Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Gift Idea - pendant, necklace


I got this one for my wife of 37 years for Valentines Day, and she absolutely loved it. Wears it a lot, so that tells me she likes it.

She says she likes the beauty, simplicity, and the illusion that this unique piece has. Thanks!!! Flawless Sterling Silver Floating Heart, 13/16" X 13/16"

This is a great piece for a gift, not too extravagant but very classy. My girlfriend has worn it for almost a month and says she get complimented on it quite a bit. It's made of quality material and just looks good, especially on a special someone.

When you see a product with all(but one) reviews giving it a perfect 5, you are forced to stop and think. The product and the price poses a challenge which I guess other sellers will find difficult to match.



I gifted this to my girlfriend, and she was absolutely gaga over it! It has a sleek but solid chain, and the design is very delicate. Perfect for someone you love!



A must have!!



updated on 1/4/2010 - I had initially rated this at 5, but learnt that the shine and color had worn off after 6 months. I would still rate it as 4 if this is selling for $25, but at what it is priced now, thats not possible.



updated on 3/26/2011 - The above update pertains to the chain and not the heart itself. The heart still retains its shine and look after so many months. But ouch!, the current price is almost 2.2x of what I paid when I bought it.

Just received the pendant and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the product. It will make a nice addition to my silver jewelry wardrobe!!! I'm going to buy one for my sister's birthday next month!

The simplistic beauty of this pendant is priceless.

I love the Chain it comes with. Smooth as Silk on your skin. Looks pretty w/ the Heart Charm or worn alone. Makes for an easy glide of the pendant. No kinks or pulls of the skin or hair.

The Floating Heart is a nice sized Piece.

Lovely addition to your pendant collection.

Basic Beauty.

Love it!!

Sterling Silver Floating Heart

This floating heart is lovely. I purchased it for my wife for part of her Christmas present and I'm sure she will love it. Sabrina Silver offer faultless service and I can't complain about the product quality or service from Sabrina Silver.

Thank you

I ordered these for my children's teachers for Valentine's Day and they are gorgeous! I tried one on and would love to order one for myself. It looks expensive and unique. It is a great piece for a heart lover! - Hearts - Pendant - Heart - Necklace'


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All In One Printer - canon multifunction, all in one printer


If you are looking at these reviews for the MX870, you are probably wondering what I was wondering... "What is the difference between the MX870 and MX860 and possibly also how does it compare to the Epson Artisan 810?" They are all top rated by Amazon customers for inkjet all-in-one printers.



They are all awesome! The Epson has more color cartriges, but I am not sure if that matters. I give the nod to the Epson on photo quality, but it might just be a subliminal issue of 'more is better'. My last Epson printer was the Epson 785EPX and it printed amazing photos and graphics, and it also used 6 colors.



Both the Canon and Epson have beautiful quick drying inks. The Canon has a special black ink that is a pigment instead of a dye, which you might like since pigments don't run when wet, so theirs is good for flyers and such. And, by the way, if you've discovered that you really benefit from pigment ink, look into the Epson Workforce 610. It is fast, and all its different colored inks are pigments. Graphics and text are outstanding, but photos a little lacking.



The Canon is a little slower to start printing, but once it gets going it is pretty fast. Both Epson and Canon models have an optional duplexer mode (prints on both sides to save paper - this feature significantly slows down print time if that is important to you) and an automatic paper feed. The paper feed on the Canon is fully integrated and two-sided, so it can copy/scan both sides of a document automatically as well. There are a few hiccups with the 860 on this that the 870 solves.



It's a small pain to reload the reglar A4 8 1/2 by 11 paper in both machines in their lower tray. The Epson has an additional slot on its lower tray for photo paper that some may like. The Canon has an extra paper feed at the back of the unit that is great for printing envelopes, prints, or other types of paper, so you don't have to change your main tray. The rear feeder should accommodate heavier papers and have a less likelihood of jamming because the paper comes straight through the machine with little bending. The projecting tray on the Epson looks and feels flimsy and most people seem worried about that, but remarkably I have never heard of anyone breaking it. The Canon has a cool feature... when you send it a wireless command to print, it automatically lowers its front door for the paper to be collected on, so you can keep the unit all closed up when not in use.



If you use OCR, and I love OCR (optical character recognition that allows you to turn your document scans into text files), you will prefer the Epson because it is integrated into their software package. Canons used to have OCR software, but have stopped in the recent year. Note: If you have Microsoft Office Student and Home version, its program 'OneNote' has OCR for you to use. Most people are totally unaware of it being there. By the way, OneNote is the best program on Microsoft Office. It is what keeps me from just using the free open source office software that is so amazing.



Price-wise, the Epson is about 100 more than the Canon. Amazon has some of the best prices. The newer Canon MX870 isn't even available in most stores yet and probably will run about 50 dollars more than the MX860 for the next six months. Apple users will like the smoother integrated software application of the MX870 that was a small problem on the MX860.



Space-wise the Canon is bigger. Look-wise, the Epson is sharper with its shiny black finish, like a piece of fancy stereo equipment. The Canon has a neutral light beige look. Very officey with clean lines.



They both fax if you ever need that every now and then instead of having to run to your local print shop.



The user interface of the Canon and Epson are both easy to use in different ways. I sort of wish the Canon buttons weren't so flush with the unit, but its not really a big deal. You will need to use the interface to copy and scan, but most print jobs you will want to do from your computer.



The Epson has some fun graphics software extra on it. Again, mostly 'fun' stuff. It also prints on printable CDs and DVDs. This could be important to you. It is the best of any printer at this. I don't need it because I print on CDs using LightScribe on my HP. I like that look better if I am going to customize the CD face.



The Canon has some very useful proprietary software that you will love if you surf the Web and want to copy and print out multiple bits and pieces of articles with ease... even on the same sheet of paper. You can do this anyway with Windows, but Canon's program is easier and faster.



Both Canon and Epson have ink cartridges that are separate from the print head, so it is easier to find third-party ink and save money. Third party ink is better than what it used to be, but the OEM (original equipment manufacture) cartridges are truer and faster drying for important projects and to bring out the full glory of these machines.



I chose the Canon MX870, but all the printers I mentioned here are rated tops at their price-point. I hope I covered a few of the more notable differences to help you narrow in on your search. Canon PIXMA MX870 Wireless Office All-in-One Printer (4206B002) - All In One Printer - Canon - Pixma - Canon Multifunction'


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Flash Memory - card reader, usb card reader


I bought this product after reading the reviews and thinking it will work on SDHC cards. It worked upto 8gb card which I tested. I have a 16gb SDHC card got toasted because of this reader. the reader cannot read and invalidated my card now. I can't even reformat the card properly! Stay AWAY if you use it with large storage cards. CTCstore 10-in-1 USB 2.0 High Speed Memory Card Reader Writer for SD SDHC MiniSD MiniSDHC MMC rsMMC - Purple

Oops. I also was fooled. I bought the damn thing for use as a SDHC reader to download photos from my Panasonic ZS3 10 MP camera which are about 5 MB each onto a MAC G5. It downloads photos from a Transcend 8GB Class 6 card fine, but it will successfully download the AVCHD lite video only if the original video was just a few seconds long (haven't tried other video formats). Longer videos get stuck at some point. Multiple tries didn't work, had to resort to killing the finder, rebooting, and using the Panasonic cable. Thought I had a bad reader.



Note the other review in which someone found it worked for 8 GB card photos but a 16 GB card was screwed up and photos were lost.



Somebody tell me why Amazon has so many screwups of this type? (listed as one thing but is not).

"WOW!" is my first reaction to this reader/writer. I wasn't sure what to expect for just over a buck. I needed something that would read an SDHC card and this has come through.



For being just over a buck, it's features are actually pretty incredible. There is a light that shows when it's in use, very useful for me because I know if it's blinking, even if it shows all files have been copied on my computer, I know it's still doing something. Plus, the two covers (for the USB and card side) fit very snuggly, something I was no expecting. This is great because I keep the reader in my purse and it gets shoved around quite a bit.



I use both a Mac and Windows PC and this reader worked flawlessly in each.



Probably my only complaint is that for some reason, it appeared that there was a limitation on the number of files it could store in root. I'm not 100% sure if that's the card or the reader (the card has had no issues in the past in cameras) however. Once I created a folder though I could copy the full card's size in files to it.



Bottom Line: Why pay so much more for a simple piece of technology when you can get this one for under $2?

This reader is advertised as a 10-in-1 with the ability to read SDHC. This is the main feature I needed with it and it is the one feature it does not have. Zoom into the image here on Amazon and you can plainly see that SDHC is not written on the item. I should have done this when purchasing instead of trusting the seller's words.

I originally purchased this for my niece for the digital picture frame that I got here so she could transfer things to the SD disk to put into it. I found that my niece was crazy about and I purchased one for myself. I found that it was very easy to transfer data this way and I used 1 GB and 2 GB sizes both worked very fast. I was surprised how they were represented on the CD because they were in subdirectories but that might have been the camera software. It transfer with the same software where I would pick each picture I wanted to send to the PC and it was like I hooked up the cable to the camera. In my software I can just view it or I can use the software that came with the camera which creates new folders with just the selection you entered. I was glad I could still do this with this device. Yeah!

Love this little memory card reader....so small (about as long as your index finger) yet loaded with benefits.

My favorite use is to keep in my camera case so I can view my photos at any given time without the worry of my camera cable to connect me....it also allows me to share quickly with others. - Card Reader - Memory Card Readers - Sd Card Reader - Usb Card Reader'


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Flash Memory - card reader, usb card reader


I bought this product after reading the reviews and thinking it will work on SDHC cards. It worked upto 8gb card which I tested. I have a 16gb SDHC card got toasted because of this reader. the reader cannot read and invalidated my card now. I can't even reformat the card properly! Stay AWAY if you use it with large storage cards. CTCstore 10-in-1 USB 2.0 High Speed Memory Card Reader Writer for SD SDHC MiniSD MiniSDHC MMC rsMMC - Purple

Oops. I also was fooled. I bought the damn thing for use as a SDHC reader to download photos from my Panasonic ZS3 10 MP camera which are about 5 MB each onto a MAC G5. It downloads photos from a Transcend 8GB Class 6 card fine, but it will successfully download the AVCHD lite video only if the original video was just a few seconds long (haven't tried other video formats). Longer videos get stuck at some point. Multiple tries didn't work, had to resort to killing the finder, rebooting, and using the Panasonic cable. Thought I had a bad reader.



Note the other review in which someone found it worked for 8 GB card photos but a 16 GB card was screwed up and photos were lost.



Somebody tell me why Amazon has so many screwups of this type? (listed as one thing but is not).

"WOW!" is my first reaction to this reader/writer. I wasn't sure what to expect for just over a buck. I needed something that would read an SDHC card and this has come through.



For being just over a buck, it's features are actually pretty incredible. There is a light that shows when it's in use, very useful for me because I know if it's blinking, even if it shows all files have been copied on my computer, I know it's still doing something. Plus, the two covers (for the USB and card side) fit very snuggly, something I was no expecting. This is great because I keep the reader in my purse and it gets shoved around quite a bit.



I use both a Mac and Windows PC and this reader worked flawlessly in each.



Probably my only complaint is that for some reason, it appeared that there was a limitation on the number of files it could store in root. I'm not 100% sure if that's the card or the reader (the card has had no issues in the past in cameras) however. Once I created a folder though I could copy the full card's size in files to it.



Bottom Line: Why pay so much more for a simple piece of technology when you can get this one for under $2?

This reader is advertised as a 10-in-1 with the ability to read SDHC. This is the main feature I needed with it and it is the one feature it does not have. Zoom into the image here on Amazon and you can plainly see that SDHC is not written on the item. I should have done this when purchasing instead of trusting the seller's words.

I originally purchased this for my niece for the digital picture frame that I got here so she could transfer things to the SD disk to put into it. I found that my niece was crazy about and I purchased one for myself. I found that it was very easy to transfer data this way and I used 1 GB and 2 GB sizes both worked very fast. I was surprised how they were represented on the CD because they were in subdirectories but that might have been the camera software. It transfer with the same software where I would pick each picture I wanted to send to the PC and it was like I hooked up the cable to the camera. In my software I can just view it or I can use the software that came with the camera which creates new folders with just the selection you entered. I was glad I could still do this with this device. Yeah!

Love this little memory card reader....so small (about as long as your index finger) yet loaded with benefits.

My favorite use is to keep in my camera case so I can view my photos at any given time without the worry of my camera cable to connect me....it also allows me to share quickly with others. - Card Reader - Memory Card Readers - Sd Card Reader - Usb Card Reader'


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Cell Phone Organizer - valet, charger caddy


We have had this charging station for about 6 months or so, and we don't use it anymore. It is one more thing to clutter up our counter. The reasons we don't use it? 1. If you have a device in which the charger plugs into the side, it does not lay in the valet nicely because the slots are too narrow. The valet was designed more for items that have chargers in the bottom. 2. Despite the multiple outlets on the power strip and three slots for charging items, we have never been able to charge more than two at a time because most charger plugs are large and cover up adjacent outlets. So, in order to use it, you have get the power strip out, plug in and thread whichever charger you need, tuck the power strip back into the bottom. If you need to charge something else, repeat. Way too much hassle - just easier to have the chargers in a kitchen drawer to pull out when needed. 3. Getting the power strip in and out is a pain - not very easy once you have things plugged into it.



Only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 is because I like how the top flips open so that you can line everything up easier.



Overall, this product does not deliver what it advertises. Simply Put Deluxe Charging Station, Cherry Finish (9541-6)

It's a little big but not bad. The finish is only pretend cherry but looks OK for what it is. Mine had the fake leather glued in poorly but I was able to press it down, we'll see if that lasts I doubt it.



This unit has a couple of glaring problems:

1: The power strip will only take two wall warts. The plugs are just too close together. If they were rotated 90 degrees you could install three of the new type supplies but certainley no more. Notice in the picture none of the devices shown are plugged in. You could use the short strip savers shown in the 'buy with' section, but that's a 'buy me' to use this box.



2: The power cord is too short. Be ready to use a three prong extension chord, another 'buy me'. - Valet - Charger Station - Charger Caddy - Cell Phone Organizer'


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Not Recommended - vacuum, air duster


I work in IT and we have one of these vacuums at work. The only good part about it is that it's small, lite and handy when working with electronics. On the bad side it's very underpowered, with the small tips there's just not enough air movement to suck out all the dust. We found it much easier to use regular Dyson vacuum with a small attachment and if you need to blow the dust out it definitely doesn't even compare to a can of compressed air. Also like others have mentioned the metal body of the vacuum heats up very quickly, you're probably not gonna get burned or anything but it's very strange that it heats up that quick. It's also loud as hell but then again most vacuums are.



If you need a vacuum for electronics I would seriously suggest buying a regular vacuum with a set of small attachments for it.



I hope this helps. Cheers! Metro Vacuum MDV-1BA DataVac Pro 4.5-AMP Computer Vac/Blower

Although there is one drawback to this item being it gets hot very quickly, it does a cleaning job like no other. when I use it I just wait for it to cool off which does not take long at all and then continue cleaning. it will continue to clean every space on your computer. It does not matter if it is a "crawl space" type crevice, regular small space, vent air holes or any other space. This vaccum has all the right tools and all the right amount of power.Well worth the investment.

In order to get any results from this vacuum you must use the small straw attachments. Even then it is not very good. With the large attachments it will not pick up anything. It also does not work well as a dust blower. A can of compressed air has more power. I should have returned this item but I waited too long to do so. Save yourself some money and avoid this product.

Currentlly doing a project for my company cleaning CPU's and adding memory at off

site offices. The Metro is small enough to put under my arm when I go into without

makeing an extra trip. Very usefull and sturdy. I have been very happy with it.

I bought this vacuum to remove particles from by hearing aides and to clean up my computer and keyboard. It does an excellent job on both jobs. It is noisy and it does run hot, but for the short time that I use it this hasn't been a problem. It has excellent suction and blowing. It makes so much more sense then compressed air cans.

Very good blower, and vac. Gets hot fast, but retains it's power through the cleaning process. It took me about 25 minutes to blow out and vacuum the dust in my pc, and it worked great. The attachments are outstanding! I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a good vac/blower for their system. Not recommended for anything else. If you want more power, buy another product. Know what you want to use this product for before you purchase. It does exactly what I bought it for. Unplug it if not in use for prolong periods of time. - Air Duster - Computer - Blower - Vacuum'


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Wireless Mice - microsoft, wireless


Wow! I had a 3 year old Microsoft mouse that worked great, but the USB transceiver was a real pain mainly because

of the length of the thing. I broke one of my USB ports when I accidentally banged into the thing one day and on

a laptop one can ill afford to lose a USB connector right?



Anyway, the transceiver on this unit is tiny, it only sticks out maybe a 1/4 of an inch so there's no probability

of you damaging your machine by accident. And, it is extremely responsive, even more than the older design. The

drivers loaded automatically in Windows 7 and I'm back in bidness. Both left and right buttons work as they should,

and the scroll is perfect. Battery life is extended too with an On/Off switch. Works on any surface, the laptop frame,

the couch, your jeans! The transceiver does snap into the body of the mouse for travel, and the only minor complaint

I have is that the mouse doesn't turn itself off when the transceiver is nested.



This purchase BTW was a necessity because of the crappy touch-pad on my new Asus K52jr-4, which was so erratic as to

make the laptop virtually unusable. I see a lot of complaints on the web about this, but anyway I highly recommend

this mouse, especially at the price which is about 1/2 of an equivalent Logitech device. One word of advice, if you

fail to turn off this mouse when not in use it tends to go through batteries like Vegas hookers through a Shriners

Convention..... always always flip the switch Off when your machine is idle. And it pays to use a Lithium battery (1)

for extended life. Microsoft deserves a slap for claiming "up to 8 month" battery life in the product info above.



Update 6/02/2011: This mouse still works perfectly and is just as responsive as it was on Day 1. It doesn't "squeak",

the mouse clicks are barely audible, but you may find that the rubber casing begins to peel away from the plastic body

over time, this is easily remedied with a drop or two of Superglue. This doesn't affect comfort or performance of the

mouse. Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 - Sea Blue

This mouse replaced a retractable corded USB "travel" mouse. It was small and basic and worked quite well for years but finally died. I wanted a small cordless mouse to replace it so I surfed Amazon and found this one. The Logitech's were nice but I like that the USB receiver dongle is small. Most others are as big as a flash drive increasing the chances of it getting broken off.



So far it does seem to work well on a variety of surfaces. It works on my laptop table of course but I've also used it on the fabric chair arm and it worked just fine.



Two other nice features are the off switch and the dongle fits in the bottom of the mouse. All in one package for ease in travel. The mouse is also just the right size, not too big or small and reasonably comfortable. After a month or so I'm quite happy with it.

This is the only Microsoft mouse with BlueTrack and a click motion wheel. The mouse is very responsive and has a good feel. Battery life should be good as well.



I had stopped purchasing Microsoft mice because all the new mice had smooth scrolling wheels. The wheel design is a weakness on Microsoft mice. Logitech has a much better wheel design both smooth and click motion. The click wheel is a little stiff on this mouse. If it loosens up after some use, this will be the best value small form factor wireless mouse available.

My boyfriend has the model before this, "Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000", and since I constantly used his, we decided that I should go ahead and get a wireless mouse myself. I searched for hours for a mouse that would meet my needs; something small, not too pricey, and would work on many different surfaces. I initially was going to purchase the same mouse as his, but I also wanted to see what else was out there. My first choice was the "Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000" in their Dragon Fruit color.. mainly because the mouse matched my laptop (appearance is always a first reaction of mine), was inexpensive, and had gotten good reviews! But.. I kept searching. After hours of looking at many different mice and reading many different reviews, I found the Mobile Mouse 3500. It had no reviews, so I was VERY skeptical about purchasing it. It caught my eye because it matched my Dell Insprion perfectly color wise, was small, and it was also the newer version of my boyfriend's mouse that I enjoyed so much. Microsoft's new "BlueTrack" technology was also very appealing to me, so being an electronics junkie, I had to try it out! The price exceeded my price range by a little, but this mouse ideally had everything I wanted in a mouse. I searched around to see if I could find a better deal, but since this is a mouse that was newly released, Amazon had the lowest price.



I finally ordered the mouse, and received it 2 days later (thanks Amazon!). The mouse fits snuggly in my hands (I have small hands), and has a nice rubber grip on each side. I was SHOCKED to see how small the nano receiver was. I knew it was going to be small, but this is TINY. About a 1/3 the size of Microsoft's other receivers. I actually love this, but it may be difficult for people with larger hands. There is a button that stores the receiver on the bottom of the mouse, and with just a push, it will push the receiver out for you, then when you have to store it, just push it back in. Like I said previously, this is great, but may be difficult for people with larger hands. The bottom also has an on and off button which I find very convenient. Unlike my boyfriend's mouse, I can leave my receiver in my laptop, and then just click off/on the mouse when it's not in use. With his mouse, you have to take out the receiver and store it back under the mouse for it to turn off.



Overall I am very happy with the mouse. The BlueTrack definitely works great. The mouse runs smooth, and the receiver doesn't overheat, even after hours of use! I have Windows 7 and had to download their software on their website to program the middle button, but it was quick and easy.



Pros:

Small

1 AA Battery

Smooth

Easy to setup

On/Off Button

Works on a lot of different surfaces



Cons:

Doesn't have a back button like the older model (3000) - ok with me though

Receiver might be hard for people with larger hands (boyfriend finds it easy though) - Microsoft Wireless Mouse - Wireless - Recommended - Microsoft'


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