REVIEW – Projectors used to be an item of decadence. I remember my uncle had a home-theater setup built around a projector mounted on his ceiling, and that he was proud of how much it had cost. When I was teaching college courses, we would need to seriously consider our budget if we had to […]
SMONET 7500L projector review – Family movie fun, on a budget Read More
REVIEW – Did you know that poor audio is one of the biggest complaints about remote meetings? Zoom and Teams are great, but if you can’t hear or understand your colleagues, it creates a frustrating experience for everyone. To make it worse, most people never hear themselves on a meeting, so you often have no
OneOdio FM1 Condenser Microphone review – Make sure you’re heard, clearly! Read More
REVIEW – When I got my first smartphone, I was working in stream restoration, a field that involves a lot of water, rock, and heavy equipment. A co-worker told me that I needed to get an OtterBox case for my phone since they were the toughest and provided the most protection. That was the first
REVIEW – Before the pandemic when I worked in an actual office, our building was powered by the largest solar array in our state. We could park our cars under it, since it covered the parking lot. If you had an electric vehicle, you could charge it up for free. I really enjoyed knowing that
Redodo 12V 200Ah Plus LiFePO4 Battery review – Power everything, for a little less. Read More
REVIEW – When the pandemic drove everyone out of the gyms and into their houses, in-home fitness systems like Peloton took off. Everyone seemed to have one, which might explain why, for a while, they were so hard to get. And they were expensive. Peloton bikes are nice, but they are really just a stationary
REVIEW – No one likes to vacuum. At least, no one that I know. And even fewer people like to mop their floors. So wouldn’t it be great if there was a machine to handle those tasks for you? One that you can control from your phone? There is! It’s the ILIFE A11 LiDAR robot
ILIFE A11 LiDAR robot vacuum and mop review – Great vacuum, OK mop, horrible app Read More
REVIEW – There’s a small forested area on the edge of my town where I walk my dog every morning. I often see deer and turkeys in the woods, but I’ve seen tracks of many other creatures, especially in the snow. I always thought it would be fun to get some photos of these animals
REVIEW – It seems like everyone is working from home these days! If your employer is like mine, they give you a laptop, but the rest of the WFH kit is up to you. Working all day on a 15 inch laptop screen might be OK for some, but most crave a bit more
Plugable USB-C Quad HDMI Docking Station review – One wire connects it all! Read More
REVIEW – Our house was built in 1877. So of course, it was not built with air conditioning. It also was not built with any ducts or vents, so it would be next to impossible to install central air. In our little mountain town, air conditioning is not often needed. If it gets above 90
REVIEW – Sports and exercise are known for fads. One big fad right now has to do with recovery from exercise, and specifically, for when you overdo it. If you follow the trends, sore muscles can now be relieved by everything from oddly-shaped foam rollers to percussive massagers, which use a combination of vibration and
REVIEW – When I travel, I usually take a well-organized bag of chargers, adapters, and cords with me. This bag used to be quite large and heavy, as each device usually needed its own charger, cord, and an adapter to make it work with any other device. But now USB-C is becoming the norm. Most
REVIEW – I grew up with a gas range and have installed them in almost every house I’ve lived in. It was a selling point in our current house. It’s familiar and easy, and I like cooking with gas. The heat is steady, instant-on and instant-off, and you can see what’s happening just by peeping
Amzchef 2 Burner Induction Cooktop review – Cooking with magnets! Read More
REVIEW – I have a lot of video meetings. Several a day. I know how important eye contact is, and it’s even more important when everyone is remote. So I tend to stare at the camera, positioned as it usually is at the top of my large monitor. But this means that I’m not looking
REVIEW – Fairy lights are all the rage. You see them as backgrounds in Zoom meetings, in photos of Instragram-worthy patio shots, in catalogs of all types, in movies, and on just about every Pintrest board. But not all fairy lights are created equal. This is especially true for solar fairy lights. Despite the low
Ollny LED 80ft warm white solar string lights review – affordable easy ambiance Read More
REVIEW – A cordless stick vac was not something I thought I’d ever need. We have a LIDAR-guided robot vacuum that handles the task a few times a week, a more traditional upright vacuum for deep cleaning, and an older corded hand-held vacuum for spot cleaning. So when the opportunity to review the Levoit cordless
LEVOIT Vortex IQ 40 cordless stick vacuum review – the easiest vacuum I’ve ever used! Read More
REVIEW – Have you ever pictured yourself living the #vanlife, out on some scenic bluff, working a few hours at your laptop, and then heading out for a bike ride or surfing a few awesome sets? This could be the thing that makes it happen. The Zendure SuperBase M Series 600 M is a light
REVIEW – A few months ago, I had my worst crash ever in 25 years of riding and racing bicycles. I was riding some dirt roads in North Carolina and hit a large root hidden by leaves. The front of the bike stopped, but I didn’t. Going about 20 mph, I flew like superman head-first
REVIEW – It usually seems like a great idea to increase value by taking several products and building them into a single innovative and well-constructed package, which is what the Hohem iSteady Q gimbal is. It does what it does very well. But in my experience with it, I kept coming back to the same
Hohem iSteady Q gimbal review – Well built, great value, but do you need it? Read More
REVIEW – It might not seem like much to plug your phone into the car to access Android Auto each time you get in for a trip, but a few days with the Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto Car Adapter will change your mind. What is it? If you’ve bought or rented a new car
Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto Car Adapter review – It just works! (most of the time) Read More