Science & Technology

Dirt Devil Breeze Bagless Cyclonic Upright Vacuum Cleaner

Posted December 9, 2012 by

The Dirt Devil Breeze Bagless Vacuum Cleaner is a powerful but lightweight upright vacuum cleaner. I have tried other Dirt Devil upright vacuum cleaners with mixed success. Dirt Devils offer a nice combination of power and value, but I have had issues with quality. The Dirt Devil Breeze seems to follow that pattern. It was easy to assemble and offer plenty of power, but I am afraid that the canister will have issues snapping (and staying) in place.

Notes-

– The vacuum is lightweight and can be easily lifted with one hand

– Limited number of attachments – Actually, it only has one 1 attachment – the attachment for the stairs

– Bagless system – all of the debris is trapped in the canister, so the Dirt Devil Breeze does not use a bag. While it does not have bag it does have a washable and reusable filter.

– Assembly is simple – it requires a philips head screw driver and about 5 minutes.

– The Dirt Devil is pretty loud – maybe not much louder than the typical vacuum.

– Plenty of power – it is amazing to see how quickly the canister fills up!

– The canister is difficult to snap back into place. This is a concern because if it falls out of place it will spill all its contents back onto your freshly vacuumed floor.

Final Verdict – The Dirt Devil Breeze is a relatively inexpensive but power bagless vacuum cleaner. I do worry about its longterm durability, but at this price point you are still getting a nice overall value.

4 Stars

Please Note- I received this product for reviewing purposes

Check out the Adventures of The Assistant and Wiggles! It is our animated series featuring the Assistant, her Dog Wiggles, and science experiements! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoLQ9unpi4OHbJtfVcfgDIoyZw75FHF-E #Familyfun #Familyfunforeveryone #Theengineeringfamily

Epson WorkForce WF-3540 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Copier, Scanner – C11CC31201

Posted October 28, 2012 by

I having been using Epson Workforce printers for several years – in fact this is my 3rd Epson printer. While I noticed a small improvement between the Workforce 635 and the Workforce 645 printers I see a huge jump in capability in the Workforce 3540. Really, everything about the 3540 is better than the previous models… it is faster, easier to set-up, crisper prints, better interface, you name it …. it is better on the Workforce 3450.

Notes-

– Set-up…. very, very easy to set-up. It took me about 5 minutes to set-up the 3540. Acquiring the wireless signal was picked up quickly, and the set-up on my Mac was very painless.

– Print Speed – you can see it on the video, but the 3540 is very fast. I will not quote the pages per minute but the speed is noticeable.

– Print Quality – very good. I rarely (if ever) print photos, but everything else looks great.

– Scanning – will scan double-sided documents and deliver them wirelessly to your Mac. This may not seem like much, but until I used the Workforce 3540 I was never able to scan wirelessly to my Mac Book Pro.

– Will print (and copy) double sided documents as well.

– Easy to print from my iPhone and iPad. You need to download the iEpson app, but the rest is very simple.

– The one possible is the cost of the replacement ink cartridges. The Epson Workfroce 3450 uses 4 separate cartridges…. and unfortunately they are not inexpensive.

– User interface – I really like the touchscreen interface. The menus are very intuitive and easy to navigate

– Has two separate paper trays with an overall capacity of 500 sheets.

– It has a built in fax machine, but I don’t expect that I will ever use it for faxing a document.

– Quality issues…. none so far – I will update this review if I have any problems.

Final verdict – With the exception of cheap replacement ink cartridges, I am not sure how Epson could make a better printer. If you are looking for an all-in-one printer I am not sure if you could ever find anything better than the Epson Workforce 3540 printer. Highly recommended.

5 Stars

Please Note – I received this product for reviewing purposes

Nyrius ARIES Pro Digital Wireless HDMI Transmitter and Receiver System

Posted October 21, 2012 by

The Aries Pro by Nyrius solves the problem of wires… meaning how can you get an HD signal from your laptop, Tivo, game station, or other device to your HD TV wirelessly. There are times you want to do this to reduce the *clutter* around your television, but other times you may want to place your television in a spot that puts it out of reach of a cable box, laptop, or other devices.

The Aries Pro is a simple and elegant solution that works especially well with laptops (especially PCs…. you may need to buy an adapter for your Mac) that have an HDMI output (And again… many Macs do not have HDMI outputs…. although there are solutions… more on that later). With the Aries pro you simple plug the HDMI stick (about 50% bigger than a normal flash drive) into your HDMI output and then connect a USB power source into the side of the stick (for power). Next you connect the HDMI receiver onto the back of your television (a velcro mounting system is included), power it up using the included AC adapter, connect the IR cable, and then plug it into the HDM input on your tv… an voila …. your done! No software or computer interface is needed!

Notes

– I mentioned that you do not need to do anything to your computer in terms of software. Depending on the make and model you may need to select the proper HDMI output to send the signal to the Aries Pro.

– Range is stated to be 160 feet (About 50 meters), and this is likely true if you have a clean line of sight between your receiver and transmitter. As for me, I was unable to get a signal from my downstairs to my upstairs TV. The distance is 60′ to 70′ but the signal needed to pass through our floor and two rooms.

– Latency – no delay or drag was ever experienced. The audio and video were perfectly synced even when watching a program in 1080P 3D.

– Video playback was nearly perfectly at 1080P in 2D…. although I did get a small bursts of line fuzz/blur about every 30-60 seconds when using it in 1080P 3D. At first it was a minor distraction, but within 5 minutes or so I forgot that it was occurring.

– Audio Playback – Perfect using Dolby 5.1 playback

– Set-up – pretty straight forward…. the directions are simple – plan about 10 minutes

– One cool feature is that each receiver (which you mount to the back of your television) can support up to 8(!) transmitters. Meaning that you can have a transmitter on your Tivo, PlayStation 3, Blu Ray Player, and so on while using just one Aries Pro Receiver. Another way this comes in handy is that the Aries Pro will allow you to run 8 devices through a single HDMI input on your television. This is especially important if you are mounting your television on a wall and or/above a mantle.

– A small but useful remote control is included. The remote is needed for set-up and to toggle between HDMI transmitters.

– Use with Mac – there are two ways to do this. One is to buy a USB to HDMI (Female) adapter for your Mac (which I have never used) this should allow you to send audio and video from your Mac to your TV. The second option (which is the one I use) is to buy a much cheaper Monitor-out to HDMI (female) adapter this bascially allows you to use your television a giant monitor. The only negative is that the monitor-out does NOT support audio play-back. I solve this by either using one of three things …. a Bluetooth speaker connected to my mac, a USB audio transmitter – like the one made by Bose, or to use the headphone auxiliary output with a nice set of computer speakers or ipod dock.

Final Verdict – I am very tempted to give the Aries Pro a 5 star recommendation… the only reason why I am knocking off 1 star is due to the range being less than 160” (for those of us who have less than clear line of sight) and the slight fuzz when using the Aries Pro for 3D playback. I still recommend the product, and if you are not concerned with the range or 3D you can consider it a 5 star product.

4 to 4 1/2 Stars

5 Stars if you have clear line of sight and you are not interested in 3D playback

Note – I received this product for reviewing purposes

MonsterBass Mini Speaker for iPhone – iPad – iPod

Posted October 20, 2012 by

I have reviewed several small ipod/iphone/ipad speakers and they all have similar features. The MonsterBass offers all of the features at a very attractive price point. While it has a nice fit and functionality it is not so loud that it will blow you out of the room.

– Sound Performance is better than expected. The name is “MonsterBass” and the bass response is pretty good – although you do need to manage your expectations. The entire speaker measures less than 3″ across can only move so much air, so the bass response does have its limitations. I also noticed that the speaker does begin to distort if you play it at full volume. Again, this is not surprising since all of the speakers that I have evaluated distort at full volume.

– Small enough to easily fit in a back pack or carrying case.

– Sound volume is about 2x louder than the native speaker on the iPad.

– Comes with a cable extender

– Has a built a rechargeable battery that has a life of about 10 hours

– 3 watts of power.

– Multiple speakers can be connected together

Final Verdict – The MonsterBass Mini Speaker is a great value for a small travel speaker for you ipod, iphone, or ipad. The key is that you manage your expectations, because it does sound for its size…. but since it is so small you have to accept that it can only put out so much sound.

Please Note – I received this product for reviewing purposes

Note #2 – all music played is in the public domain since it was composed 150+ years ago

4 to 4 1/2 Stars

There are tons of options for Speakers – see some of my other speaker below!

BlueTooth and wireless Speaker

Turtle Shell Wireless Boom Box by Outdoor Technology http://youtu.be/sZAhUZAE3xI

Braven 625S Bluetooth Speaker and Power Source – model BZ625BGB

Accessorise Portable Bluetooth Wireless Mini Speaker System http://youtu.be/o–fEiOttE8

Panasonic SC-MC07 Compact Wireless Music Streaming http://youtu.be/NAghBDpj2N0

Ecogear EcoXBT by Grace Digital (My favorite Bluetooth speaker – to date) http://youtu.be/59xaOBob_P8

A Comparison of Bluetooth Speakers http://youtu.be/7X2esC1ibzg

Philips Shoqbox Bluetooth Portable Speaker System SB7200 – rugged travel speaker http://youtu.be/qJJ1bC73Yog

Philips Shoqbox Bluetooth Portable Speaker System SB7300 http://youtu.be/5nI6KTv0Z-o

Kinivo BTX095 Small Bluetooth Speaker for iPod, iPad, and iPhone http://youtu.be/BGKfPXSx4wY

Best Small Travel Speakers fo iPod, iPhone, iPads and MP3 devices http://youtu.be/ckMlsqKLwwc

Kinivo BTX110 Wireless Bluetooth Mini Portable Speaker review http://youtu.be/AfDw6bIXhBg

Monster iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker 100 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (A Great, Great Option!) http://youtu.be/q7unI101I_Q

Bose Wireless Computer Speaker with Bluetooth http://youtu.be/kWM5DZ8zb7E

Or Look at some of the Wired Speaker Reviews

Accessorise Your Life Wired Mini-Speaker http://youtu.be/-Cm0BSy5Nlk

Kinivo ZX220 Portable Twin Speakers with Rechargeable Battery http://youtu.be/j8CRiDU42fQ

MonsterBass Mini Speaker for iPhone – iPad – iPod http://youtu.be/CNuo52B1scM

Kinivo ZX100 Speaker for iPods, iPhones, iPads and other devices http://youtu.be/tu7xrdBsTQc

WOWee One Power Bass Portable Speaker for iPad, iPhone, MP3 Players, and Laptops ://youtu.be/kWM5DZ8zb7E

Below iPod and iPhone Docks that I have reviewed

Fluance High Performance 2.1 Wood Tower Speaker Dock FiTSD600 (truly a great sounding dock) http://youtu.be/I-ChBn2Zo38

Philips Fidelio Docking Speaker DS8530 iPod, iPhone, iPad dock http://youtu.be/UZnbqKI2rlk

Altec Lansing iMT810 Digital Boombox http://youtu.be/YDcDKiuiHr0

JBL On Stage IIIP Portable Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone http://youtu.be/4IKlbYaG-gY

Logitech S715i Rechargeable Speaker for iPod and iPhone http://youtu.be/i5kSYvU_2oA

Fluance FiSDK500 Two-way High Performance Wood Speaker Dock http://youtu.be/pN6SKHzgQ7Y

Subwoofers

VELODYNE ACOUSTICS CHT-12BV Classic Home Theater Series Powered Subwooferhttp://youtu.be/u40bvL5ymFk

JBL Balboa SUB 10 – 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer http://youtu.be/Zxmy8jYkUEA

Make Your Own Speaker!

Making a Transducer Speaker, adding sound and vibration to your home entertainment center http://youtu.be/QQpw9sKZzMc

A Comparison of Bluetooth Speakers

Posted July 22, 2012 by

There are plenty of bluetooth speakers that are on the market. While it would be impossible for me to describe ALL of the bluetooth speakers on the market I do hope to give you an idea on several of your options.

Bose – The Bose Soundlink Computer Speaker is the most expensive option that I will review , but it also has the best sound*. I put an * on that, because it is not significantly better than the Logitech 715i, and it is more than 2x in price. The Bose Soundlink Computer Speaker does give you the ability to connect through your USB port to play music. This is also the only speaker that is not rechargeable
Sound – 4.5 out of 5
Sound Volume – 5 out of 5
Portability – 2 out of 5
Value – 2 out of 5

Philips Shoqbox SB7300 – The Philips Shoqbox 7300 has a nice mix of sound and portability. The SB7300 uses 4 speakers and comes close to filling a room. The bass is not great, but it ranks #3 of the speakers presented here.
Sound – 4 out of 5
Sound Volume – 3.5 out of 5
Portability – 4 out of 5
Value – 3 out of 5

Philips Shoqbox SB7200 – I am not a big fan of the SB7200, especially when compared to the SB7300. This speakers offers a hard water resistant case, but it only 2 speakers (compared to the 4). As a result sound performance and volume suffer.
Sound – 3 out of 5
Sound Volume – 2.5 out of 5
Portability – 4.5 out of 5 (Higher than the SB7300 due to its durable finish)
Value – 2.5 out of 5

Logitech 715i – Again, this video shows the iPod dock version of the 715i, but the bluetooth version is identical. The Logitech 715i is larger, and is more of a small boom box, but it has lots of flexibility. The only thing this speaker lacks is bass – although it is only slightly behind the Bose Soundlink. Unless you are looking for something that you can fit in a backpack the Logitech 715i should be strongly considered.
Sound – 4.5 out of 5
Sound Volume – 4.5 out of 5
Portability – 3 out of 5 ( a little too big for air travel)
Value – 5 out of 5

Monster iClarity HD – I never thought I would see a “Monster” product under-rated, but that is the case with the iClarity HD. The iClarity is very portable and offers very good sound… it may not be quite as good as the Philips Shoqbox SB7300 it certainly is a better value.
Sound – 4 out of 5
Sound Volume – 4 out of 5
Portability – 4.5 out of 5
Value – 5 out of 5

Kinivo Products – Both the Kinivo BTX095 and the BTX110 are in a different category than the other speakers. They are both very small and can easily fit into the side pocket of a backpack. These are ideal speaker for hiking, camping, or traveling… both of these speakers sound better than the native speaker on the iPad or iPhone.

Please Note – Some of the products shown were sent to me for reviewing purposes

Please Note (part 2) – All audio and music is used strictly for demonstration purposes only and are intended to educate the viewer on the speaker’s capability.