Product review: Dual USB Car Charger 3.1Amp 15.5W - 1.0&2.1A Universal Ports

Over the last year I have tested a large number of car chargers. I use a current monitor to compare their performance and the manufacturer of this charger contacted me and asked me to do a comparison review for this charger to the best chargers I have tested thus far.

After running the tests I came up with somewhat surprising results. Samsung Nexus phone (running Jelly Bean 4.2.2) that I use for most of my tests charged relatively slowly. Nexus 5, which was just upgraded to KitKat 4.4.3 charged very quickly. I have not seen such a difference between the two phones in the past. The only difference with prior tests is the OS upgrade on Mexus 5 and this charger.

Vority USB Car charger is compact (1.2" x 2.4") and provides up to 3.1Amps the combined power between two USB slots. The slots are labelled 1A and 2.1A. The front of the panel lights up to indicate that the charger is working. It fit the car port very firmly and did not get dislodged even on rough roads.

For those who are interested in detail of how I tested this charger I am including them below.

➨ Test Results:
======================

✔ Samsung Nexus Phone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port 2.1A: current monitor: ~~~~~ 0.43A and 5.16V
Port 1A: current monitor: ~~~~~~~ 0.74A and 5.17V
For comparison best charger I have tested showed the current rating of 1.02A and 5.14V at the same level of charge for this phone using the same charging cable.

✔ Nexus 5 Phone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port 2.1A: current monitor: ~~~~~ 1.34A and 5.00V
Port 1A: current monitor: ~~~~~~~ 1.35A and 5.0V
For comparison best charger I have tested showed the current rating of 1.42A and 5.21V at the same level of charge for this phone using the same charging cable.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Keedox 16mp TFT LCD Digital Zoom Waterproof Digital Video Recoding Camera

I like having a small camera along whenever I go. I was excited about this camera because on paper it had a number of features that my other small cameras do not have and which I find very useful when I use my digital SLR: it has built-in stabilization and it has a built-in flash. It addition its case is water tight without needing an external case.

However my excitement was dampened when I ran into a couple of major issues:

♦ The camera turns on instantly as long as I don't have a micro SD card inserted. If micro SD is inserted the camera does not turn on. I have to open the side, pop out the micro SD card, turn on the camera, then push micro SD card back on. I set the camera not to turn off for 5 minutes, but every 5 minutes I need to repeat this procedure if I pause in my picture taking.

♦ The quality of the photos is not great. It is best in bright light. Auto focus does not work at short distance - I got soft blurry images at 2 /2.5 feet. See video for examples.

♦ I was not able to access micro SD from the PC while it was inserted into the camera. This is related to the issue not being able to turn on the camera while the micro SD is inserted, and the trick of popping the micro sd first does not work for the USB connection. I get an error that media is not ready. I am able to access the micro SD when I take it out and mount in the computer directly.

There are a number of things I like about the camera and I want to list them for the compeleteness of the review

♦ The user interface is simple and intuitive. In the two other small cameras I have the interface was "quirky", this is not the case with this camera

♦ The control buttons are large, the give nice feedback, most common functions are one click away (such as switching modes, turning on flash, etc)

Size:
♦ The camera is 5.1 oz
♦ 4.5" x 2.75" x 1"
♦ control buttons are 3/8" x 3/8"

Lens:
♦ Fixed size lens. 8.13mm, F3.0
This is a fairly slow lens (my video contains some night shorts for reference)
♦ Auto focus starts working at about 2 feet. Photos at shorter distances are blurry

General notes:
♦ When micro SD is inserted, the proper orientation is to have contacts towards the back of the camera.
♦ When navigating menus controls on the back of the camera become navigation buttons
delete icon becomes navigate right
scene icon becomes navigate left
flash icon becomes navigate up
timer icon becomes navigate down
♦ If you re-format the SD card in the camera it start numbering the images from the beginning (IMAG0001.JPG) so if you copy the images back to the computer to the same location they will overwrite the previously taken photos.

So what the bottom line? I like this camera's user interface, but the camera itself needs more refinement. The issue with micro SD card makes it difficult to use. I reported the issue with the SD card to the manufacturer.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: GROSCHE MADRID PREMIUM FRENCH PRESS COFFEE AND TEA MAKER

We use a French Press on regular basis and have tried several brands through the years (we used Bodum for years and SterlingPro for the last 3 months). We like using French Press because it produces a full bodied coffee flavor. I got Grosche French press because I wanted to get a small size to take with me to work. It is just big enough to give me one mug of coffee.

Grosche French press feels well made. It has mostly stainless steel construction, only portions of the cap are made out of black plastic. The mesh is very fine and leave no sediment. In the attached video I include an image of the last sip of coffee on the bottom of the white mug, so you can see how well filtered the coffee made in this French press is. Overall, I really like it. The capacity is just perfect for my needs, it operates smoothly, and it looks good.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Gogogu Multifunction Digital Pedometer with a clip

I walk every day and own a couple of pedometer to keep track of my walks. There is a couple of feature in this pedometer that I really like
♦ Nice clip that opens easily and opens wide, so it is easy to clip to my clothing
♦ Big and clear readout, I can even see it in the sun

This pedometer shows the distance in miles. Some pedometers made in China only show the distance in kilometers and I was pleased to see that this pedometer was designed to be used in US market.

The setting of initial values is a little tricky. For example if you want to increase the default value for the person's weight, you cannot increase the values you can only decrease the numbers, so you need to go all the way down to zero and then down from 500 pounds to the desired weight. Since you only have to do this once, it is not a huge deal.

To test this pedometer I wore it along with my old pedometer and their readings were fairly close to each other.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: ChargerLeash CL011503 Charge & Sync Smart Micro USB 2.0 Cable

ChargingLeash is a 3 foot cable that starts making an annoying beep when you disconnect your mobile device from the charging cable (see video). If you tend to forget your charger in the hotel rooms when you travel this is going to be helpful. This will not help if you forget the phone along with the charger and cable or if you remove the cable from the charger along with your mobile device.

As you see in the video there is a short delay after the phone is disconnected and the alarm begins. ChargingLeash also provides a visual clue by changing the green light to the red one with the same short delay.

I used my current monitor to see how well this cable charges my Samsung Nexus phone.

This cable provided 0.75A and 5.18V. I test all my chargers and cables with the current monitor, running the tests starting with the same charge level of the phone to account for non-linear charging. My favorite charging cables using the same phone and the same charger gives me 0.98A - 1.02A. So using the ChargngLeash cable you are giving up a bit of charging speed to get the alarm functionality.

What's the bottom line? This cable can be really helpful to some folks, it does exactly what it is described to do. But if you are looking for a generic cable and don't need the alarm feature this is not the speediest charging cable you can get.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Gogogu Alarm Clock w/ Date and Temperature

I like this LED clock because the numbers are large and easy to see. Each number is 1 5/8" high. The clock itself is 3" tall, 5.5" wide, and 1 7/8" thick. In the dark room this clock automatically turns on backlighting. You can also turn the backlighting my hand if needed.

This clock is easy to set. It is controlled by the big labelled buttons on the back. There is a slide that allows you to select what you want to set (time, alarm, date), then the three buttons on the set the values. The alarm is reasonably loud. The button on top turns on the back light, or serves as a snooze button for the alarm.

The clock runs on three AAA batteries. The batteries are not included.

For several weeks that I have been using it so far it has kept accurate time. I am finding the clock very useful.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Shacke™ Pak - 4 Set Packing Cubes - Travel Organizers with Laundry Bag

These nylon bags have a double zipper and they open flat. The top of the bag has 4 mesh openings, so you can see what is in the bag without needing to open them. The mesh also allows air to escape so the bags can flatten out nicely. Each bag has a handle. The nylon is of a nice thickness, not flimsy. The seams are double stitched. The packing cube feel like a good quality product that should last a long time.

The packing cubes came in a matching nylon bag. This bag can be used as a storage bag for the packing cubes when they are not in use and as bag for keeping your dirty cloth separate from the rest when you travel.

Size info:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
♦ Extra Large cube is 17.5" x 12.75" x 4"
♦ Large cube is 13.75" x 12.75" x 4"
♦ Medium cube is 13.75" x 9.75" x 4"
♦ Small cube is 11" x 6.75" x 4"
♦ Laundry bag 20.5" x 14.5"

When I travel dedicate each cube to a specific type of clothing. Even if I don't fill them to full capacity I use all 4 as it makes it easier for me to find what I need. The small one I use for socks, I was able to fit 10 pairs of socks. The medium one I use for tops (blouses, t-shirts). I can fit 11 or 12 of them into the medium bag. The large one goes for pants/jeans. The extra large is used for warm items such as sweaters, fleece jackets, turtle necks. I can fit one or two of each, depending on how lofty the sweaters/cardigans are. I still need another bag for the underwear, so I am using another bag for that.

Cleaning instructions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
♦ Hand wash in cold water
♦ Line Dry in the shade
♦ Do not bleach, iron, or dry clean

Ever since I can remember I travel with all my stuff neatly packed in extra large Ziploc bags. Shirts in one bag, pants in another bag, stuff I need for sleeping in another bag, and so forth. I used to travel a lot and this allowed me to live out of a suitcase and quickly find everything I needed without turning my suitcase upside down or needing to fully unpack. And years later I began seeing packing cubes being sold to do exactly the same thing that I've been doing for years. I should have created this product 20 years ago! Darn!

All in all excellent this is an packing system for a traveller. They work better than my plastic bag solution because they compress better (air escapes from the mesh).

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★