Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

  I preface this with the fact that I was given this product to provide a product review.  I'm sure if you have read my reviews you have noted that I don't hesitate to do a one star review when a product deserves it regardless of whether I paid full price or not.  Conversely if a product deserves a 5-star review, I must give it the appropriate score regardless of whether I received it for free or not.   Admittedly I was a bit skeptical when I saw how tiny this speaker was even before I compressed it to it's even smaller travel size.  It puts out some darn good sound for something that is smaller than a racket ball.  (or for you foodies, a clementine.) I tested it on an Android tablet, a Kindle Fire and a Galaxy S4 phone.   It performed superbly on each.   In fact I didn't realize how bad the sound output was before it was enhanced.   I know on all three devices that headphones are really the only realistic method of playing them unless you are hooked

Merry Xmas 2013

This cover fits my Char-Broil Infrared 2-burner grill like it was made for it.  LOL  Since it was made for it, I guess I would be somewhat disappointed if it didn't fit.  You do have to drop the side tables to get the cover on the grill.  It has a nice heavy feel to it and the velcro latches provide an easy installation.  This is the first grill cover I have ever had so it remains to be seen if it will add any life to my grill.   It was $19.98 at Amazon and $30.00 elsewhere so it was a good deal for the money at Amazon.   Considering a plastic tarp is over $12.00 and is not fitted, this seemed pretty smart for the price.    From the vendor:                              Custom designed to be a perfect fit for Char-Broil's TRU-Infrared 2-burner gas grills ·       Rugged heavy-duty vinyl cover repels water, snow, wind, and assorted debris to keep your grill safe and dry ·       Internal polyester-base liner protects grill exterior from scratches ·        Con

 It's not too late to run out and get this inexpensive yet fun game.   The kids really enjoy popping the balloon.   The game recommends using a balloon pump but blowing them up works just fine.  Also they only recommend their own balloons.  It works just fine with good balloons, not the cheap ones because they break too easily.     If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Gateway DX Series Intel Core i5 8GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity Desktop PC Windows 8 64-bit DX4860-UR28(DT.GE0AA.004) I was a bit concerned about buying a Gateway.  I have been using computers long enough to have seen the brand erosion of the Gateway years ago.   I found that Acer had purchased Gateway and this machine in particular was rated as a best buy in several of the computer magazines.   The size is a bit daunting.  I have gotten away from the monster towers of yesteryear but this is still substantially larger than the Aspire it replaces it.   I am a Swiss Army knife kind of guy and I do a lot of different things on my computer so I wanted a desktop rather than another laptop.   This machine has good solid middle of the road specifications.  It's performance has been good and it has expansion capabilities. When I have gotten everything working the way I want, I plan on cloning the hard drive and adding an SSD drive to improve the overall performance.   Supposedly

TOSHIBA Satellite C55-A5246NR Intel Core i3 3120M(2.50GHz) 4GB Memory 750GB HDD 15.6" Notebook Windows 8 So far so good!  The size of the screen and it's clarity is good.  The i3 seems robust enough to serve my needs.   It seems to have good quality assembly and does not appear to get to hot.   I do run a dual fan laptop stand under it though.   Heat is a killer regardless of how cool they feel to the touch. I did not spend the money to get the touch screen on the laptop.   So far I have no regrets on that.   I do the bulk of my work on the desktop and do not fool with the cutesy charms and aps screen.   I do wish it came with bluetooth.  The touch pad is ok but I still prefer a mouse.   My Gateway allows me to close unwanted screens with alt-f4 which apparently is a Gateway feature because that does not work on the Toshiba.  I am still working my way through the keyboard commands on Windows 8.1.   I will be happy when I figure out how to close the darn open

ViewSonic TD2420 Black 23.6" Optical Multi-Touch Monitor 200 cd/m2 1000:1 Built-in Speakers   The monitor is fine for viewing.  The touch experience leaves much to be desired.  I read one review that told how to recalibrate the touch.   I found how to do it and saw no change in performance.  It is dreadful from side touches.  Touch seems to work fin in the center of the spring but at the edges swiping just is abysmal. The speakers have been problamatic as well.  The SRS premium sound if evoked, silences all the sound.  Frankly I was going to return it due to it's inability to work well with Windows 8.1 but the $50 New Egg restocking fee dissuaded me.   By the time I paid for the shipping to me, the restocking fee and the shipping back to them, I would have wasted $75.00.   So I can only hope the warranty works better than the features.  As a plain old monitor with no touch and no sound, it works fine but the "extended" features aren't so hot! Fro