to be accurate.



I received this power bank for evaluation and review. It is a good one!



YOu can find "Vinsic 20000mAh Power Bank" on Amazon by following 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: Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector

If you are looking for a product to remove dark spot (sun spots) this product does not help. It is pleasant in texture and odor free. It is absorbed well and does not leave the skin shiny as some other preparations. The skin is left softer after the application. However, it has no effect on dark spots. After using the serum for several months I saw a dermatologist and asked her if there is any chance that this serum will work. She said no. She said freezing the skin where the spots are however is very effective. I went ahead and did it. Several weeks later my spots were totally gone, there is not even a faint mark where they were. It cost me $25 per spot (insurance does not cover it since it is cosmetic). For a week it looked like I had a couple of pimples until the skin totally healed. If any spots appear again I would do the freezing again. I can't tell where the old spots used to be.



You can find "Clinique Dark Spot Corrector" on Amazon





AshopZones review ★☆☆☆☆

Product review: 5ive® Dual Quick Charge 2.0 USB 36W 2 Ports Car Charger Adapter - in use with Nexus 6p

My review is for 5ive car charger in use with Type C to USB charging cable and Nexus 6p smartphone. 5ive charger forms a nice tight fit with car charger, it does not gets dislodged on bumpy roads.



Nexus 6p uses rapid charging when the battery is low. I used Nexus 6p with the battery level of 18% to do the tests of both ports. The phone showed that it was using rapid charging and drawing 2620 mA on one port and 2630 mA on another port. In the span of 5 minutes the phone got charged from 18% to 26%.



During a 30 minutes drive while Nexus 6p was used for navigation the battery level went up by 23% percent (from 28% to 51%). A dash cam was plugged into the second port of the charger. Excellent results!



I received this charger from 5ive for testing and review. Bottom line: excellent performance on both ports.



You can find "5ive Dual Quick Charger" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★



About the cable I am using:



I am using one of those type-C cables that are not USB 3.1 compliant. What is non-compliant cable? Benson Leung has a series of excellent reviews of Type C cables. Benson works for Google's Pixel group and has pointed out that many type-C cables 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. These cables may not safe to use with all devices (such as the Chromebook Pixel and the Apple Macbook that draw more current than a phone). However with a quality charger that is rated for higher current like 5ive car charger and Nexus 6p (which does not draw more than 3A of current) these non-compliant cables will charge faster than a USB 3.1 compliant cable. I don't want to say that it's safe for all combinations of devices, but I have been using them with quality chargers with Nexus 6p on regular basis because both the charger and the phone are self-limiting.

Product review: Z-Edge Car DVR Dash Cam

Through the years we owned a few dash cams which gives me a chance to compare Zedge with other car dvrs. Zedge video quality is pretty decent, the colors seem to be a little washed out, but the clarity is good during the day and during the night. The suction cup worked well even on very cold days (it never let go and fell off). The user interface however was not as intuitive as other dash cams. It has a menu driven interface which I like, but the navigation though the menus were not as intuitive or easy to remember.



' This camera comes with a 32G Class 10 micro sd card, and will work with 64g gig card.



' I had no technical issues of any kind. All files were readable. The camera writes out video frequently, by default it saves a file every 1 minute. The size of each segment in my video was about 125.9MB. Writing small files improves overall reliability. It is much better than writing one large file at the end of the trip.



' The dash cam uses stands micro USB cables, the package includes a charging cable and a cable with car port charger.



' Audio is recorded clearly, the default setting is to record with the microphone turned on. It can be turned off with one button push on the side.



' Motion activation mode/parking mode is very sensitive. I hear the camera turning on and off without any particular reason. I am not sure what is activating it. As a result there is a lot of uninteresting files saved in 'event' mode. On the positive side it records even with the car not running.



Overall, I thought this dash cam falls in the middle of the pack. The video is reasonable although not the best, user interface is menu driven and logical but navigation through menus is not as simple as other dash cams.



I received this camera for testing and review. Getting a free unit does not effect what I say. The review is based purely how the dash cam worked in my experience based on my experience with a variety of different car dash cams. So far after two weeks of use the dash cam had no issues. I will post an update if it dies prematurely as I saw some people reported problems after more extended use than the 2 weeks I had with it so far.



You can find Z-Edge dash cam by following this link to Amazon.



AshopZones review ★★★★☆