Reviews by zmaj101

zmaj101 says "Long battery life." about Logitech LX7 Cordless Optical Mouse

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:00:44 GMT

The Logitech LX7 wireless mouse is a great buy. I searched for some time for a quality wireless mouse that wouldn't break the bank. I picked up the Logitech online for cheap, and I've been more than satisfied. The best thing about this mouse is the invisible laser tracking light. Rather than the bright red light that most optical mice use, this uses a faint red light that's barely visible. It doesn't hurt the mouse's functionality at all, and it makes the batteries last forever. The mouse's tracking is very accurate. I do occasional graphics editing, and it's not hard at all to move a pixel at a time.

I use this mouse daily at school for probably seven or eight straight hours per day. I replace my batteries twice a year. My wife's ordinary optical mouse (bright red light) goes through batteries every few weeks.

The only negative about this mouse is that the USB receiver is kind of large (about the size of a USB thumb drive). I've been worried once or twice that I was going to accidentally...

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zmaj101 says "Great learning toy." about LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:53:15 GMT

The Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set is an outstanding product. I bought it for about $20 on sale, and it's possibly the best $20 I've spent on toys for my daughter. She sits in front of the fridge every day learning her letters, and she's really starting to grasp the concept of the sounds they make. This toy is educational, durable, and fun!

On the positive side, I've been absolutely amazed at how long the batteries have lasted. I've always been nervous with this type of toy that the batteries were going to end up doubling the cost of the toy within a few months. Moreover, this toy uses regular AA batteries, not expensive button cells or unusual sizes. Also, the song the toy plays with each letter isn't that annoying compared to many of the songs my daughter's toys play.

On the negative side, it can sometimes be a challenge to keep track of all the letters. They occasionally have a habit of disappearing from the fridge. But with 26 letters in the alphabet, there's not much...

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zmaj101 says "Versitile." about Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl Aquarium

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:44:39 GMT

The Fisher Price Ocean Wonders play mat is great for one big reason: it's versitile. It grows with your child. The basic mode for the play mat is like most others--baby lies on its back with toys hanging overhead. The mat also, however, converts to "tummy time" mode by propping up one end so you can lean toys against it. Better yet, the play mat can convert into a tunnel for older toddlers to enjoy.

My daughter has had a blast with this through all phases. She enjoyed it as a simple play mat when she was an infant. She's now three, and still enjoys playing with the tunnel. It's nice to actually have a baby toy that you don't have to replace.

The set is durable and the accessories it comes with are nice. The mirror is better quality that most that are included in play sets. The music-playing fish is good too, and it's not too loud. The only complaint with it is that the batteries only last a few weeks, and the little button cells are expensive to replace.

This play mat was also relatively...

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zmaj101 says "Great college town, better education." about Indiana University-Bloomington

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:25:01 GMT

I attended IU Law from 2006-2009. IU Bloomington is an outstanding place to get an education. College town atmosphere is fun and comfortable, and the student body is uniquely friendly and supportive. My only complaint is that sometimes people forget that you can have fun without just getting drunk. I guess that's college life.

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zmaj101 says "Great at first, but began to die over time." about Fuji - FinePix A330 digital camera

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:22:11 GMT

This camera was a fantastic buy for the first two or three years. Colors are bright and vibrant and pictures were high quality and sharp. We've used it all the time, and found it easy and durable. However, starting in year four, the camera started having trouble focusing in anything but bright light. Too many fuzzy pictures eventually made me upgrade to a different mode. Too bad because it was a decent camera before that.

Good features of this camera are that it uses simple AA batteries, and the memory card. Both are good features because they're cheap. Ordinary AA rechargeables are very inexpensive, so it's no trouble to have a few pairs around charged and ready to go. And the type of memory card for this camera (SD card) is also cheap and easy to find. The last thing you want to have to do is spend another $50 on batteries and memory cards after you buy your camera.

My only other complaint is that the camera is a little too big. It's too large to comfortably fit in your pocket. I think...

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zmaj101 says "Solid computer once you wipe all Dell's trash pre-loaded softwar" about Dell Inspiron E1505 PC Notebook

zmaj101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:18:44 GMT

I've had my Dell e1505 for three years, and it's been a good buy overall. I've had one or two problems with hardware, but they were resolved quickly by Dell. The computer's components are quality, and the system is well balanced and built.

My only major complaint was all the crap worthless pre-loaded software the computer came with. Out of the box, I was disappointed with the computer's speed and load time. The first thing I did was wipe the hard drive and install a fresh retail version of Windows Vista Business. Then the computer was lightning fast.

Only other problem was the screen hinge. The hinge is so tight that eventually it began to crack the plastic around the screen, and I had to take it apart to do a repair. I think this is probably a problem with laptops generally (this is the third I've had that has done this), so it's hard to be too critical of Dell. Beyond that, the laptop is sturdy and well-built.

Though my experience hasn't been problem-free, next time I'm in the market...

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zmaj101 says "An absolutely outstanding product - and GREAT price." about Mio - DigiWalker C220 Auto GPS

zmaj101 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:25:56 GMT

Got this last year at Pep Boys' after Thanksgiving sale. I've bee VERY pleased with this little unit. It's easy to use, accurate, reliable, and most of all flexible. Having the card slot as opposed to lots of internal memory has been the best feature. As a GPS unit, it's above average. But with a little searching online, you can learn how to unlock your unit to reveal it's underlying Windows operating system. Now, I not only have a great GPS system, but I have a unit that plays movies and MP3's. With the headphone jack, I'm in business. ...

zmaj101 says "Inexpensive and effective." about D-Link DI-524 Wireless Router

zmaj101 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:15:53 GMT

Got this router free after rebate a few years ago at an after thanksgiving sale. I purchased it with low expectations, and three years later it's still running and running well. This is a basic router that I use to connect both a laptop (wirelessly) and a desktop (wired) to a cable modem. The router is fast, easy to set up, and reliable. I would highly recommend....