Reviews by dstuder

dstuder says "Exceptional and affordable luxury" about Hyundai Genesis - 2009

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:38:47 GMT

If ever an automaker deserved a "Most Improved" award, it would be Hyundai. Within the last decade or so, the Korean company has gone from building cars that were the butt of cruel jokes to competent vehicles that just might be the cause of some sleepless nights for Honda and Toyota executives.

Now that Hyundai has proven it can keep up with Japanese carmakers when it comes to producing high-quality and reliable small and midsize cars at value prices, the company has set its sights on the large luxury sedan market with the 2009 Hyundai Genesis.

The Genesis matches up pretty closely with the Chrysler 300 in terms of wheelbase and overall length, but the Hyundai's exterior styling is less dramatic. If anything, the Genesis resembles a cleaner interpretation of a Benz S-Class. A 290-horsepower V6 is the entry-level engine, but the bigger news is a 4.6-liter V8 pumping out an impressive 375 hp. Both engines send their power to the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission....

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dstuder says "Exciting!" about Apple - TV (Home Theater)

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:31:12 GMT

At Macworld in January of this year, Apple formally announced the Apple TV (previously known as the "iTV"), an iTunes-compatible streaming media device meant to revolutionize the way we watch television. The announcement of the Apple TV also came at a time when Apple unveiled the iPhone and officially changed the company name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc.-a move that indicated Apple's seriousness in focusing more on lifestyle products for the general consumer than on traditional computers. Today's Apple wants into every facet of our lives, including our living rooms.

And so, after several delays attributed mostly (among the rumor mill) to unfinished software, the Apple TV finally started shipping on March 20. Fans and critics alike have eagerly looked forward to its release so that we can decide once and for all how Apple could compete in the quickly-saturating downloads-to-TV market.

We're approaching the Apple TV from a slightly different perspective than most of Apple's prospective...

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dstuder says "Doesn't live up to expectations, but gets the job done" about Dodge Caliber - 2007

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:22:07 GMT

As a bit of a change-up, the Caliber is a hatchback/wagon, and there is no accompanying sedan version. It would seem that Dodge decided a compact hatchback would be a swell idea in light of America's recent and slightly elevated interest in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Caliber is not a hard-core fuel miser, though, and is instead a pretty normal-sized compact. It features an all-new chassis design, and is being built at DaimlerChrysler's retooled Belvidere, Illinois, plant. Dodge placed a priority on giving the Caliber a high level of versatility, style and safety.

The Dodge Caliber is pretty easy to identify thanks to its distinctive styling cues. Up front, it apes the look of Dodge's big Ram truck with its large headlights, crosshair grille and buff fender flares. Eighteen-inch wheels are available on the Caliber, which is unusually large for this class of car. Inside, one will find the basic hatchback formula of seating for five and a 60/40-split-folding rear seat. There...

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dstuder says "Definitely worth it!!" about Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill Service Delivery

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:06:34 GMT

I just recently purchased a Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill off of Amazon. The other reviews definitely helped me in my decision making process, so I definitely wanted to pass my thoughts along. I respect Consumer Reports as well, so it was an added plus to find out that they rated this treadmill a top buy.

First off, I am very pleased with the overall value. I received a free Bowflex mat to go underneath it, and also got free super saver shipping. The Bowflex mat is decent. I probably would not have purchased it for the $99 price-tag, but it does protect our carpet very nicely, and I'm glad to have it.

The thing I was most nervous about was the free super saver shipping. Other reviewers had mentioned that their boxes arrived in very poor condition, so I didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, my treadmill box arrived in excellent condition. One guy delivered it, and he had quite the time getting it off the truck. He did a great job, though, and nothing was damaged in any way.

As other reviewers...

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dstuder says "Confused..." about Garmin - Nuvi 200

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:46:17 GMT

My Nuvi 200 arrived two days ago, and after a few minutes to locating satellites, the unit found my location and in all later driving followed my routes faithfully. The POIs are accurate, and reasonably up to date although resturants, gas stations, and hotels have changed names although not locations. The routing to destinations seems good with my limited experience although the estimated mileage to destinations I have visited often seems under estimated.

I purchased the Nuvi 200 unit (my first GPS) for upcoming trips to Midwest USA, England, and Northern Europe. I anticipate that it will perform well with mapping and directing my movements in these regions.

But I suspect that the unit has many additional capabilities that I have not been able to learn because the "manual" for the unit is a joke. Where is a full guide for users who want to fully use the Nuvi 200's features? This lack of documentation is the primary reason that I give the Nuvi 200 only three stars instead of 5.

Presently...

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dstuder says "The Classic Original--why change?" about Apple iPod classic 120 GB - Silver Digital Media Player

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:27:58 GMT

The updated iPod Classic was probably the least exciting of the new iPods announced in the September 2008 update, but that does not mean it should be dismissed.

I own the 160 GB iPod Classic that has now been discontinued, but there are few differences (perhaps the biggest being the much slimmer shape of this 120 model), and I did get to check this updated 120 GB version out at the store, when picking up the new nano and touch.

Firstly, the 120 GB version is again smaller than the largest capacity available last year, but it is a single platter hard drive, which allows it to maintain the slim shape of the 80 GB version from last year. More storage, a hundred dollars less, and just as small. That is progress despite calls from others that the classic isn't exciting. It still serves its purpose as the original iPod idea. Big capacity in a simple to use device.

Next, the software has been slightly updated on the iPod Classic. It now includes Genius, like iTunes and the other new iPods....

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dstuder says "Great well rounded point and shoot" about Sony - Cybershot W80 Digital Camera

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:18:59 GMT

Myhusband and I recently upgraded from our Sony DSC-P8 to a Sony DSC-W80. So far we are extremely happy. We shopped around quite a bit before settling on the new cybershot, and spent a good deal of time trying out other brands. In the end, the Smile Shutter brought us back to Sony. It sounds like there is no way it would work, but it really does. We have two young children that are remarkably hard to catch smiling. With the new Sony, all we have to do is turn on the smile shutter and the camera does the rest. So far, we haven't missed a smile with the 3 year (with teeth) and have caught a few of the 4 month old (no teeth). It makes a really big difference.

The other feature that has been great so far is the burst mode. With my old camera, the missing time between shot resulted in a lot of blurring. The new camera manages to focus each shot much better. We played around with some moving targets, and the pictures came out great. One major drawback of burst mode, however, is that you can't...

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dstuder says "Alli performs as promised!" about Alli Fat Burner Diet Pills

dstuder — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:09:06 GMT

When I started taking alli, I was 235 lbs and in less than 5 months, I lost over 35 lbs. Besides taking alli, I did exercise and monitor what I ate, but by no means was I being very strict. I would try to exercise for at least 30 minutes about 2-3 times a week and do stretches in the morning before work. I still indulged in the foods I loved on the weekends (like pizza & chicken wings), but during the weekdays, I would try to limit my calorie intake to 1500-2000 calories a day. Yes, if I hadn't taken alli, I still would have lost weight, but it would not have been as much.

Remember, you have to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1.0-lb (or eat 3,500 calories to gain 1.0-lb), and your body will burn between 2,000-2,500 calories a day depending on your age, weight, height, and sex. Therefore, if you watch your calorie intake and do some form of exercise (anything is better than nothing), then you will lose weight.

The benefit from taking alli is that it will help reduce the amount of calories...

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dstuder says "Inspiron is the greatest" about Dell Laptop InspironTM 1501 (N04156) PC Notebook

dstuder — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:29:07 GMT

Ok, as an actual user of an Inspiron 1501, I can honestly say that this has been a great buy. This other review that is in this page is not a fair review because it is stating an opinion in general of Dell instead of writing about the actual product.

My Inspiron specks are a little different from the one advertised. Mine, which I had now for 4 days today (8/30/08) has an AMD Athlon X2 1.9 GHz processor with 2 GB of RAM (Insp. 1526 can be expandeble to 4 GB of RAM) with a 160 GB HD, a DVD RW, and Windows Vista Home Premium. This also includes 4 USB ports, Ethernet, Modem, Wireless network connection, IEEE and HDMI ports and 8-in-1 Media Card Reader for your digital camera. I did not include the Web Cam nor Microphone.

Right out of the box, this machine has performed very well. This is designed for the casual user in mind. The main reason for me to buy this laptop is for writing screenplays. I added Office 2007 and Movie Magic Screenwriter 6. Both work great in this machine. There was minimal...

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dstuder says "Fun and effective striptease" about Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease 1

dstuder — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:22:45 GMT

After using the dvds a few times now...I definately am feeling better and more toned. It's a lot of fun to learn the routines, but I guess when I purchased the Dvds I thought I'd be doing one long fitness routine. In actuality..the dvds are short segments of instuction and routine run-through. Here's a run down of each of the 5 Dvds.

Disc #1: (Strip Your Way to Fitness) Has a good warm up routine that shows up on each of the 5 discs so that you are doing the same routine before each "workout". This disc also has a couple of dance routines that are very short. I think the point is to do the step-by-step learning part over and over to get the workout...the actual routines alone are not a work out...they are only a couple mins. long.

Disc #2: (Fit to Strip) Is probably the disc I'll end up using the most. It is total body toning targeting hips bun and abs...the problem with this is that it's only a 30 min workout and by the time you feel it or the exercise begins to take effect...they are on...

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dstuder says "Serta pillow heaven" about Serta Pillowtop Mattress

dstuder — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:34:42 GMT

I have never had a good nights sleep in my life. I have always had problems falling asleep and staying asleep. I would wake up with aches and pains all over my back, neck, legs, anywhere. I would lay in bed for an entire eight hours and still need three cups of coffee in the morning, I talked to my doctor and he prescribed a sleep aid and I thought my problems were solved. But to my dismay, my problems persisted. With constant research, I finally found the Serta Pillowtop Mattress and I figured why not give it a chance. So I gave it a try and it honestly changed my life. I fell asleep quickly and stayed asleep all night, i did not even need my sleep medication anymore. It was amazing the difference it made. It was the best investment I have ever made. It is comfortable and theraputic, an affordable luxury. I ended up saving money on all the things to give me energy to feel up for the day. Serta restored my ability sleep peacefully and be more productive and efficient throughout the day.......

dstuder says "Carmex saved my lips" about Carmex Lip Balm - 0.5 oz tub

dstuder — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:46:12 GMT

I have always had a problem with dry lips. When I discovered Carmex, I couldn't stop using it. After the very first time I could feel a huge difference. I put it on in the morning and it lasts until lunch. While it isn't a delicious flavor or strong lip gloss, it is great for a natural, fresh look. I have tried so many different lip care items that have disappointed. From shines, to sunscreen, to anything else and none of them did anything near what Carmex on the very first day. It rejuvinated and moisturized my mouth which gave me so much for confidence to go out and take charge of my life. It goes on thick but does not look gaudy or over applied so you can stay worry free. I do recommend that you keep a tissue with you because the tub can get messy and really get everywhere. But I can say that it is definitely worth it. Carmex also makes an easy applicator with the same stuff in it. With the easy applicator you can get all the same benefits without all the mess and hassle of the tub.......