Product review: 46 LEDs Waterproof Solar Powered Motion Sensor Lights

This is a very bright solar light. It has three settings off, dim light when no one is around, and bright light when motion is detected.  The unit is sealed and the batteries cannot be replaced or recharged outside the unit.  I opened it up out of curiosity and including a photo so you can see what it looks like on the inside.

To turn the light on you need to press a button near motion detector and hold it down for a few seconds.  This needs to be just one when you want to activate the light.

Mounting hardware is included in the package.  It is a very nice light even though it does not have my favorite mode of operation "On only when motion is detected" which uses less power and works better in New England climate as we don't always get long sunny days to fully recharge the battery.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★★

 

Product review: symGLASS 16-Ounce Unbreakable Pint Glass

Just like Plexiglass is not glass, symGLASS is not glass but a plastic material. Description says it is made with Tritan, which I was not familiar. I looked it up and found that it is a clear polymer developed by Eastman company and is safety tested for food products. Eastman web site has a lot information about this material and its safety tests for those who are interested. It is rated for food.



The glasses look nice, but I could immediately tell they are plastic by look, feel, weight and the noise they made when they clanked. So the marketing description is a little overstated. However, if you are looking for non-breaking high quality plastic drinking glasses these glasses are what you are looking for. In my video I dropped them onto a tile floor from the height of the kitchen counter with no ill effects - the glass did not break and had no scratches. Each glass weighs 8.9 oz.

They work well not only with cold drinks but hot drinks as well. Because plastic is less conductive than glass these glasses do not feel hot when they are filled with hot water for hot tea or coffee.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Image Fitness Tracker with touch screen

This watch has just three functions date/time, steps, and distance and it is very simple to use. Just touch the finger print icon and it flips between time, steps, and distance.  This is exactly what I want during a work out.  Some fitness trackers have a lot of options and menus and  a complex navigation path to see the what I want to see. All I want is steps, distance and time and this is exactly what this watch gives me.

To recharge the watch you need to pop it out of the band and attach a special recharge dongle which plugs into USB port.  I do this several time a week.  So far no signs of the band stretching out. Time will tell how it holds up over time. 



To latch the band with one hand I insert and tighten the tongue first and then push down on the tab. This watch is extremely light (0.8 oz) and it is waterproof.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Crenova WIFI Endoscope - view on Android, iPhone, PC

The quality of the Crenova endoscope is pretty good.  In attached video I show a text in a magazine as I move the camera from touching the page to being about 10 inches away from the page.  It has a sweet spot for sharpness of the image in the middle of that range, but you can read the text at all distances.  The wire of the endoscope can be bent and it holds its shape as you move the wire around, this allows you to aim it at an angle not just pointing down.



The endoscope comes with app (available from GooglePlay). The name of the app is PLX_WifiCamera. The app also has iPhone version which I have not tried.  Once I plugged in the camera into the WIFI unit I immediately saw the camera hotspot under WI FI connections on my phone and was able to connect to it with the password specified in the manual. The name of the hotspot is PLX_Camera. If you turn off the phone or the endoscope, you need to reconnect to the hotspot (not automatic re-connection).

The endoscope has a light on the end, which is very handy when you are looking at the dark hidden away places. The light switch is built into the cable attached to the camera.  The switch is at the end nearest to the WIFI unit, so you can release the entire long cable and still be able to control the amount of light at the other end.



The app allows me to view the action on the phone. When I select I can take photos or record video.



The camera comes with a couple of accessories: a hook, a magnet and a mirror. The accessories lock onto the camera.  The mechanism is a bit finnicky and does not look very robust but it does work.  You can see me locking and unlocking the accessories in the video.



The documentation is fairly is not very detailed but it was enough for me to figure out how to connect the camera and turn it on.



Bottom line? This is a handy tool for hard to see areas, reasonable video quality, good price, it is a little tricky to control the aim. I hope the video helps you get a good idea of what to expect.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Neewer 400W Strobe Light for Canon and Nikon

Neewer 400W Strobe Light for Canon and Nikon



I am using this strobe with Canon Rebel SLR camera. The package include the strobe itself, the case, the battery and the battery recharger, cap for the strobe and  Bowens Mount Adapter.  The only thing I am not using is the  Bowens Mount Adapter.  It can be used to mount a defuser.  Defuser was not included in the package and I have not purchased one yet.



The remote trigger and the probes worked with my camera without any problems.  By default both were set to channel one and communicated in variety of modes I have tried.  My video includes a demonstration of set up and my high speed photography session to generate photos of droplets.



The case and the probe feel very solid.  Together they weight 10 pounds 2 oz.  The case is lined with foam, the fit is very tight.  This is both good and bad. It keeps the strobe very secure once you get it in, but it is hard to put the strobe in without pushing down the foam.

The package includes two manuals. One for the trigger and for the foam.  The manual for the trigger is better.  The manual for the foam is detailed about some things, but not about others.  For example, it does not show how to mount and remove the battery.  This is probably the most awkward part of using the strobe. It takes me a few attempts to mount the battery.  Removing it is easier.  The manual does not mention how to remove the probe's cap - is it a screw top or pushes on?  The cap is a push on cap and it is very tight.  Initially it did not budge either when I pushing or when I twisted.  Eventually I won!



Overall, on the positive side the strobe works well with my camera, the battery lasts a reasonable amount of time. it feels solidly made and I like the protective case.  On the negative side, the battery pack is awkward to mount, the foam padded case is a bit tight and it takes time to fit the probe in.  The pluses oby far outweigh the minuses.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Unger Pro 961350C Moss Rubber Floor Squeegee with Poly Propylene 22 in

I am using my squeegee on the deck not only to dry it but to push snow off the deck without damaging the wood surface with a shovel. I like that it is made out of heavy duty plastic, it does not rust like the metal squeegee.  It is sold without the handle, and fits any standard broom handle. I got mine squeegee at a local Home Depot - same price but I could put it to work faster.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Tiergrade 3 port Car Charger Adapter

We usually travel with a lot of gadgets so a 3 port car charger is very useful to us.



I checked each port using Nexus6p while its battery was 33% full keeping all other variables (what apps are running, whehter the screen is on or off, and so forth the same). At 31%-33% full level Nexus 6p uses rapid charging if possible.  Nexus 6p does not suppor QC charging so that port performed the worst, the 2.4A port quite well.



QC 3.0 port: 1610 mA / 4.077V

middle 2.4A port: 2300 mA / 4.14V

top 2.4A port: 2270 mA / 4.15V



The charger fits into the port tightly and does not unplug easily. Overall, pretty good charger.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





Ali Julia review ★★★★★