Product review: Electric Meat Grinder & Sausage Stuffer by STX INTERNATIONAL

This is my first electric meat grinder and I was not sure what to expect. First, it is reasonably sized for household appliance it is 16" long, 9.5" tall, and 6.25" wide. Second, it works! It grounded 2 pounds of cubed meat in 5 minutes using the low setting. Third, it is loud. It was louder than I expected, if there is anything slightly negative I can say it would be the level of noise. What you see in the attached video is the grinder working on low speed and processing 2 pounds of lamb (clips are from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the 5 minute job). Fourth, the clean up is not bad. I was impressed by how little of the meat was left in the grinder, and washing it with soap and water immediately after the grinding was easy.



Overall, I am quite pleased. Using the grinder did not make much extra time to set up or clean, I was able to use better cuts of meat, and there is less worry about contamination that happens with the store-bought ground meat.



I received a unit to evaluation and testing and request for a video review so potential buyers can see the unit in action. My video includes the assembly steps. The manual skipped one important step about the use of the fasten knob, so I hope this will save someone time. Getting a free unit does not influence what I say, I covered the pluses and minus of my experience.



You can find STX-4000-TB2 Meat Grinder on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Z-Edge Universal 2 in 1 Phone Holder Kit Air Vent/ Windshield Car Mount

This listing includes two different mounts - you get both two different mounts and two phone holders. My favorite of the two mounts is the vent mount. I like using vent mount for the phone when we use it for navigation. It puts the screen in a very convenient location for viewing the map while at the same time it is not obscuring any of the windshield. I also like the phone in that position because it is easier to reach to mount and remove the phone.



Both mounts have the same geometry of phone holder. The jaws of the mount open as wide as 3.5". It fits Nexus 6p phone which is on the large side. The holder holds the phone securely. It is attached to a vent by spring mounted connection. Spring mounted connection is better than the compression mechanism used in other designs of vent mounts because the hold is more secure. The jaws of the holder open from 1.75" to 3.5". The jaws are 2" on the side with the middle section that is open. In some phones it might be possible to position the jaws right in the center of the phone in a way that it does not press on any buttons. On Nexus 6p the jaws have to hold the phone off center to avoid pressing buttons. The depth of the jaws is 1".



The back of the mount has a button that releases the jaws to their maximum length so all I have to do is press them close with the phone between the jaws to mount it. I prefer this method to spring type jaws. This button makes it easy to remove or mount the phone and there is less chance of dropping the phone (which I have done with spring mounted jaws on a number of occasions). In addition this mount has a lock, so you can lock the jaws in place for extra insurance.



When you mount the phone on the vent the phone blocks some of the fresh air from the vent. I like flowing air in my face when I drive, so I prefer mounting the holder on the passenger's side vent. My husband does not like air in his face, so he mounts it on the driver's vent. He like that the vent mounted phone blocks the air from blowing into his face but cools the phone instead.



The package also includes a window mount - the jaws are identical for both mounts, so everything I said about the jaws above applies to both mounts. The mechanism that holds the jaws to the window mount was slightly lose and I had to use a screw driver to tighten it. The vent mount has a different mechanism for attaching the jaws to the mount and can be hand tightened by turning a ring. Being able to hand tighten is a better design.



This vent mount was provided to me by FIGERM for testing and review. I tried to cover all pluses and minuses of this phone mount. If you have questions I have not covered leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it.



You can locate this Z-Edge phone mount by following this link to Amazon.



AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: USB 3.1 Type C to Type A 3.3ft Sync & Charging Cable by Amagoing

My review is for Amagoing Type C to Type A charging cable. I am using this cable with Nexus 6p.



I have been following Benson Leung reviews of Type C cables since November 2015 when I purchased Nexus 6p. Benson 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. Benson works in Chromebook Pixel group and these cables are not safe to use with Pixel.



However, Nexus 6p is self-limiting and does not draw more than 3A of current. In addition many Type A USB chargers are rated at 2.5A and some as high as 3A which are safe to use with this cable. So the "bug" in the non-compliant cables (the bug being that they do not follow the spec) allows me to draw a higher (yet safe) charge for Nexus 6p.



My tests show that this Amagoing Type C to Type A cable is one of these non-compliant cables. Which means it can provides fast charging for Nexus 6p, where as spec compliant cable does not.



Below are results of the tests with compliant and non-compliant cables.



Nexus 6p at with the battery at 17% and 32%. At this level the phone uses rapid charging if it can.

1) Amagoing Type non-compliant cable draws 2620 mA - 2690mA (Using Qualcomm 2.0 charger)

2) By comparison a compliant cable (I am using a Tenswall cable) delivers a maximum 1500A.



I received this cable from Amagoing for testing and review. Bottom line: this cable is NOT USB 3.1 compliant and behaves differently from a USB 3.1 compliant cable provided by Google when I compare their operation at the battery level which performs "rapid charging" if possible. I now seek out these non-compliant cables to get rapid charging especially from my car charger when I use Nexus 6p for navigation. I am not saying that it's safe for all combinations of devices, laptops like the Chromebook Pixel and the Apple Macbook draw more current than a phone, and there may be badly made chargers that lack current limiting and might burn themselves out. However with a quality charger that's rated for 2.5A this cable will provide rapid charging where as a USB 3.1 compliant cable does not.



You can locate this USB 3.1 Type C to Type A on Amazon by following this link



AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Santoku Knife 7" by Zelite Infinity

This is a terrific knife. This a general purpose knife for dicing, slicing and mincing. The name translates from Japanese to mean "well-balanced" and is designed with the weights of the blade and the handle to be equally balanced. This balance in combination with the rounded design of the handle makes cutting and dicing with quick and easy. It is very sharp, everything I cut feels as easy as cutting soft butter.



The Santoku has a limited "rocking" travel in comparison to a Western-style chef's knife. When the blade rests on the cutting plane there is very little clearance above the cutting plane from heel to the tip. The Santoku design is shorter, lighter, thinner, and more hardened (to compensate for thinness) than a traditional Western chef's knife.



The "scalloped" sides that give this knife its unique look create small air pockets between the blade and the material being sliced and reduce cutting friction. The higher quality of Japanese knives use laminated steel which has a beautiful pattern. This knife has this laminated finish. The use of laminated steel improves the strength and rust resistance of the blade (and it looks beautiful).



It can be washed in a dishwasher, but I prefer to wash it by hand so it will last longer and there's no risk of them cutting the plastic coating on the appliance racks.



This knife was provided to me for testing and review by Zelite as part of the new product introduction. I am impressed!



You can find this "Santoku Knife" on Amazon by following this link





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Charging results for Nexus 6p, Nexus 5, and iPad Mini with compliant and non-compliant USB 3.1 cables - Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 by Kungix

This listing combines several different chargers. My review is for "Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Adapter".



This wall charger has one port and has Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. I tested this charger with Nexus 6p (using both USB 3.1 compliant and USB 3.1 non-compliant USB cables) as well as an older Nexus 5 and iPad Mini that do not support rapid charging.



Using Qualcomm Quick Charger

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

' Nexus 5 was charged at optimal rate of 1.02A.

' iPadMini was charged at non optimal rate of 0.93A (which is typical rate when iPad Mini is plugged into a 1A port)

' Nexus 6p is capable of rapid charging when the battery level is low. I discharged the phone to 28% so the phone would do rapid charging if possible.

'Using Tenswall USB 3.1 compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1440A

' Using PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 2260A



Using another charger without Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 chip

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

For comparison I used a regular (non Qualcomm) charger

' Using Tenswall USB 3.1 compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1320A

' Using PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1700A



So it looks like that Qualcomm charger did significantly better with a non-compliant cable, but almost the same with a compliant cable. I repeated each test 4-5 times to be sure that the readings are consistent.



What is 3.1 compliant cable? USB 3.1 spec specifies that the termination resistor that advertises the maximum available current should be set at 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. 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 rather than the correct value of 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. The "bug" in non-compliant cables can be used as a feature of allowing rapid charging for Nexus 6p. The phone does not draw more than 2.5A so it does not damage the phone. The non-compliant cable could be harmful to devices that are not limited to 2.5A such as the ones that Benson evaluated in his reviews.



Using Qualcomm Quick Charger with Qualcomm Quick Chart 2.0 chip

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

One other point of comparison is that Qualcomm 2.0 charger I have allows my PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable to draw 2500A. I expected that 3.0 charger would give me better or the same results.



I received this charger from Kungix for testing and review. For Android phone without rapid charging it worked the same as a regular charger. For iPadMini it only delivered 1A, so it was below average. For Nexus 6p this charger worked better under some condition than a regular charger, however not better than Qualcomm 2.0 charger.



You can find "Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0" on Amazon via this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: UHURU ATSC HD TV Tuner Micro USB Digital Television Receiver for Android Phone or Tablet

The idea of being able to tune TV on my phone was very attractive. I worked very hard to make this tuner work (details below), but the bottom line is at the end it tuned 0 channels no matter what I tried.



Here what I have tried



1) I received the product for testing and review. The first version of the product I received required to download an app from the manufacture's web site in China. I am a software engineer, I have a lot of experience in web security. One thing I would never do is a download an Android app from any place other than GooglePlay or Amazon. I contacted the vendor and told him that until his app undergoes a security scan in GooglePlay his application is not suited for an American audience. The seller agreed to do so.



2) While he was working on getting his application into GooglePlay store I have tried a large number of apps designed for ATSC Pad TV. I have tried more than a dozen application on two different phones. One phone has the latest version of Android (6.1.1), the other phone has 4.4.2 Android. According to documentation the dongle supports both OS versions. None of the of the apps on either of the phones detected the presence of the dongle, generating an error "No device found".



3) When the seller notified me that the app is now available from Google Play I tried it. The seller uploaded two versions of the app, one is meant for USA and one for international market. They look identical, so my first try was with an internal app, it did not list USA as an option and tuned no channels when I tried other countries. Then I tried the second app, it had USA option was listed listed in the drop down. The dongle was detected and the wizard went through the motions of scanning for channels but tuned in 0 channels. I have tried the wizard in several different locations not only at home in hopes to find a better reception, but was not successful.



As you see I spent quite a bit of time trying to make this work... but with no luck.



I received PadTV from the vendor for testing and review. Unfortunately, there is nothing positive that I can say about it other than the vendor was responsive and was able to release his application to GooglePlay when I requested it.



You can find "UHURU ATSC HD TV Tuner" on Amazon via this link





AshopZones review

Product review: Yowosmart 18-Outlet Home / Office Surge Protector Tower Power Strip

This listing combines several different tower strips. My review is for the 4 level power strip.



Tower power strips work very well in tight spaces. I have one behind the TV, and this Yowosmart tower lives behind my computer. I don't have a lot of room there and I need a lot of outlets - both AC and USB powered - and this tower is perfect in that space. The AC outlets are well spaced out. I am able to mount two large chargers next to each, no outlets are blocked! This is a very clever design.



The strip has a 72" cord and a regular size plug. The cord retracts, but to retract the cord everything needs to be unplugged as the entire tower rotates.



In addition to 8 AC outlets this tower also has 4 USB outlets. I tested each USB port with a current monitor an Android device and an Apple device. I saw that it charged my Android phone at an optimal rate on each outlet. iPadMini performed well at at optimal rate on one port (2A). Performance on 2 others were typical for 1A port but not optimal for iPadMini, and one port delivered only USB level of performance.



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to compare them to each other in a fair way. I use the current monitor to see what current is delivered to each device which tells me how well each external battery is working.



Samsung Nexus phone:

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

1 port: 1.02A/4.99V (excellent)

2 port: 1.00A/5.01V (excellent)

3 port: 0.99A/4.99V (excellent)

4 port: 0.98A/5.01V (excellent)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)



iPad Mini tablet:

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

1 port: 0.93A/5.02V (average for 1A)

2 port: 0.47A/4.99V (not good, USB rate)

3 port: 1.24A/5.02V (good)

4 port: 0.93A/5.01V (average for 1A)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)



I love the shape of this power strip, it gave me more than enough outlets in the area which barely has any space.



This power strip is provided by Yowosmart for testing and review. Getting a free product to test does not prevent me from leaving critical reviews when the product warrant it. However, this is not one of them.



You can find "Yowosmart 18-Outlet Tower Power Strip"





AshopZones review ★★★★★