Reviews Written By: ABSYIF0ONC2AFprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Oster 5712 Classic Digital Food Steamer 6-qt. | |
 | "Mold" | 2008-03-07 |
| This product would have been one step up from the previous generation of Oster steamers if it weren't for one very major flaw.
Good Points: -it's inexpensive -the electronic timer works really well (this was the new upgrade from previous models) -it's versatile especially for Asian cooking -it works really fast Bad Points: - MOLD the steamer's water inlet, that also serves to help you measure how much water is in the steamer, is a great way to collect mold. Currently it is nearly impossible to dry this inlet completely without pushing a qtip or tissue through; and no, turning it upside down doesn't help since the inlet's curves are designed to keep water in. Cleaning this part is also near impossible for the same reason. This is just really stupid. Oster should spend more time testing their products. This should have been fixed before being released. | ||
 | Oster 6.1-qt. Food Steamer | |
| "Mold" | 2008-03-07 |
| This product would have been one step up from the previous generation of Oster steamers if it weren't for one very major flaw. Good Points: -it's inexpensive -the electronic timer works really well (this was the new upgrade from previous models) -it's versatile especially for Asian cooking -it works really fast Bad Points: - MOLD the steamer's water inlet, that also serves to help you measure how much water is in the steamer, is a great way to collect mold. Currently it is nearly impossible to dry this inlet completely without pushing a qtip or tissue through, and no turning it upside down doesn't help since the inlet's curves are designed to keep water in - which is really stupid. Oster should spend more time testing their products. This should have been fixed before being released. | ||
 | Victorinox Swiss Army One-Hand Trekker Lockblade - Black | |
 | "Good Knife" | 2007-03-02 |
| I got this knife because it was on sale, and I saw the guy on the show "Man vs Wild" use it.
Pros: -Very Durable (even the ring that attaches to your keychain is tough) -Enough useful tools (saw, philips head, flat head screwdrivers, bottle opener...) -Main blade size -Blades lock, one handed use (even when opening) Cons: Due to the main blade size: -It's a big knife to keep with you all the time (eats up a lot of pocket space) -Since the blade is over 2.5 in long; you need to get a concealed weapons permit if you want to carry this knife all the time | ||
 | Electronic Commerce, Fourth Edition | |
| "The best textbook for MIS majors that I've seen" | 2006-12-07 |
| First let me disclose that I have been a programmer for years (and for some of the businesses described in the book). In general the book is good. Pros: It summarizes the business end of ecommerce very well. The book covers most of the technical aspects of ecommerce from a high level. The book is not about abstract, useless business theory that is common in many university business courses; the book is a collection of good case studies of ecommerce. Cons: The book chews more than it can swallow given the pace it needs to set for a normal class. Since it needs to stay at certain length, the book doesn't always do a good job explaining the technical aspects of ecommerce with enough detail from a layman's point of view. At times it is more of a review for people already with the knowledge. So unless your technical background is strong and deep (eg you are either a programmer or systems administrator for web servers), there may be a lot of jargon in some areas that will confuse and bore you. Consequently this is probably a senior year book (The author should take notes from the HeadFirst series of technical books.) | ||
 | Lexar Sport JDSP256-231 USB 2.0 256 MB USB Flash Drive | |
 | "An Ugly but very Durable USB Drive" | 2006-05-23 |
| In general, Lexar's USB drive does its job just as well as other USB drives; there isn't much of a difference except for the following: 1) portability good: it has a convenient way of attaching to your keychain bad: this rubber holder only lasts for so long (in my case 6-8 months) 2) it is extremely durable. This drive survived a full 30 minute (clothes) washer cycle. When I took it out of the washer, I thought all the data and the drive was gone for good. To my surprise (after letting it dry for a day) it worked just fine. This is amazing! I have also accidentally stepped on it while wearing shoes (not using all of my weight though) a few times on carpet and concrete; and still works fine. Finally, I have dropped this drive on a variety of surfaces and it's still fine. 3) looks: good: it is very easy to see since it is bright red bad: it is fatter than other USB drives and it is bright red. The drive is pretty ugly. It maybe good to note however, that the drive's structure is probably a good reason as to why it has survived my abuse. The bright red color's advantage has already been mentioned above. | ||
 | Brita UtraMax Smart Dispenser Water Filtration System | |
 | "One word - Mold" | 2005-10-19 |
| Throughout the years I have used and owned many different versions of the Brita Pitcher Water Dispenser. All of these filtered water containers have been great. The only complaint I have ever had with these filters is size. The Brita Ultramax Water Filter Dispenser was supposed to answer this problem. Unfortunately due to bad design, it introduced a multitude of problems that never existed with past Brita products. Pro: Size: This water dispenser can definitely hold a lot of water. (Ironically, this is really a disadvantage; as you will find below.) Con(s): Mold: If you do not let this filter dry within a maximum of two days, you will get mold. This mold will probably make you ill (sore throat) (Conversely if you look at it from another point of view - it will strengthen your immune system). To avoid this problem, the water dispenser should be washed every week at very least (to safe you should wash it more often). I have never had this problem with Brita's other products (I have friends who never washed their Brita pitchers for months, and there is not even the slightest sign of mold when they do wash it). Left Over Water: Due to the faulty design of the product, there will be left over water both above the filter and below it. Besides turning the product upside down, you cannot dispense all of the water. This is just stupid and hints at the lack of quality assurance testing of this product. Not surprisingly, this helps further contribute to mold growth. Conclusion: Save your money and buy Brita's other well designed pitchers or even Pure's pitchers. (The key word is pitcher.) You will only waste time and possibly your health with this poorly designed product. | ||
 | Brita 35034 2-Gallon UltraMax Water Filtration Dispenser | |
| "Mold" | 2005-10-19 |
| Throughout the years I have used and owned many different versions of the Brita Pitcher Water Dispenser. All of these filtered water containers have been great. The only complaint I have ever had with these filters is size. The Brita Ultramax Water Filter Dispenser was supposed to answer this problem. Unfortunately due to bad design, it introduced a multitude of problems that never existed with past Brita products. Pro: Size: This water dispenser can definitely hold a lot of water. (Ironically, this is really a disadvantage; as you will find below.) Con(s): Mold: If you do not let this filter dry within a maximum of two days, you will get mold. This mold will probably make you ill (sore throat) (Conversely if you look at it from another point of view - it will strengthen your immune system). To avoid this problem, the water dispenser should be washed every week at very least (to safe you should wash it more often). I have never had this problem with Brita's other products (I have friends who never washed their Brita pitchers for months, and there is not even the slightest sign of mold when they do wash it). Left Over Water: Due to the faulty design of the product, there will be left over water both above the filter and below it. Besides turning the product upside down, you cannot dispense all of the water. This is just stupid and hints at the lack of quality assurance testing of this product. Not surprisingly, this helps further contribute to mold growth. Conclusion: Save your money and buy Brita's other well designed pitchers or even Pure's pitchers. (The key word is pitcher.) You will only waste time and possibly your health with this poorly designed product. | ||
 | Logitech Driving Force Pro for PS2 | |
| "A decent wheel" | 2005-03-26 |
| The Driving force pro is a decent wheel in the general consumer market. Though I initially said this is the best affordable wheel on the market, I'm beginning to think the more I use my Driving Force Pro that the Logitech Driving Force (not the Pro) is the better wheel; and that I should have rated this as 3 stars and not 4. Let me explain why: While this is a decent wheel, there are some imperfections that are not bad individually but as a whole really hurt this product: 1)Its clamping system is cheap. The driving force pro has two clamps. Both are made of cheap plastic. You really can't turn the wheel as hard as you want to (even on mild force feedback strength setting in GT 4) without easily breaking these clamps. The clamps should have been made of metal or something just as strong. The 900 degree turning feature is negatively affected by the weak clamps. 2)The steering wheel is too small. After playing with the wheel a few times, it seems that Logitech either designed this wheel for Hobbits or children. It is very hard to turn this wheel because of its size. Again, the 900 degrees of turning feature suffers from this weakness. It would be nice if it was closer to the size of a real steering wheel. 3)Slight delay or re-centering in force feedback during turning. Overall, the force feedback is incredible. However, on sharp turns it has a tendency of helping you oversteer in GT 4. Basically in real cars, the wheel has a natural tendency to re-center when you slowly let go of the steering wheel while turning in a real car. This is not the case with the driving force pro. One of two things happen. Either it doesn't even try to re-center or it re-centers too late resulting in over-steering. The bright side is that you can minimize its effect if you turn on the feature in GT 4 that helps prevents spinouts. Once again, the 900 degree turning feature suffers... If there is a noticable overall pattern, it involves the 900 degree turning feature. On paper and the first few times you play with it, this feature seems great. However, after a lot of regular play you really begin to notice its drawback because of the 3 previously mentioned problems. This is why I think the Driving force is better than the Driving Force pro. Given the clamps, wheel size, and force feedback re-centering response rate, 200 degrees of turning gives a better gameplay experience. Moreover, the driving force is also half the price of the driving force pro. The only thing extra you get with pro is a stick shift. GT 4 was also designed for the driving force too. Get the Driving Force not driving force pro (unless you want to wait for the next version of the driving force pro). (On the bright side, the driving force pro is great for games that don't support 900 degrees of turning). *Some people also complained about the noise or the brake pedals, but I haven't experienced these problems with my driving force pro. Last Minute Advice: DO NOT GET the official Logitech lap attachement (see review). It is an expensive piece of garbage. Instead, get a square tv tray with straight edges. The tray's legs should also be wide enough to stick your legs in between. Ideally it would be great if you could play with heavy desk (for greater stability), but that would be tough to fit in the living room. | ||
 | Rich Dad's Guide to Becoming Rich...Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards | |
| "Read his other books..." | 2004-04-07 |
| First I'd like to say that in large Kiyosaki has some great ideas, and two of his books (the 1st rich dad poor dad and cash flow quadrant) were interesting reads. Unfortunately, this one isn't one of them. If this book was a set of new ideas or even just compilation of other works it have been pretty good. Sadly, this book just serves as one big advertisement of all of his other products, such as his board game, which he dedicates almost a full chapter to advertising it. There are glimmers of good information, but most of is very vague. To summarize, I wasn't very happy to buying and reading a paperback commercial. I would recommend his other books, but I'm not sure I even have respect for the author anymore. | ||
 | Neverwinter Nights: The Shadows of Undrentide - Windows | |
| "Has Turbotax like copy protection that locks your computer" | 2003-07-06 |
| First I'd like to say that Bioware is a great company that has released a lot of good stuff, and this problem is not their fault. The only thing they did wrong is to pick Atari as their publisher. You see Atari put copy protection on the CD by Securom, that pretty much either 1) locks up your computer after 5 min of play everytime, or 2)won't allow you to install the game. (Just go to nwn's forums to see how many complaints there are about this - nwn.bioware.com) I don't even understand why this is even on the cd since NWN is mainly an online game, it already verifies your game keys when you go online. Furthermore any pirate can bypass this with stuff like Alcohol Software. The only people this hurts are people like me who were stupid enough to buy this game. All the good reviews in the world won't help this game if you can't play it - all you'll do is hurt your wallet. Bottomline: unless you want to play russian roulette with your time and money (for some cdrom drives - it does work fine), buy any other game at Amazon - like Warcraft III's expansion instead; their copy protection doesn't lock up your computer. Trust me, you don't want to pay money to be an unpaid tester of alpha quality software. | ||
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