Product review: Campark ACT70 WIFI HD 2560X1080 Action camera

My initial impression of CamPark was very good. Day time video is very good, it does well even in the very sunny situations and does not overexpose. The video during the night under very low light conditions was acceptable. Live video works well. Menu-based interface is well organized and easy to use. The documention is quite good and has a lot of details. The camera comes with a large variety of accessories, including a suction window mount, waterproof camera, and a remote control. I was very pleased for several days.



However, after a few days of usage the camera crashed and was stuck on the first screen (I could not turn it off or proceed to the next screen). I "fixed" it by removing and then reinserting the battery. Initially, I thought this fixed the problem as the camera recorded for another 30-40 minutes. But when I got home I saw that after the crash all recordings were in slow motion. I fully recharged the batteries and tried a few more recordings. They were all in slow motions. I went through all the menus and contacted the manufacturer. The manufacturer was responsive and provided me a software update to install on the camera. However the download is very large and needs to be downloaded from a Chinese site. I have attempted to do this download many times, some of the downloads failed others reported success but unzip utility failed reporting a corrupted zip file. I have not been able to test if the upgrade resolved the problem or not.



In attached video you see examples from the videos before and after the crash. Note that Amazon compresses video so this degrade the video quality in the clip.



Here are my notes from set up:



1. The name of the camera hot spot is "amba-boss".

The password you need to enter to connect to the hot spot is included in documentation.

To put the camera into WIFI mode you need to press the right most button on the top of the camera.



2. The name of the app is "LinkinEyes". This app shows live action from the camera, as well as allows to change camera configuration.



In my video I show live video. It looks good! The delay between the action and display is minimal, it is better than another small camera I have with live video capability.



CamPark supports micro SD cards up to 32GB, Class 10 is recommended (the micro SD card is not included).



It runs on 900mAH and I get slightly over an hour on one charge. To recharge the camera takes about 2 hours from empty. For the fastest charging the camera should be turned off when charging, however it can record while charging if desired.



I received this camera for evaluation and review as part of a new product introduction. Getting a free product does not effect what I say. My reviews reflect only my experience with the product and reviews are good or bad only based on how well the product works. If you have questions on something I did not cover post a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: Rosewill Quark Series 1000 Watt Power Supply

This is an excellent power supply with enough power for any personal computer. Its capacity of 1000w and it has a large number of connectors (total of 10) that gives lots of room for growth. Its size is 7.25" x 3.5" x 6". Quark 1000 uses heavy duty round cables (i.e. not ribbon cables). All connectors are modular rather than hard-wired. I prefer modular power supplies so the case has only what it needs and thus is less crowded, so this is a big plus.



The power supply can handle motherboards with both 20 pin or 24 pin connectors. It supports two SLI graphics cards. It is very quiet.



Connectors:



(1) One 20 +4 Main plug (modular)

(2) Two EPS12V CPU plugs (modular)

It supports two CPUs. This is useful for server systems, desktops have 1 CPU.

(3) Four PCIe plugs (modular)

It supports four high power PCIe cards, typically SLI graphics cards but there are other cards requirind extra power.

Most PCIe cards use only the power from the PCIe plug, but high performance high performance graphics cards use this plug (e.g. gaming graphics cards).

(4) Five SATA or Molex cable plugs (modular)

They use the same plugs and package comes with different cables that can be used as needed.

4 SATA cables, each with 4 SATA plugs for a total of 16 SATA devices supported

2 Molex cables, each supports 4 IDE drives or FANs



I measured the power supply with a power supply tester and all voltages are within tolerance. The attached video includes screen shots that show the power supply tester output. The top number for each rail shows the expected results, the number below (in a slightly larger font) shows the actual reading. 0.5V is the acceptable tolerance. All readings are well within the tolerance.



This power supply is provided by Rosewill testing and review. Its a good one!



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: JENNIE LIU Women's 100% Cashmere Long Sleeve V Neck Sweater Blue Large

Buying clothing on line can be an adventure, especially with some clothing made in Asia (because Asian sizes are different from American and that is not always clearly marked). Jennie Liu clothing however are true to American sizes and they fit very well.



This sweater is made out of thin cashmere. It is a light sweater, perfect either for laying or to wear on its own. The cashmere is very soft and nice to touch (100% cashmere). I got teal color and the stock photo is accurate in color. The v-neck opening is 8" (measure when laid flat starting from the colar in the back to the opening). I like the long cuffs which allow me to roll them nicely. The workmanship is very good. In attached photo I show close up of the sweater as well as the reverse side. Looking at the inside seams is a good way to see the workmanship - if the parts that noone can see look good it means it is well made.



Cleaning instructions: dry clean.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Pergear A216C Touchless Sensor 216 Led Video Light Panel

The seller combined several different light panels in this listing. My review is for Pergear A216C Touchless Controller with Air Switch.



The light panel works with F550 SONY compatible battery (the package includes two batteries which is great as I can recharge one while using the other). I own several light panels and this panel has a couple of unique features that I like (1) touchless switch lets me save the battery life by turning it off and on quickly. Once I set up the light level and color I can turn the light on and off without having to move the panel or fiddle with the switches. With the other panels I need to either move them or reach around which may reposition the lights (2) I can control the color of the light without using filters. This light panel also has a switch that changes the light intensity. This feature is not unique to this panel, I consider it a must-have feature as it is incredibly useful.



Another minor but nice feature that my other panels do not have is a button that ejects the battery. This will prolong the panel light. I dropped and broke one of my old panels trying to remove a stiff fitting battery.



The panel comes with a light diffuser. I like that it snaps in snugly into the panel and does not fall out even when I turn the light upside down.



The light panel generates continuous light. Once you turn it on the light panel stays on. This panel does not communicate with the camera like a flash. I use it mounted on a tripod so I have more control of how the light is directed.



The photo panel is 5" by 3" and 1.5" deep. The light weighs 8.15 oz. It 216 LED lights.



Color temperature of the lights: 3200K-5500K



In addition to the extras I already mentioned the package also includes gloves which are sized small (I have small hands and they fit me perfectly) and a cleaning cloth (7.75" x 7.75").



Overall, I like this light very much. It is easy to set up and easy to change the amount of light I get to fit any situation.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: IPC Telephone Call Blocker

The good news is that device really does work and solves a much needed problem. However the interface is so non-intuitive that my mother, for example, is not able to use it. The feedback generates weird long numbers which she finds confusing. I will describe the interface and the issue with the caller id so you can decide if the draw backs out weight the ability to deal with the annoying marketing calls.



I saw two main issues. First that if you hook this device to the phone that has Caller ID capability you will lose the caller id display on that phone. To solve this problem I dedicate a separate phone to this device. This phone is not used for calls just for blocking. The caller id is shown on other phones, just not the one hooked to the blocking unit.



The second issue has to do with the user interface and the feedback displayed on the screen.



When the number is blocked, there is no clear indication that it happened. It just displays a long string of numbers (not the phone number). When I press various buttons, for example, blacklist to see which numbers were blacklisted it shows another long sequence of numbers (some diagnostic information?) when my list is empty, and includes these long strings after the blocked numbers if my list is not empty. The last time I blocked the number and it was saved to the blacklist the confirmation that the number has been saved is the display as a number '2012'. Very strange design!



The manual (which is written in broken English and is hard to understand) does mention that when you press various button the screen displays '1234567' as a confirmation but does not explain the long number sequences. This appliance has the most unfriendly user interface I have ever encountered.



During the initial set up to set the time you need to hit "set" on the unit, then pick up the phone and dial "1" (the phone will give an error that it is an invalid number, but the blocking unit will enter time setting mode). Once it is in the setting mode you need to press set button to change value, but the values you see are not sequential they appear what seems to be in a random order. To to set the time to 10:12 pm I had to see random numbers for the year, month, day, hours and minutes. I just had to keep pressing up or down button until I saw the number I wanted and then had to press "set" and it advanced to the next number. I managed to set the year, month, date and time. However, it displayed the wrong day of the week and I was not able to correct it. On Sunday it displays Thursday.



IPC documentation states that the unit can block 1500 numbers. This number is actually comprised of 1000 individual numbers and 500 other number achieved by blocking set of prefixes, which are too general for my personal use.



On the positive side, the blocking does work. I have called my home number on my cell phone and was able to successfully block it, observe it being disconnected when I called, and then I was able to remove the blocked number from the list. When I block a real telemarketer and they call again I hear one ring and then the call is disconnected.



There are two ways to block calls. One is to push Blacklist button as the marking call is coming in another one is to enter the phone number by hand and save it. The number displayed on the unit does not show the caller id, so it is not easy to identify a marking call without picking up the phone or looking at another phone which shows the caller id.



I have been using IPC for a couple of weeks. Now when I get a marking call I am not annoyed, I think "Gotcha!" and block it.



This call blocking device is provided by IPC for testing and review. If you can deal with the bizarre user interface the unit does work and not only blocks the calls but makes me feel more empowered that I have a way to fight back the annoying marketing calls.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

Product review: SmartSockets 5-AC Outlet + 2 USB Outputs Round Power Strip

I use a lot of battery chargers (AAA, camera, photo lights) that take up more than one outlet, the round shape of this strip seemed idea for it. And yes, I can fit them all next to each other no problem. However, there is a design flaw that does not make this strip ideal for the larger chargers. The sloped sides of the strip make the prongs pull out under their own weight. If the charger was flat on top this would not have been a problem. Aesthetically sloped edges look better but for practical purposes I wish it was flat on top.



In addition to 5 AC outlets this charger has two USB ports. I tested both USB ports with a current charger and was impressed with their performance, each one delivers 2A and provides optional charging to both Android and Apple devices.



I still like this power strip because I can fit 6 plugs in a smaller place than it would take for a strip. I just could not off load all my battery charger to it as I hoped.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: ROMOSS Sense 6 Plus 20000mAh Portable External Power Bank

' size: 6 1/4" x 3 1/8" x 7/8"

' weight: 16.85 oz

' number of ports: 2 ports

' flashlight: no

' cables: 1 charging cable



This external battery performed very well (1.36A/5.01V) on 2A port with my iPad Mini, the second port is 1A and it showed typical performance for this tablet on 1A drawing 0.93A/5.00V (this is below optimal, but normal for 1A port).

My Nexus phone drew only USB rate on 2A port (0.42A/5.00V), and below average on 1A (0.89A/5.01V).



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. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and 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 do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.



I check if the cable that came with the battery is a charging cable (i.e. capable of charging at full AC rate or if charges at slower USB rate). This is easy to tell by using a current monitor and I happy to report that this package includes a charging cable that works at AC rate.



The best feature of this battery is the large capacity. Given that it is not a fast charger my main use for this battery is to have it power my my MP3 speaker with external speaker. I use it a lot and normally need to switch the external power pack every day, but using this battery I can go for several days without a swap.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆