Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Roughly two weeks later: T he vendor replaced the flashlight.  The new light works just fine.  Obviously, I got a defective one.  It was cumbersome to get a replacement. I finally figured out how to message the vendor through Amazon messaging.  Sadly I did not know how to do that prior to this experience or perhaps that is a good thing.  I would advise the vendor to put some kind of contact information on their box or on their instruction sheet.  It was very frustrating trying to figure out how to make contact with them.  Flashlight should be five stars now but the difficulty to making contact forced me to ding them a star for poor communication.  Once communication was established it went just fine. Interesting flashlight from AYL but sadly it failed immediately.  I followed the diagram to put batteries in the flashlight and I had a functional flashlight for less than 5 minutes.  It stopped working.  I thought perhaps I had old batteries and I tested the batteries with my ba

weak seam This should not be on your purchase horizon.   The concept is good but the execution is dreadful.   The doll is soft.  The construction is very poor.   The seams, as shown in my photos, were inexpertly sewn.   The giggle voice is a box with the Velcro seam on the back of the doll.  The Velcro is not sewn on to the doll correctly. The To get to the box you have to unbutton the onesie the doll is wearing.  The top button failed immediately.  I can't even find the part that came off which is troubling as that could be ingested by a child.   The pressure sensitive giggle box uses button batteries which are always problematic.  The giggle is more suitable for a Halloween toy as it is not endearing but frankly a bit demented.   The packaging was gross overkill on wiring the doll and sewing the carrier to the box.   I don't think it is well constructed, the quality of assembly is highly suspect and I can't imagine how quickly a child could destroy it through n

Another building set but this one has the Smithsonian name on it so it provides it with a bit more panache.    As opposed to Legos, this set does not provide specific instructions on how to make a project.   It does provide a general book of instructions showing how the pieces can be used together and recommending which are better for what purposes.   It is recommending a process for inventing and creative thinking.   It is most definitely a teaching toy that realistically should be a child/parent project.     From the vendor: ·            PERFECT FOR STEM: (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Integrates concepts usually taught as separate subjects and emphasizes the application of knowledge to real-life situations ·            EXPLORE IT: Make your dream bridge a reality. Search famous bridges and how they were designed. Explore bridges near you! Use the Spark!lab invention process to crate your own unique solution ·           SKETCH IT: Use the Spark!Lab inventio

Once again a very good looking watch from Amitron.  This one is easier to set the time and the date.  I like the back light for night time use.   Stop watch, alarms, pacer I don't see myself using, that's why I have a phone.  One window has a random window with little changing dots.  I have no idea what that is and the manual had no explanation.  I have attached a photo of the "manual".   You can see the size of the diagram and the manual by the inclusion of a penny in the photo.   Paper isn't that expensive, a manual that can be read easily with diagrams that can be seen would seem to be a very desirable feature.   Manual size and incomplete description is the basis for a one star ding.   ·                            Rose gold-tone resin case and top ring; analog-digital display with time, seconds, day and date; black resin strap with buckle closure ·                            Functions include: chronograph, lap time, pacer, five alarms, dual ti

The built in sharpener is an interesting feature.  I  am a bit obsessive about keeping my knives sharp.  If this works well, it is very nice.   The grip has a good feel and the knife feels well balanced.  I think this knife will get a lot of use. Only $10.50 at Amazon. Oh, the packaging is dreadful, the impossible to cut clam shell indestructible clear plastic. It took a knife and scissors to get in it and I screwed up the scissors otherwise this would  be five stars. Farberware EdgeKeeper Knives feature a sheath with innovated technology that is designed to automatically sharpen the blade with each use The EdgeKeeper protective sheath contains a built-in mechanism that hones the blade before and after each use, maintaining a blade's razor-sharp edge The blade is made from high-carbon steel that lends strength, sharpness, and durability The Santoku knife combines the best features of a chef's knife and a cleaver, with a

This is very similar to another brand of LED Solar light that I have reviewed.   It is the same size and look as the other light.  The difference is this light comes with 3M adhesive to mount on a smooth surface and it has an on/off switch that is accessible.   The light is surprisingly bright and the motion sensor works as advertised.   This is an inexpensive security light and ideal over a door that needs a light. My only beef is that it came in one of those heavy plastic clam shells that defy a pair of good scissors.  Is that really necessary?  I was tempted to ding it a star for lousy packaging but the review should be about the light not the pain in the tush packaging From the vendor: ·                            Super bright cob LED lights ·                            Motion Activated ·                            Solar powered ·                            3M adhesive backing, no tools no wiring ·                            Durable & weatherproof

It's Alive! At least that is how is looked when I opened the plastic inner wrap.   Take note this is surprisingly heavy.   The white bag it comes in seems to be straining on the leash when you take it out of the box.  I tore the bag at the seam rather than cutting as I was nervous about cutting the topper.   It feels very soft to the touch and seems high quality but never having had a topper before I can legitimately verify that.   It feels very comfortable laying on it.   It adds enough thickness to our older King mattress in our guest room.   The increased thickness makes the new style sheets fit better as they are designed for the new thicker mattress.  It does seem to make the old mattress feel better.  If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

I'm getting mixed messages from these headphones.  Directions are good, I am frequently a severe critic on directions.  These were good.  I charged the headphones and then set up to pair them.   I initially tried my Samsung TabS and I could not get a pairing.   I then successfully paired the headphones to my Samsung S7 and to my Amazon Fire.   I tried the telephone capabilities on the S7 and that worked just fine.  I listened to Pandora for awhile and that too worked fine. So as far as function, I see no problems with this headset.  Now my concerns the cord is both conveniently and inconveniently short.  It doesn't get in the way but the volume and MFB (multi function button)  are out of sight and every change is done blind.  Now if your head isn't as big as mine, you may have enough slack in the cord to see what you are doing.  I would have no objection to a larger control button.  However the control button is basically similar to those on other Bluetooth headse

Giant Foods mobile application permissions are listed below.   This is the information you give up for the "privilege" of printing out coupons and spending money in their store.  This is hardly the only application that is invading your privacy.  No wonder identity theft is rampant.   Are they nuts or are we nuts?    Why would you give this kind of information to anyone? Is your privacy so unimportant that you  will give it up for a lousy coupon?   This app has access to: Device & app history retrieve running apps Identity find accounts on the device Contacts find accounts on the device Location precise location (GPS and network-based) SMS send SMS messages Phone read phone status and identity Photos/Media/Files read the contents of your USB storage modify or delete the contents of your USB storage Storage read the contents of your USB storage modify or dele

Surprising sound quality for desktop speakers.   These set up without reading any instructions which is good since so many people hate to read instructions.   The speakers are attractive and as mentioned quite surprising sound quality.   The fact that they use USB power rather than an electric outlet is a mixed blessing.  I like it because the system I put it on had USB ports to spare and the lack of another cord snaking down to the UPS is good.  For those who are lacking USB ports the inability to plug in the speakers could be a downer.   The vendor emphasizes that the speakers have a headphone jack which although it is a good feature, one would almost expect that in a speaker set of this quality.  Overall impressive quality at a reasonable price of $43.00 at Amazon.  If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.