http://www.viewpoints.com/recent_reviews Sun, 11 May 2008 23:45:56 GMT The Latest Reviews at Viewpoints.com http://www.viewpoints.com/Target-Renton-WA-review-86892 I live off Exit 7 off 405, and we don't have much out here.  We can go to Factoria mall, about 5-10 minutes away; Downtown Renton for WalMart/Fred Meyer; or SouthCenter used to be the most convenient. — I was really happy to see the Target open off Exit 5, 5 minutes and I'm there and walking inside.  It really is quite nice.  Also, the store is clean and not as busy as the Factoria & SouthCenter locations which is great too. — In my experiences of talking to Sales People, they haven't been annoyed, irriated or anything like that.  There was 1 time they weren't able to help me find something, but other than that they've helped me resolve my question each time with a satisfactory resolution.  I have also dealt with returning earrings and have had no problems. — I'm happy to see this as an addition to the area.  There is a Starbucks inside, as well as their Pizza Hut/deli so you can feed your kids for cheap if you need to. —... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:45:56 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Target-Renton-WA-review-86892 andrachel http://www.viewpoints.com/USAA-Banking-and-Insurance-review-df1b1 USAA Banking and Insurance are the best in every aspect, period. Regarding the insurance, they offer real discounts for everything from multiple car ownership to theft prevention. Additional discounts are always given when multiple types of policies are held, such as home owners and rental insurance. Their 24 hour live customer service is unbeatable. In addition, if you have USAA, be prepared for absolutely no phone calls from them trying to get you to buy more services. If you have the opportunity to acquire USAA I urge you to do so. — Just a couple of personal experiences to share with you here: — My husband and I were stationed over seas, and one of our vehicles became completely inoperable. Due to extenuating circumstances it took over three months to dispose of the vehicle properly. After contacting USAA to let them know we no longer needed insurance on the disposed vehicle, I happened to mention that the vehicle was in non-op condition for over three... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:40:03 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/USAA-Banking-and-Insurance-review-df1b1 bearahumada http://www.viewpoints.com/Motorola-krazr-Cell-Phone-review-f2fa1 The Motorola Krazr is a decent phone. My husband & I both have one. He has had his for a little over a year and has had to replace the battery 3 times. They replaced it for him for free while it was still under the year manufacturer's warranty. Our cell phone service is through Verizon Wireless and a representative told us that there is a problem with the battery charge ports on these phones. For some reason they end up causing the battery to get dead cells. It is a problem that has been seen a lot apparently. Good solution to the battery problem after your year warranty is up....buy one on Ebay for less than a dollar. The phone has it's good sides though. It has an MP3 player with the external touch screen.  You don't have to open your phone to reverse/fast forward/pause/ or play your songs. Sometimes the phone is kinda slow and freezes up if you have too many text messages saved. I text extremely fast and it can't keep up with me but I know I'm a weirdo and not everyone texts... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:37:53 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Motorola-krazr-Cell-Phone-review-f2fa1 smackey80 http://www.viewpoints.com/Sennheiser-RS-120-Consumer-Headphones-review-73113 These headphones are great!! Hook them up to your TV or Stereo and walk around your house!! Or sit across the room and be able to hear the TV even better! I love these things. They are lightweight & adjustable. The charging cradle is too cool. The charging cradle is small and easy to place also. The headphones have great sound and great bass!!! That's the best part. I love doing housework or just walking from room to room and being able to hear the my favorite show! Reaches up to 330 feet! You can also buy an adapter to hook them to your computer. These are some high quality grade headphones! There is a little interference with mine sometimes but only once I get so far away from the transmitter..Adjust the volume right on the headset! They are definitely worth the... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:17:41 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sennheiser-RS-120-Consumer-Headphones-review-73113 smackey80 http://www.viewpoints.com/Motorola-E51-MD7161-3-Trio-Cordless-Phone-review-a6990 You get what you pay for. This is a cheap unit, for short term use. I had a base unit and 4 satellite handsets. Every single one of the handsets developed contact buttons that stopped working within 6 months of purchase. The warrenty replacement units did the same thing. I would never suggest anyone buy this product. The frustration of having the "5" button or the "answer/send" button not work consistantly is very stressful, and in the case of an emergency,... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:16:43 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Motorola-E51-MD7161-3-Trio-Cordless-Phone-review-a6990 ElginBullDogg http://www.viewpoints.com/Nims-Island-review-a15f5 Nim's Island — Abigail Breslin heads up this superb cast which includes Veteran Jodie Foster and the handsome Gerard Butler. — Living secluded on an undiscovered island, Nim and her Scientist father enjoy their privacy.  While gone overnight in search of a new Protozoan, Jack (Gerard Butler) encounters a monsoon and is lost at sea.  Back on the island, Nim (Abigail Breslin) is holding down the fort and reading her new book about adventure hero, Alex Rover.  — At the same time in San Francisco, CA....Alex Rover, the Author, is stuck on the next installment of Alex Rover Adventure Hero's book.  In search of some information about volcanoes, she emails a scientist recognized in National Geographic who has written about living on an island with a volcano.  Guess who that Scientist is?  That's right...Jack, NIm's father! — Alex Rover begins sending emails to Jack and Nim reveals that she is an 11 year old girl alone on the island... Sun, 11 May 2008 23:08:20 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nims-Island-review-a15f5 CrystaBush http://www.viewpoints.com/Smallville-review-bc222 I absolutely love Smallville!!! I started watching the first season from the library and couldn't stop watching them! I just bought Season 5 since the library didn't have it. The great thing about Smallville is that even though it was made for the WB, it stays true to Superman. They have great character development even through to the current Season 6. As far out as some of the story is it is not unbelievable the way they present it to you. They weave in all kinds of info into the background of Superman. The background they go into of Superman is: where his abilities came from, who his parents were, what the planet was like that he was from, & how he was raised to be the true superhero he became. The show is always keeping you on the edge of your seat and the seasons keep getting better and better!!! I love... Sun, 11 May 2008 22:59:32 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Smallville-review-bc222 smackey80 http://www.viewpoints.com/Panasonic-TH-42PX75U-42-in-HDTV-Plasma-TV-review-315e1 Panasonic 42" HDTV Plasma TV — I wasn't much of a TV watcher. In fact, for the last several months, I didn't even have a TV in my living room.  We have a 55" big screen downstairs and I just wouldn't go down there to watch TV.  Since I am reader, it didn't bother me too much. — Then came baseball season and my beloved Detroit Tigers.  I don't miss a game. If I can't watch it on TV, I listen to it on the radio.  One evening, while listening to the game on the radio,  an awesome double play was made and I found myself racing to a television so I could witness it for myself.  Unfortunately by the time I found the station, the replays were over and I was left to imagine it all in my head. — The next day, we were at Best Buy looking for flat screen televisions.   Since my primary reason for wanting a new television was for watching baseball games, the Best Buy associate pointed me in the direction of the Plasma tv's.  She... Sun, 11 May 2008 22:55:58 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Panasonic-TH-42PX75U-42-in-HDTV-Plasma-TV-review-315e1 CrystaBush http://www.viewpoints.com/Indiana-University-Bloomington-review-64756 Indiana University Bloomington is a great school. I attended this school for 2 semesters and didn't want to leave! There are so many classes it is unreal. The campus literally looks like a wildlife reserve or park. There are so many activities and free events (great for broke college students) that you won't be bored! The town is a great college town also! There is so much diversity on and off campus. Bloomington is a great town to spend 4+  years attending school. It is a small town with big city diversity thanks to the university. Indiana University cares about it's students and whether they succeed. The school has high standards and will hold you to them. The buildings on campus are awesome. The student union is great! Computers, restaurants, pool tables, and activities aplenty! The main library on IUB's campus is 10 stories tall and that is only the undergrad side!! There are also many other smaller libraries located all over campus and in the different schools. The business... Sun, 11 May 2008 22:50:39 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Indiana-University-Bloomington-review-64756 smackey80 http://www.viewpoints.com/PS-I-Love-You-review-a9853 P.S. I Love You — When the love of your life passes away, what happens?  You become a hermit, never leaving your apartment, trying to hold onto all the precious memories that you made together. Heck, you might not even get to shower or clean your apartment.  That's what  happened to Holly...until the letters came. — Holly (played by Hilary Swank) was only 29 years old when her beloved Irish husband, Jerry (played by Gerard Butler) dies of a brain aneurysm.  On her 30th birthday, a cake arrives from her husband along with a tape recording.  The recording says that tonight is the night she stops grieving  and gets out to celebrate with her friends. Tomorrow the first of many letters is to come and Holly is to follow the directions of each letter. Holly eagerly awaits each letter, which will send her on a journey on remembrance, healing and love. — Cast Includes: — Hilary Swank — Gerard Butler — Lisa Kudrow... Sun, 11 May 2008 22:39:04 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/PS-I-Love-You-review-a9853 CrystaBush http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-Ericsson-W580i-Cell-Phone-review-9c7b0 Got this as a replacement phone a while back.  Couldn't be happier with it.  It has the fm radio, which I like, but have to use the wired headset to start it, being that it needs an antenna.  Always have had sony phones and this one has the same menu layout, which I am accustomed to now.  dedicated music button and programmable center buttons are great, and the shake/shuffle feature I haven't gotten to try yet, but it's a novel idea.  Call quality is great and although past sony phones lacked on talktime I have no complaints with this one.  I prefer the w810 as it is the last of the sony's to support the mem stick duo, which I have plenty of because of my psp and digi camera but no big deal to just get a small one for this phone.  Good value, tons of features, excellent sound quality, fm radio, decent camera and great screen make this the nicest phone I've owned in 10 years. — —... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:55:30 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-Ericsson-W580i-Cell-Phone-review-9c7b0 savydad http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-iPod-Classic-Black-Digital-Media-Player-review-3b921 I watched the bandwagon grow for years discounting it's true beauty until I had a friend give me his hand-me-down classic (He's a DJ and has more than I can count) I love everything about it, and I've owned players from archos, creative, sandisk, philips and other off-brands and none are as capable or intuitive on the AUDIO side of things as the ipod.  True, others offer greater video compatibility and ease of drag-n-drop as well as many other nice things, but as far as looking sexy and doing what it is supposed to do well, none can beat the ipod especially for large music libraries (I have about 15k+ songs with anywhere from 10-12k on it at any time)  Also, none can beat the battery life and size of the ipod, which is the biggest plus being able to slide it in a pocket where my creative zen vision m is too bulky.  I give it a 4 star because it does have flaws like every other player on the market.  My big ones are...no fm radio, no voice recording (w/o... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:41:28 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-iPod-Classic-Black-Digital-Media-Player-review-3b921 savydad http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-VAIO-VGC-LS21N-PC-Desktop-review-00905 I have had this computer for 7 years and use it for work as well as organizing my life and surfing the net. — The computer itself has never failed me, although the internet provider has occasionally. —  I am surprised at it's long life and consistent dependablity at this point and feel I should be knocking on wood.  I can't remember any complaint that I have had about this product. —  It is definitely a life-line for me. —... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:34:05 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-VAIO-VGC-LS21N-PC-Desktop-review-00905 gnappl http://www.viewpoints.com/Creative-Zen-Vision-M-30G-MP3-Player-review-19896 I bought this a few weeks ago and I have an ipod now as well.  I find that larger libraries (I have 10k+ songs) are hard to load and keep track of compared to the ipod.  It does have the huge advantage that just about any video thrown at it will play on it.  The only exception I have seen thus far is a video encoded with an ac3 audio codec, which is fine by me.  The limitation is that when the library is changed or the player decides to lock up, it goes through its "rebuilding" stage when rebooted and takes 20+ minutes on my large library.  This would include adding or deleting songs from the player.  Another note I might add is that I let my battery run too low and plugged in usb as well as wall power to charge and it fried my battery circuitry and will not allow it to boot up without external power now.  Tech support from creative was unhelpful and just tried to sell me a refurbed unit for $200 which is the same unit they sell on their site for... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:27:59 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Creative-Zen-Vision-M-30G-MP3-Player-review-19896 savydad http://www.viewpoints.com/Fforde-Jasper-Thursday-Next-in-the-Well-Of-Lost-Plots-review-6f012 If you want a book that will give you a combination of suspense, humor, fun, mystery, imagination, and fantasy than look no further!  Combining classic story settings into one packed book, The Well of Lost Plots is a tale of protecting classic literature from characters out to destroy it by literally jumping into and becoming part of the story!  — — One note: read all of the stories in succession or you may be confused!  This is a continuation series and does not recap all of the great details from books prior! — — —... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:15:01 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Fforde-Jasper-Thursday-Next-in-the-Well-Of-Lost-Plots-review-6f012 classypoise http://www.viewpoints.com/Concert-for-George-review-13dd2 I'm a big Beatles fan, I admit that from the start. Of the four Beatles, I liked George Harrison the least and I can't exactly say why. He was not as good a songwriter as his Beatle colleagues, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but then 99.999 percent of songwriters are not as good as the Lennon-McCartney brand name. Harrison also seemed more aloof and just a little weirder than his bandmates. — — However, there is no question that he wrote a handful of superb songs while with the Beatles, including two with names that are spoken aloud when discussing music in the Temple of Lennon/McCartney: Something and Here Comes the Sun. These two songs are arguably as good as just about anything in the Lennon/McCartney catalog and they have withstood the test of time to be considered classics. In addition, there are several other songs that are solid enough to place Harrison among the elite songwriters of the 20th century. No question about it: George Harrison was one of the most... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:13:25 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Concert-for-George-review-13dd2 bkovacs http://www.viewpoints.com/Zyrtec--151839-review-844d4 Zyrtec just went OTC! As the commercials say, it really does work 2x as fast as Claritin and targets more allergies! As a person working closely with medications, I would recommend Zyrtec to allergy sufferers who are not getting their relief from Claritin. ... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:08:54 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Zyrtec--151839-review-844d4 classypoise http://www.viewpoints.com/Made-of-Honor-review-fa022 In a popular theme of romantic comedies, Made of Honor asks the question if "there's more to life than just sleeping around." Not only does it ask this prevailing question, but it also harkens back to a theme seen very similarly in My Best Friend's Wedding and more than a few Friends episodes. Nevertheless it's still an entertaining film, despite that been there/done that thing it has going on. — — Tom and Hannah (Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan) meet by accident while students at Cornell University on Halloween 1998. She's the type of girl who is sleeping in her bed while everyone else is in costume at a party, and he's the type to don a Bill Clinton mask and try to bed all the girls dressed as Monica Lewinsky. Since she doesn't fall immediately to his charm, he rather enjoys the challenge. — — Skipping forward ten years, Tom and Hannah have become the best of friends. They spend every Sunday together sharing non-fried Chinese food, visiting antique... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:07:37 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Made-of-Honor-review-fa022 LauraBelle http://www.viewpoints.com/Grey-Goose-Vodka-review-d0c46 I am a waitress and a bartender, and every time someone asks for a vodka martini, I always recommend Grey Goose, and it's never a hard sell.  Not only is it my favorite vodka, it apparently is everyone else's too!  It's extremely smooth, and doesn's burn the throat on the way down.  Perfect for a martini. —... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:05:29 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Grey-Goose-Vodka-review-d0c46 SizzleCakes http://www.viewpoints.com/Godiva-White-Chocolate-Liqueur-review-da9f6 I bartend at an upscale restaurant in my hometown, and I convinced the owners to stock up on the Godiva liquors after having a chocolate martini at another restaurant in a bigger city. It tastes great, very rich, and mixes very well with vodka. To make the best martini, I use a chocolate vodka, the Godiva White Chocolate, and the Godiva Dark Chocolate. Then I shake it and pour into a chilled martini glass swirled with chocolate syrup. My customers love it, and it is now one of the most popular drinks... Sun, 11 May 2008 21:02:14 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Godiva-White-Chocolate-Liqueur-review-da9f6 SizzleCakes