Reviews Written By: A2DUG1VEUI9T8Oprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | The Masterharper of Pern | |
 | "Not up to the standard of the dragonrider and dragonsinger series" | 2009-09-25 |
| It hurts to give this 2 stars given I'm a huge fan of the dragonrider and dragonsong series. It's almost hard to believe they were written by the same person. The main problem I have is with the narrative. Rather than immersing the reader in a compelling narrative as Mccaffrey's early dragonbooks do, this is written almost observationally rather than from within the story, as though you are hearing a description of events that happened rather than enjoying the narrative. The characters are rarely developed to a level where one feels a connection to them, leaving me caring little for their plights and adventures. There are no Lessas or F'lars in this book. Petiron in this book is presented as a completely different person than in the 'singer books and is so flawed that he never feels like a real person. The fact that his wife is so caring and sensitive and he is such a lout makes the whole relationship unbelievable and at times laughable. Many of the other characters are also overwrought; there are no lukewarm people in this book only saints and the wicked people they suffer. The bizarre attempt at Robinton dialoging in childish language seems very contrived.
I also find the blatant inconsistencies to the former books to be a major turn-off. Apparently Robinton can speak to dragons although the entire series prior to this book makes it very clear that he can NOT and was shocked on one occasion when a dragon spoke to him. As mentioned above, Petiron is transformed from a caring old man in the 'singer series to a despicable egomaniac in this book. There are many others. Does the author have the liberty of changing the facts as she writes? Sure, but it dilutes the storyline. These facts aren't evolved, they are completely changed. Now some good things. The central world of Pern is there. Pern, thread, and it's dragonriders are one of the most engaging and brilliant creations in all of science fiction writing. This book is worth reading for that fact alone. It's just a letdown from the high entertainment of previous works. | ||
 | Sonos SP100 Loudspeakers | |
 | "Excellent" | 2009-09-18 |
| I just bought three sets of these for my Sonos system. They are excellent. The included high quality 20 foot speaker wire is a nice touch and typical of Sonos, they are first class all the way. I wish they had been available on amazon when I bought mine, I could have saved the sales tax I paid Sonos. | ||
 | Sonos BU250 Multiroom Music System | |
| "The very best multi-room wireless sound system" | 2009-09-18 |
| The Sonos system just works, and works brilliantly. Having multi-room wireless sound in my home with the option of listening to so many sources of music (digital music from my networked computer, Sirius, various online radio stations and online music service) as well as tying it into my existing home stereo for CDs and terrestrial radio is just brilliant. The hardware and software are engineered to the highest standard. It's not cheap but the functionality is a whole level above anything else out there. Those who want the best will be satisfied. Expect to pay $2000-$3000 to truly set up a large home with 4-5 zones assuming you need Sonos amplifiers and speakers in each room rather than using existing equipment. The new remote is spectacular and being able to control everything from my iphone is great. A whole home sound system is like landscape lighting or hardwood floors, not strictly necessary but really adds to the ambiance of the home. | ||
 | Dragonriders of Pern | |
 | "Brilliant premise, less than brilliant writing, a guilty pleasure!" | 2009-08-13 |
| I've loved the Dragonriders of Pern series since I was a kid and still enjoy re-reading them as an adult. The premise of the series is breathtakingly brilliant and really stirs the imagination, and the depth and breadth of the fantasy world Mccaffrey has created rivals those of Tolkien and Lucas in some respects, certainly in terms of concept if not in development. The idea of an advanced civilization regressing to a more primitive society inadvertently holds a lot of interest and is somewhat under-explored in the world of science fiction. Unfortunately her imagination is better than her writing as the style is somewhat sophomoric. I can't count how many times someone says something "sardonically" or "chuckles" in this series. It seems like a good editor could raise Mccaffrey's game in this respect. Having said that, these books are a thoroughly enjoying read and one can't help but care for the characters and their plight even as you groan occasionally at the romance novel-esque plot twists or clunky prose. I don't own this particular publication of the series so I can't speak to it but have the three novels individually and also own them on the kindle for iphone which is my preferred medium these days. For younger readers these are a delight and for older or more sophisticated minds, a guilty pleasure. The dragonsinger series and the later Mccaffrey books also merit reading albeit with the same caveats. | ||
 | Sony Alpha DSLRA300K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization with DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens | |
| "Great DSLR for moving up from a point-and-shoot because of Live View" | 2009-05-04 |
| There is really only one reason to choose this camera over the more established Nikon and Canon offerings and that is Live View. To put it simply, this is the ONLY DSLR with the ability to use the LCD screen to compose and take your picture with no sacrifice in focus speed vs. using the optical viewfinder. This is similar to how you use a point-and-shoot. Thus it is a great camera for those who prefer to take pictures using the LCD screen. Canon and Nikon both offer a form of live view that relies on contrast focus to take the picture which is slower and less accurate. I happen to love taking picture using the LCD screen in part because I wear a motorcycle helmet taking pictures which won't allow me to use the viewfinder on a traditional DSLR. Those who wear glasses or who like to shoot from the waist, ground, or overhead will also really appreciate this. If this feature is not important to you, you are better off getting the Canon or Nikon as they are a more mature platform with more support than Sony DSLRs. Keep in mind that the larger sensor on a DSLR allow a much better picture than any point-and-shoot. You will really notice this in low light/indoor shots where you can take pictures largely without flash which always looks so much better. You will also notice a much faster frames per second rate and much more flexibility in composing shots using custom settings. Those who simply want a point-and-shoot simplicity can set it on automatic and get great looking shots. | ||
 | OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1 Channel Audio | |
| "1080p upconverting-- I think I love you." | 2008-01-30 |
| I just hooked this up to my Sony 60 inch flatscreen, and all I can say is, WOW! Unbelievable picture quality. Makes me wonder why I need blu-ray when upconverting looks sooooo good. This is a quality unit at an incredible price. Never heard of oppo before I read the reviews here but I am thoroughly impressed. Highly recommended. | ||
 | Sony VGN-TX770P/B Notebook-Sony VGN-TX770P/B Notebook | |
| "9 months and working well..." | 2006-11-15 |
| Be careful when reading online reviews. Many people have an axe to grind and are not objective in their reviews. There are a couple great examples of that above. I will tell you what I have found in 9 months with this computer. It works well, runs kind of hot and the fan is moderately loud (what do you expect with a half inch thick laptop), and otherwise works and looks like the day I bought it. I use it heavily, ie. several hours a day every day, and it has held up very well. I plan on replacing it with another one when it's another year old or so. | ||
 | The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease | |
| "BG Miller doesn't know what he is talking about" | 2006-05-22 |
| This text has been the standard reference for managing ophhtalmic emergencies for a long time. It does not have pretty pictures because it is not meant for the general public or general physicians. It's meant for ophthalmologists, and to a lesser extent optometrists I suppose, who need the diagnostic differentials and treatment guidelines, not pictures. Recommended for every ophthalmology resident and every ophthalmology office. | ||
 | Seiko Men's Automatic Dive Watch #SKX173 | |
| "A great deal for a great watch" | 2006-04-05 |
| I have over $10k in expensive swiss watches and I enjoy this $150 watch a lot. It is a great deal for the money, solidly build and classically styled. It's just the right size, not rediculously large nor too small. It wears just slightly larger than my Rolex Submariner on my wrist. Still able to fit under the cuff of a dress shirt. The rubber strap is very long to allow wearing over a wetsuit, it will be too long for a thin-framed person. There is no room in this world for digital and/or quartz watches when you can buy such a solid little mechanical for so little. | ||
 | Sony VAIO VGN-TX650P/B 11.1" Notebook PC (Intel Pentium M Processor 753, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R Dbl Layer/DVD+/-RW Drive) | |
| "Not perfect but close to it..." | 2006-02-18 |
| I've had my TX-650 for about 3 weeks. The first thing I did was put a 1GB RAM card in to boost the total RAM to 1.5GB. It's easy to do yourself and for less than $100 is worth in in better performance. Overall I have been pretty happy with the device. The screen is very nice, the size and weight are just perfect. The keyboard is as good as you are going to get in a ultraportable. The battery life is superb. I have had occasion to use the wireless LAN a lot and the reception is excellent. I also subscribed to the Cingular EDGE WWAN plan and the speed is poor but better than nothing if you are stuck without a WLAN nearby. I'm not happy with the lack of restore disks and the fact that a fairly large part of the HD is taken up by restore files and thus unusable. I've also had intermittent problems with the sleep/hibernate feature causing lock-ups. Another negative is the fan noise. Expect the fan to run at least 50% of the time if you use it for longer than 10 minutes. Overall a great little notebook and I would buy it again. | ||
 | Sennheiser HD-280 Dynamic Collapsible Headphones | |
| "I never knew music could sound this good..." | 2006-01-13 |
| I have very expensive in-ear Shure E3Cs that I THOUGHT had great sound. These sound so much better it's not even close. I'm listening to music in a whole different light. I have had no problems using it with my ipod as well as with my PC. The cord is too long and they look kind of stupid on my head, but it's worth it. You just can't beat the over-ear headphone for all-enveloping sound. | ||
 | Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphone | |
 | "Not as good as I expected" | 2006-01-13 |
| I found the sound with these to be good under ideal cirumstances, with an excellent seal. Without a tight seal within the ear canal, they are not great, as is true for all in ear phones. It was difficult for me to get and maintain this tight seal, and I tried all the different earpieces. I also found them uncomfortable for any length of time. I finally gave up and got over the ear phones and they sound amazing for half the price. | ||
 | Sony DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom | |
| "Excellent hardware-- mediocre software" | 2005-05-01 |
| From a hardware standpoint this camcorder is excellent. Picture quality under a variety of lighting conditions including dim lighting is excellent. The quality of the still photos is also excellent-- I haven't used my digital still camera since I bought it. The only letdown is the very mediocre software package that comes with it. I'm surprised a quality company like Sony would bundle a $1000 high end camera with budget software. It's workable but don'w expect much more than very basic functionality.
This is the first miniDVD camcorder that has worked it out in terms of ease of use, reliability, and picture quality. Sure, in 2-5 years we will all be using blu-ray digital cameras that will hold 2 hours of HD video on 1 disk, making the paltry 21 minutes of high quality video (1 hour on low quality setting or 30 minutes on normal quality)seem quaint, but until then this one is it. | ||
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