Product review: Davidsbeenhere: Hanging Travel Toiletry Bag

When I travel and live out of the suitcase I like being organized. I typically travel with the content stored in various plastic bags to keep things organized. This Toiletry Bag is going to replace quite a few of my plastic bags! One feature that I really like that it has a hanger so you can hang it in the bathroom rod. This solves a problem with cramped bathrooms which do not have enough room to lay things out!

The bag is made out of light nylon. When it is empty if weights 7.9 oz. It has a total of 4 compartments.

I am attaching a collage of 4 numbered photos that I will be referencing in this review.

Here are the details about the bag compartments and dimensions:

1. Photo #1 shows bag closed with just the hanger pulled out of the middle compartment. I hang it this way in the hotel bathroom when it is not used.
When the organizer is closed it is 16" by 11" by 2" in size.

2. Photo #2 shows the expansion zipper. One of the compartments can be made bigger or smaller by use of this expansion zipper. It gives an additional 2.5 inches of room in one of the side compartments.
If the zipper is closed the right compartment is 1" (width) x 2"(height) x 10.5" in size, with the zipper opened it becomes 3.5" (width) x 2" (height) x 10.5". If you look at picture #3 and #4, this compartment is the first one on the right.

3. The second compartment from the right is 2.5" x 2.5" x 10.5"

4. The third compartment flips open and has two mesh pockets. One of the mesh pockets has a zipper, the second one ends with a rubber band. This compartment is 7" x 10.5" x 2" in size.
Photos #3 and #4 shows this compartment opened.
The hanging hook as well as the handle are attached to this middle compartment. The design is such that allows to hang the bag either opened or closed, which is pretty handy!

5. The fourth compartment (left most in picture #3 and #4) is sized 3.75" (width) by 10.5" by 2" (height).

I received an evaluation copy of this travel toiletry bag from Davidsbeenhere to write an honest and unbiased review.

I found it to be a well designed and thought through organizer. It is light, the zippers work well. It kept me well organized and made it easy to find things even when there was not a lot of surface area in the hotel bathroom. I have no hesitation in recommending it!

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Davidsbeenhere: Travel Passport Wallet Organizer Davidsbeenhere: Travel Passport Wallet Organizer

This organizer really helps you keep organized. I am attaching a collage of three photos which I will be referencing in this review.

The organizer is made out light nylon and has 15 compartments.
When closed its dimensions are 5.5" by 9.5" inches. When opened it spans 10.75" inches by 9.5".
It has one outside compartment (see photo #3) where you can insert tickets or anything else that needs to be accessed quickly.
The organized has one big zipper that closes the organizer, and one small zipper that closes a small compartment on the inside. Bottom left of photo #1 and photo #2. I stored my earrings in that compartment when I was not wearing them.

On the left hand side:
1. The top compartment is very deep it spans the length of the entire organizer (in photo #2 I inserted a ruler into it so you can see that it is about 9 inches deep)
2. The next 4 compartments are shallow, the depth is good for credit card size items (in photo #2 I inserted a business card into one of the shallow pockets)
3. The compartment above the zipped pocket is 3.5 inches deep
4. The zipped pocket is 3 inches deep

On the right hand side:
1. The top compartment is a deep compartment which is 9 inches deep
2. Next we have a flap which is also 9 inches deep
3. The outside of the flap has 4 shallow compartments which hold credit card sized content
4. The last compartment is a clear pocket which 3.5 deep. I kept my passport in it (in photo #2 you can see how it fits).

I received an evaluation copy of a product from Davidsbeenhere to write an honest and unbiased review.

This is a well designed and thought through organizer. It is light, zippers work well. It kept me well organized, no fumbling around looking for stuff.
I have no hesitation in recommending it!

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Yard Butler HCWM-1 Wall-Mounted Hose Hanger Hose Caddy

I was looking for a no-frills hose caddy. This caddy fits the bill at a reasonable price. This is a metal no-frills hose caddy. I noticed that some reviewers mentioned that in their experience this caddy rusts. So when I received the caddy I closely examined its finish. I see why it rusts prematurely: the finish has many imperfections and bare spots. I am attaching a collage of 4 photos  outlining several areas of defective finish. I painted the caddy with a clear coat acrylic paint before using to keep it rust free longer. The caddy came without mounting hardware. On the positive side it is very sturdy.

Here are the dimensions of the caddy:
It has 10 inches span
It is 5.5 inches wide
3.25 inches from base to rail

Overall the design, sturdiness and price were what I was looking for. But I deducted a star for poor finish which required me to paint it before use.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Bolse Mini Windshield Car Mount Holder iPhone Nexus Android Phone

I tested Bolse Mini Windshield mount with Galaxy Nexus phone with an extra large battery which makes it significantly fatter than a standard battery. The phone also has a skin on that adds to its sickness.

I am attaching a collage of 5 photos that I will be referencing in this review. You can find the photos by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo of this listing.

Bolse windshield mount is pretty compact and I was not sure how well it would fit the phone as with its extra fat battery and skin it is pretty big. Photo #5 shows the fit. To my surprise it worked! I would say this pushed the capacity of this holder to its limit. If the phone was any larger or thicker I would be worried that the grip would not hold.

Photo #1 shows a close up of the grip of the holder. I put a circle around the arm that expands to grasp the phone. The mounts grasps the phone on the sides while leaving ports exposed. This means the phone can be plugged in if you are using it as a GPS that uses a lot of battery power.

The way this holder mounts on the windshield is different from other mounts that I have tried. Others create suction by a lever, this one is attached by rotating the base. The mount comes in two pieces, the base and the grips. I found that I got the strongest hold when I attached the base first, then mounted the phone to the grips (photo #5) and then mounted the grips onto the base. I have a small piece of soap stored in the car, which together with my spit gives my windshield mounts a good grip.

I really liked the flexibility and ease with which I could rotate and angle the mount. Photo #2 and photo #3 show the phone positioned in different orientations as well as with different angles. The mount gives you full 360 degree of freedom for positioning the phone.

Update after several weeks of use: Bolse phone cradle mounts very close to the windshield, it has a shorter extension than the other windshield mounts we own. Depending on the slope of your windshield this could keep your phone fairly far from the driver. My car's electric plug is positioned fairly close to the floor level and the length of the charging cord for the phone also restrict where I can attach this mount. The combination of these two aspects puts the phone into a position that makes it hard for me to make out street names on the map if I use the phone for navigation. Someone with good eye sight will not have any issues, but my I wanted to update the review to add this note for those who don't have great eyes.

The mount also comes with a second option for mounting with an adhesive disk (which also has tiny screw holes) to mount the holder on the dash permanently. I don't like using permanent mounts for a number of reasons: I don't want to damage my car with permanent screw holes or hard to remove glue. I also rather not have anything permanent suggesting to passers by that the car might have "interesting" electronics hidden away. I have not tried the adhesive disk and cannot comment on how well it works.

I received an evaluation unit for test from manufacture to write an honest and unbiased review. I have described positives and negatives of my experience with this unit and if you have any questions on the features I covered I am always happy to respond to comments.

Overall I am pleased with the unit, particularly how easy to is to change the orientation and position of the phone. So far I have not had issues with the mount loosing suction (tested with the weather in the 50s).

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Mobile App Review: Battery HD, Free App (7.7 Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Nexus Table, Nexus Phone, Android)

I use a lot of different battery apps and I was surprised by how much functionality this battery app provides. It also has a couple of minor drawbacks compared to my favorite battery app (Battery App by Elvison).

The HD battery app has four pages of screens (you can switch between them by clicking on four dots on the bottom of the page) as well as 4 pages of settings (you can locate them by clicking on 4 icons at the top of any page).

Page 1:
The first page shows a large graphic of the battery with the remaining charge percentage. It also shows an estimate of much you can do on that charge: standby time, music playback, video playback, internet browsing, talk time. This information is based on community data, and you can calibrate it for your own device (under gear icon).

Page 2:
It shows you

•  how much time it would take to fully recharge the battery using AC charge source or using USB charge source.
•  how much time you can use GPS without recharging or play Games (2D or 3D separately)
•  how much time you can use the device as a flashlight
•  how much time you can use the device for reading

Page 3:
Show you how much you can use

• video chat 
• take photos 
• record video 
• listen to on-line radio
• do voice recordings

Page 4:
This page shows battery health, technology of the battery, temperature of the battery, voltage, and time since last charge.

Settings Icon:
Show the percentage of power used by each of the currently run applications (this is a short-cut to the same info as what you see under Settings of the device)

Graph Icon:
Shows the chart of your power usage on the grid that has percentage on y-axis and time of the day on x-axis.

Gear icon:

• You can select battery color from a color wheel
• You can select to show the charge level in the Notification Bar (for me this shows when I hit settings not on always visible notification bar)
• You can set how and when you are notified about charge levels. You can choose a ding or you can choose a human voice to tell you the level. My tablet emits lots of dings and sometimes I am not sure what it is trying to tell me, so having a voice tell me my battery is low is quite nice.
• You can choose to have the app automatically open when you start charging.
• You can run a set of tests which calibrate your tablet power usage rather than using the generic community data. This is a very extensive test - be prepared to give up the use of your tablet for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• This is also where you can choose to upgrade to a pro version of the apps to avoid seeing ads (which are discretely displayed at the bottom of the page).

SOURCE of Charge:

I frequently use various battery apps to determine how my tablet sees the source of the charge (AC or USB). My favorite app for this is Battery App by Elvison. Elvison app shows AC, USB or discharging status. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge. It also shows me the time when it began charging.

Battery HD app shows this information by displaying a graphic on the battery AC plug or USB connection. It does not show when the device is attached to the power source but is discharging because it cannot draw enough power to charge. HD battery does not show when the charging began.

COMPARISON of results with the Battery App by Elvison.

I decided to test this app using PowerGen PGMPP8400 8400mAh and PowerGen PGMPP9000 9000mAh external power packs whose performance I extensively tested with Galaxy 7.7. These external power packs have two USB ports labeled A (Apple) and NA (non Apple).
Why are no all connections equal? Android devices use a USB Battery Charging Standard where as Apple devices use a proprietary USB connector. Because of this difference USB connections wired for Apple devices do not provide AC power to Android devices even when a charging cable (rather than the data cable) is used.

Test Notes:

•  I kept the display powered on to make sure that powering display was the same in all tests as it is the biggest power hog.
•  I am using a charging cable rather than the data cable during the tests.

Elvison Battery App: PowerGen PGMPP8400 8400mAh with Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
--------------------------
Regular cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC
Regular cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- discharging

HD Battery App: PowerGen PGMPP8400 8400mAh with Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
--------------------------
Regular cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC icon
Regular cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- AC icon (graph shows a flat line, no charge)



Elvison Battery App: PowerGen PGMPP9000 Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
-----------------------------------
2Amp outlet ..... generic cable .... discharging .... 1% discharge in 10 minutes
.06Amp outlet ... generic cable .... AC source ...... 1% charge in 10 minutes

HD Battery App: PowerGen PGMPP9000 Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
-----------------------------------
2Amp outlet ..... generic cable .... AC icon ...... 0% charge in 10 minutes (graph shows a flat line, no charge)
.06Amp outlet ... generic cable .... AC icon ...... 1% charge in 10 minutes

OBSERVATIONS:
Battery App by Elvison has three modes (USB, AC, discharging). HD Battery app shows USB or AC and then you need to look at graph to determine if the device is drawing enough power to charge. You will also notice this when the charged percentage does not go up.

I am attaching a few screen shot that I thought might be interesting.

• #1. A screenshot with permissions requested by this app
• #2. A chart showing the power usage, note the flat lines which correspond to charging Galaxy 7.7 on Apple USB port.

This app works well on my Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet (my Galaxy 7.7 review) running Android HoneyComb 3.2. I had no technical problems and the app scales to my screen size very nicely.

Overall, HD Battery app makes it a bit harder to see when am Android device is accidentally plugged into an Apple USB port and is not getting enough power. However the app provides a lot of other interesting information, I found this app a useful one to have on my tablet.

You can find this app on Amazon by following this link.
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Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Logitech Wireless Keyboard K360 Compact Portable Laptop

When I was shopping for a compact keyboard I could not find the exact measurements of this keyboard, so I will start with measurements:
Logitech K360 keyboard is 15 inches long, 6 inches wide, 1/2 inches tall. It weights 1 pound and 4.2 oz.

I am attaching a collage of two pictures. Photo #2 shows this keyboard next to a regular sized keyboard for relative size. It is placed on 1 inch gridded mat for additional size reference.
Picture #1 shows how USB transmitter is packaged. It is tiny and attached to the box. I put a red square around it to highlight it.

The keyboard has a nice heavy feel and pretty good feedback when you touch the keys. This keyboard uses the tiny USB receiver that has unifying capabilities. This means you can use one USB slot to control up to 6 USB devices that have unifying technology. In my current set up I am not using the unifying capabilities as my mouse is older and does not have has unifying feature.

This keyboard runs on two AA batteries. The keyboard has an on/off switch which is handy for a keyboard which is not used all the time.

The description of this keyboard says it is Windows compatible, but I am using it with Linux without any problems. This keyboard is used to control a small netbook computer running Linux that is used as a DVR and computer to stream internet content to the TV.
When not in use the keyboard fits into a cabinet draw (that's why the exact size was important to me, I was looking for a keyboard that would fit into a draw which was too small to fit a full sized keyboard)

The keyboard comes with Windows software that maps function keys to special functions. This software is a convenience for enabling functionality that is part of any operating system. Since the included software is for Windows, I am including instructions on how to do it for Linux. I use this keyboard on a computer that streams internet content so I decided it would be useful to map the function keys to commonly used URLs - for example links to several specific shows I like watching on Hulu. All I had to do is select System - Preferences - Keyboard Shortcuts through Linux desktop UI. When Keyboard Shortcuts dialog comes up, I clicked "Add". The next dialog asks to give a short cut a name (e.g. "Hulu") and a command (this is where I entered the direct URL link to whatever I wanted the key board short cut to do). This adds a new row to a list of existing shortcuts. Then I selected the new row and click the function key that you want to associate with the new command. Done!
One nice thing about the function keys on this keyboard that it has icons (musical notes, envelope, etc.) in addition to the standard F1, F2. These icons work as a reminder of what keys I mapped to what show URLs.

Overall, I am very pleased with this keyboard, no complaints at all.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
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Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Polder Strainer/Steamer Basket for Pasta or Vegetables Stainless Steel

I often use a colander when cooking pasta or vegetables. In the past I used a two piece strainer which had the bottom as a separate piece. Every few years the bottom would dislodge itself and I would need to replace the strainer. The last time it happened I decided to look for a new model and headed to a local kitchen store. I found Polder and I am very pleased with it. I paid $21 (more than Amazon by a significant percentage) but was able to eyeball it to make sure it fits my favorite pot, the Reverware 8 quart.

I am attaching a collage of 4 photos to demonstrate how this strainer fits into the 8 quart pot.

The Polder strainer has 9.5" diameter, it is 7.5" in height. The handle is 6" if I measure from the rim to the tallest point.
The 8 quart pot is 9.5" in diameter, 7.25" in depth.
Photo #1 and Photo #2 show the pot and the strainer next to each from different angles.
Photo #3 shows the strainer inside the pot. You can see that its rim is just above the rim of the pot (this is 0.25 inch difference in height between the two).
Photo #4 show the view from the top. You can see that feet of the strainer are resting on the bottom of the pot.

It is nearly a perfect fit. I say nearly rather than perfect, because if you put a lid on top of the pot, it does not quite fit. It rests on top of the colander. In most cases this is ok.

I really like the design of this colander:

(1) One piece design means I will not have to worry about dislodged bottom piece as was the case with the previous model I was using
(2) The silicone handle makes is comfortable to lift the strainer from the pot
(3) The colander feels solid and well constructed

I hope my review will help you determine if it is a good fit for your pot. If it is a good fit, I highly recommend it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★