http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/tim Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:57:02 GMT Reviews by tim http://www.viewpoints.com/Japonais-Chicago-IL-review-d85a It seems like everyone in Chicago had been to Japanois before me, so I had to give it a try! I walked in expecting to hate it for being such a scene, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. It is a bit loud and seatng is cramped. But the food was quite good and not unreasonably priced (for a nice restaurant). ... Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:57:02 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Japonais-Chicago-IL-review-d85a tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Purina-Beneful-Healthy-Weight-for-Adult-Dogs-review-4da41 There have been some negative comments written about this product on another review, so I thought I'd lend a different perspective.  — — As a former dog-food snob, I would NEVER have bought a dog-food brand that you get at Target or the supermarket.  I love my dog, want only the best for him (a 7 year-old beagle) and don't mind spending the money on high quality food or making special trips to the vet or Petsmart.   Well, that changed a few years ago when we relocated and had to find a new vet.  After seeing our dog's weight, she suggested that I give him Healthy Weight Beneful to help him lose the extra lbs.  She was almost embarrassed to recommend it, but said "it worked for my dog." — — We had previously tried every other recommendation you could think of (since our old vet also warned us that our beagle was getting too heavy and would not live as long).  We tried lots of high-end products, special diets and other... Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:34:56 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Purina-Beneful-Healthy-Weight-for-Adult-Dogs-review-4da41 tim 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Hotel-Lungarno-Florence-Italy-review-634e Hotel Lungarno is a Wonderful Place — — It's been almost a year since my wife and I stayed at the Hotel Lungarno in Florence Italy, but the beauty of the place is still fresh in my mind. — I did a lot of research on hotels while planning the trip, since we typically find that the quality of the hotel has a big impact on how much we enjoy the vacation. Without a doubt, the Hotel Lungarno delivered on all of our expecations.  — The hotel is situated right on the Arno river, between the Vecchio and Santa Trinita Bridges.  This is a perfect location because it is close enough to all the action in Florence (only a 5 to 10 minute walk to everything important), but is just far enough away to avoid the heavy summer crowds.  — We opted for a Superior Double Room, which has floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Arno and a small balcony with a table and chairs.  The room was very charming and well-appointed with a modern marble bathroom... Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:21:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Hotel-Lungarno-Florence-Italy-review-634e tim 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Portrait-Suites-Rome-Italy-review-4813 Incredible Hotel on a beautiful street in Rome — The Portrait Suites in Rome feels more like a private residence than it does a hotel. That's because it is small (it only has 14 rooms), and sits on top of the Ferragamo store on Rome's trendiest shopping street, just a few blocks from the Spanish Steps. It is housed in a former palazzo, and does not have a lobby...just an open room where the concierge and a few other hotel workers sit. — We absolutely loved this hotel! — We were lucky enough to be some of the first guests to stay at the hotel in July 2006 when it opened, and it did not disappoint. The summer time in Rome can be very hot and crowded, and we appreciated coming back to this quiet retreat at the end of long sight-seeing days. — The Portrait suites hotel has a very modern feel, and our room (a De Luxe Studio) was extremely spacious with a sitting area, flat-panel television, fully-stocked bar, writing desk and very comfortable king-size bed. ... Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:09:22 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Portrait-Suites-Rome-Italy-review-4813 tim 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Pottery-Barn-Montego-Pedestal-Dining-Table-review-5dce Not an Everyday Purchase — — It's not everyday that you buy a new dining table, but we just took the plunge and purchased a new Montego Pedestal Dining Table from Pottery Barn. Our old dining table was a holdover from our last house and never really fit in our new (smaller) space. We did a bunch of research looking for a high-quality, low cost dining table...checking out all of the usual suspects: Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware and a bunch of high-end furniture stores. We always had our eye on the one at Pottery Barn because it was perfect...we just didn't like the price tag ($1499). Well, after much discussion, we got over the price and made the purchase. — — The Montego Pedestal Dining Table — — This is an absolutely beautiful table and now one of the nicest pieces of furniture in our home. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of P. Barn stuff because it feels overpriced for the quality. But not this piece. It is solid... Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:46:35 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Pottery-Barn-Montego-Pedestal-Dining-Table-review-5dce tim 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-Airport-Extreme-Router-review-e08b Being Really Fast Compensates for other Big Flaws — I recently switched from PC to Mac and bought a Macbook Pro. While I was at the Apple store spending way too much money, I decided that I'd drop another $179 to purchase their new Airport Extreme Router. The thought of surfing 5x faster was really appealing, especially since I have had ongoing problems with my home Linksys router. — Once I got the router set up, it swiftly delivered on its promise of fast speeds. The key is the 802.11N standard which is more efficient than the previous B and G. Using a hi-speed cable connection from Comcast, I am routinely clocking in at 3.1Mpbs - which is about as fast as a T1 line! For home use, nothing could be better. YouTube videos and other media used to be unwatchable but now they load in lightening speed. I have gotten very used to my high speeds and would never want to go back.  The unit also looks nice and sleek on the desk. — Unfortunately, there are more... Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:16:36 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-Airport-Extreme-Router-review-e08b tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-BRAVIA-KDL-V32XBR2-32-in-HDTV-LCD-Television-review-1831 This is the first flat-screen TV that I ever purchased and so I did a bunch of research before I pulled the trigger. So far, I am extremely pleased with the Sony Bravia KDL-V32XBR2! I use this LCD TV in the bedroom and even though we are about 14 feet away from it, it is plenty big enough. — — To be honest, I went to the store hoping NOT to like the Sony. My perception was that their flat-screen TVs were expensive relative to other well-respected brands like Panasonic, and I really didn't want to pay a premium for the Sony brand. Unfortunately, I fell in love with the crisp display and the beautiful form factor - and did end up paying more than I would have for a comparable-sized televison from a different manufacturer. This TV just looks great in the room, and that is worth something to me. — — My only gripe about this Sony model is the junky remote that comes with it. It looks like the kind you get when you buy a $30 DVD player, not a $1,200 TV!... Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:41:20 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-BRAVIA-KDL-V32XBR2-32-in-HDTV-LCD-Television-review-1831 tim 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-iPod-Shuffle-Second-Gen-Silver-1-GB-MP3-Player-review-ae95 I bought this ipod shuffle for my wife as a valentine's gift (in hot pink, no less).  Needless to say she loved the form size and color, and the fact that it fits in even the smallest of her purses when not being listenend to. — The device sets up much like the regular ipod and integrates perfectly with iTunes, as you would expect.  What I was not expecting, however, was the great sound that could come out of such a small device.  To me, you really can't tell the difference between the shuffle and the regular ipod. — The only downside is that the unit feels a bit fragile (although what do you expect from an mp3 players the size of a quarter!).  Specifically, the clip felt like it might start getting loose or fall off together with too much use. There's a lot to like with this little guy, especially if form is more important than being able to see what song is up next! —... Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:43:47 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Apple-iPod-Shuffle-Second-Gen-Silver-1-GB-MP3-Player-review-ae95 tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD30-Digital-Camera-review-5f4f I bought this camera for my wife last summer - because I knew that she wanted something she could keep in her purse.  It has definitely been good for that, and she loves the design.  Unfortunately, sometimes the camera produces blurry images with red/orange tint.  I don't know why this sometimes happens, but other owners I've talked to have experienced the same thing.  — It is too bad, because the form is so nice and compact.  Unfortunately, I would not recommend this over other small cameras of similar price. —... Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:38:36 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD30-Digital-Camera-review-5f4f tim 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Neat-Receipts-SCANALIZER-review-418a I received this scanner as a gift and I have really enjoyed using it. I wanted Neat Receipts because I need to track both business and personal expenses, but hate saving messy paper receipts. This little scanner takes care of that by turning my crumbled up paper into neatly organized scanned receipt files. — To date, the scanner has really done a good job deciphering my receipts and putting things in the right place within the Neat Receipts software. However, it is not perfect and there are times when I need to override what the scanner has done (although that is easy to do). Even though it misses scans sometimes, I'm still very impressed. — My only other reservation was the price. When you compare the cost to a regular full-size scanner it is high, and can't handle anything bigger than a regular size piece of paper (because it is not a flat-bed scanner). — Overall, I am very happy with Neat Receipts and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get better... Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:25:09 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Neat-Receipts-SCANALIZER-review-418a tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Getting-Things-Done-The-Art-of-Stress-Free-Productivity-review-645e A friend recommended that I read the book "Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen. It was a NYT bestseller at one point, and has become somewhat of a cult with Mac-users (GTD, as it is called). The premise of the book is that all of our "to-do's" end up rattling around in our head all-day, causing us anxiety that limits what we can actually accomplish. Before reading this book, I considered myself a fairly organized person. But this book really showed me just how inefficient I am! It has a lot of very tangible strategies for getting better organized and closing those "open loops" or little to-do's that gnaw at you all day (like, get the back door fixed; send in the school re-enrollment form, etc.). I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a better handle on the ever-increasing number of things we have to do and keep track of every day. My only gripe was that the book got a little long-winded near the end, and the simple concepts... Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:28:33 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Getting-Things-Done-The-Art-of-Stress-Free-Productivity-review-645e tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/MacBook-Apple-MacBook-Pro-review-ade1 As a PC User, I can't say I've used this machine too often - but what I have seen when I've used my colleagues is that this is a very high-quality laptop (oops...am I allowed to call it a laptop, or is that a PC... Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:13:06 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/MacBook-Apple-MacBook-Pro-review-ade1 tim 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Acura-MDX-2003-review-38d9 When we bought our first car, the BMW X5 (which we love), we thought "No problem if it only fits two kids, that's all we're planning on having." If only someone had clued us in to carpooling! Yes, we now carpool with two other families to and from school everyday and needed a third row of seats, something the old X5's don't have (the BMW X5 2007 does have 3 rows now). — As we thought about which second car we'd have to take on, we looked at three types: Minivans (not my style), Big SUVs (not very garage friendly) and car-based SUVs with a third row (basically the Acura, Volvo and Honda Pilot). We decided right off the bat that we'd prefer the third choice and went to do some test drives. Before we test drove a single vehicle, we assumed the Honda Pilot was the best choice since it was the least expensive and got very good reviews from Consumer Reports. But after driving the Acura MDX, we thought it was a much better choice for a couple of reasons: — 1. It is a... Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:08:01 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Acura-MDX-2003-review-38d9 tim 4