Matt's Reviews

Great design, simple install, easy to control

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

I am a sucker for new gadgets and always had a guilty feeling that I was wasting money and energy by not programming my thermostats. So when I saw the beautiful Nest how could I resist? I bought four of them and chose to have the Nest Concierge service install them. I have to say, the service technician came within one day or me calling, he came exactly on time and he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Truly shocking!

I have found the thermostats very easy to use. I really like how easy it has been to control them from my iPhone, iPad and laptop. However, as far as I can tell they still rely on being turned up and down to "learn" from their owners. We are still not in the habi...

great for grilling panninis

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

The Krups Panini maker is reliable, easy to use and easy to clean. We have made hundreds of paniinis on it.

The small form factor of the Kindle Fire makes it a keeper

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

I have an iPad but prefer the Kindle Fire for reading. The smaller form factor does make a difference. It is nice to have the option to listen to music, watch a movie or surf the web from the Kindle Fire but I don't find myself using it very much for that purpose yet.

The iConcepts PowerDock is flimsy but serves it purpose

Overall

Rated 3 out of 5

For only $19.99 at Office Depot I guess my expectations should have been pretty low, but I was disappointed when I took the iConcepts PowerDock out of the box and founds that it was flimsy plastic that I could have easily broken.  The cord is also really short so you need to be near an outlet.  I am going to test out using this dock on my desktop to create another screen and keep either my schedule or daily task list on it to see how that works. 

I will check back in here and update this review to let you know how it goes. 

The Breville Juice Fountain is easy to set up, use and clean

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

My wife and ten year old son have recently discovered freshly squeezed juices.  Surprisingly my son, who is not a normally a very adventurous eater seems to really like beet, cucumber, lemon carrot juice.  So, in the interest of healthy eating, we ordered up the Breville Juice Elite.   Within ten minutes of opening the box we made our first glass of juice (two oranges, carrot juice and a beet) and it worked like a charm.  Then we cleaned it and made another.  It cleans up pretty easy and the juice tasted great.  Let's see how much we continue to use it.

I will warn you, it is very large and heavy.  It is definitely a commitment.   ...

Do not book air on Expedia - book it directly on airline site

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

I am a long time and very loyal Expedia customer.  At least I was until today.  I made a reservation for my family of five months ago for a trip to Mexico on United.  It turns out they never assigned seats and now there are no seats available.  And to make matters worse, American Airlines has a policy of charging $15 per ticket for seat reservation when you make the reservation through Expedia.  i will never again book air travel through Expedia.  And frankly, I feel the same way about American Airlines. 

MacBook Air review from a long time windows user

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

I started my career 18 years ago working for Microsoft in sales and business development roles.  I was there for the Windows 3.1 launch and spent countless hours pitching Microsoft products and being trained how to use them and demo them.  This is why I have resisted "going Mac" for so many years.  I have also been tied to Microsoft Outlook and the few times I attempted to make the switch I found Entourage to be a horrible replacement.  So I spent many years with Mac envy.  Then I got an iPhone 3, 3g and now 4.  And then I purchased an iPad and ended up really loving it.  So when they announced the MacBook Air, I was excited to give it another try to switch...

Apple TV was a breeze to set up and amazes me what it can do

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

A few weeks ago I ordered the 2nd generation Apple TV after hearing the announcement that we could watch Netflix streaming movies on our tv with it.  I received it a few days ago. It is amazingly small and sleek but unfortunately I did not realize until I took it out of the box that I needed an HDMI cable to hook it up.  So a quick trip to Radio Shack took care of that. ($49 later!)

Anyway, once I had the HDMI cable the Apple TV 2nd Generation was a snap to set up.  Almost in no time at all we were able to watch movies from Netflix and download TV shows or movies from iTunes.  I was also able to get our iMac connected to the Apple TV to enable us to stream photos and mus...

The Sanyo Kegirator is a good idea with poor execution

Overall

Rated 2 out of 5

When we moved into our new office we thought it would be cool and better for the environment to get a kegirator rather than have to go out and buy 12 packs and cases for our regular beer Friday.   Unfortunately  the Sanyo Kegirator, which we bought from Amazon, has been almost more trouble than it is worth. At various times we have had a team of people standing around it trying to figure out what is wrong with it this time. When it works it is great, but when it doesn't have you haven't stocked other beer, not so great.

It might be that we did not operate it correctly, but with 50+ smart people ready to use it, you would think you would not need an advanced d...

I was skeptical but the iPad 3G has won me over!

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

I own both the iPad wifi and the iPad 3G.  At first I thought it would just be a fun toy but I would probably not use it very much.  Now that I have had it for a few months, I have really come around and would have to say it is near indispensable. 

The biggest surprise is how much I use it for e-mail and calendering.  Rather than take out my laptop at night I find myself turning to the iPad. It is just much more comfortable, turns on and off easier and I like being able to swipe my way through the e-mails.

We also took my laptop, kindle, DVD player and iPad on a 10 day trip to Europe with my three kids.  I was amazed at how much we all used the iPad and barely used...

The Weber Summit S-650 Gas Grill is killer

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

I love to cook and I love to grill.  For the last 7+ years I have used a Weber Genesis gas grill.  It performed like a champ but since I often cook for 10+ people I needed something bigger. About a month ago I sprung for the Weber Summit which gives me even more grilling space and a few really nice features that I a have come to appreciate as follows:

1) The gas lines are arranged to go from front to back rather then from side to side which gives you more control when you are doing indirect grilling.

2) This grill gets REALLY hot which is great.  700+ degrees.  The sear station is also really nice.

3) I did not buy it for the rotisserie feature, but I have now ...

This Emerson Ice Maker actually works pretty well

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

We bought the Emerson Ice Maker for our office of 60+ people at the same time that we installed a soda fountain that did not come with crushed ice.  It has performed well for the first few weeks.  It can create cube of several different sizes and and is very easy to refill.  The ice cubes tasted a little funny at first but now the system seems to be cleaned out.  There is nothing like a nice glass of cold seltzer with a few freshly made ice cubes!

The upgrade from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4 has been worth it

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

I have been an iPhone user for the last three years.  I skipped the 3Gs upgrade but recently purchased the iPhone 4.  Here are my notes:

The Dell Optiplex 780 desktop computer performs like a champ!

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

I am a very demanding general business computer user. I have 15+ windows open at any given time with 5+ applications running. I use my computer 10 hours a day.  I also insist on using two full size monitors.  For the last year  I have been using the Dell Optiplex 755 mini tower and was very happy with it.  However, after upgrading to Windows 7 on my Lenovo Thinkpad, I decided it was time to do the same with my desktop.  So far so good.  This unit is a big bigger, but it runs like a champ.  I really like the new Dell monitors as well.  They have a sleeker look to them and the picture is quite vibrant.

I will report back any issues I am having, but...

The Cuisinart fondue pot is fun and a breeze to use

Overall

Rated 5 out of 5

When I was a kid my dad made a Japanese dish called Shabu Shabu.  I was inspired last week to try and make it for my kids as well. I went to my trust Epicurious.com, found a recipe and then went to Sur La Table and found this Cuisinart electric fondue pot.  It worked like a charm.  It was quick, safe, easy and provided very even heat.  Shabu Shabu is a broth based dish where the diners cook meet and vegetables at the table.  The Shabu Shabu name evokes the "swishing sound" the food makes in the broth. 

In the past I have purchased fondue pots that use sterno but have found that the heat is not very strong and fairly uneven.  This electric ve...