Product review: Baonuor 8G Music Player, FN Radio, audio book player, bluetooth mp3 player

My main use for this MP3 is listening to music and audio books.  Not all MP3 players are well suited to audio books because they don't start from the same place where the previous play was stopped, but this MP3 player does do it.  This means I can resume listening to the music from where I left off. Big plus!

The MP3 player also has FM receiver and can record FM stations.  I have listened to some music and local sports and the receiver works quite well. The MP3 can work with bluetooth and wired ear buds, but if you want to listen to FM radio you have to use wired ear buds because the wire serves as an antenna for the radio.

This MP3 player also plays videos and allows picture viewing, which are features that exist but I don't use them much.

The MP3 player comes with 8G of memory and can be expanded to 128GB.

I had no problems pairing bluetooth with my wireless ear buds as well as blue tooth wall speakers.  In  my video you can see and hear Grace Digital wall speakers being paired with the MP3 player.  The sound is good and clear as I moved around the room.

The battery life is pretty good, I can use it for several days without recharging.  The manual states 60 hours with wired ear buds, and 20 hours with bluetooth buds.

To add content to the player I just plug it into the computer and it shows up as any USB device. The connection appears to be USB 3.0 as books copy pretty quickly.

MP3 buttons are pretty sensitive so it is good that it has a lock. All you need to do is press the power button briefly one time and it locks the screen.

The MP3 has some minor things I don't like.

1.  It has a nice menu driven interface, but the small font of the text makes it difficult for me read the text. This is curse of being over 40! When I was a youngster small font was never an issue.
2. Controls take a little getting used.  The screen is not touch sensitive, you need to use controls on the bottom part of the unit. When you want to move up/down on the menu, you need to have left/right controls.  The up/down controls control the volume.  I think with the menu layout it would have been more logical to reverse this, as I keep hitting up and down keys trying to navigate the menus.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Rectangular Color Coding Labels 1 3/8 inch by 1/2 Inch / Organization aid

These label stick well and come off clean when needed without leaving sticky goo for a short period of time.  After about a month they do not come off easily especially from paper.  So think of them as permanent after the initial short period.

For writing on the label I needed to us a felt tip pen (a ball point pen does not write on the labels).  Yellow is best for writing with a dark pen.  I use dark ones just for color coding, a gold or silver pen will work on dark colors.

The labels are 1.25" long and 1/2" wide. This small size a very useful size for labeling bottles and containers or just color-coding.

Ali Julia review

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Mesh Spa Bath Pillow Neck & Back with Powerful Suction Cups for Bath Tubs Beauty Life

I have a bad back and hot baths are really helpful for my condition. Prior to this pillow I used inflatable pillows. Unlike my other pillows this is not an inflatable pillow, this is foam pillow.  Note that this is NOT memory foam pillow, it keeps its shape. It is quite soft and very comfortable.  It is generously sized 14" x 14" x 4" (thickness in the thickest part). The back of the pillow has 4 suctions cups, they hold well. I find it very comfortable. 

One small thing that turned out to make a big difference is a hook built into the side, it allows me to hang the pillow after it has been used to dry.  After it has been totally soaked in the evening it totally dries overnight.  Keeping it hanging and dry will prevent the pillow from getting moldy which eventually happened to all my old bath pillows (even the ones that claimed not be anti-mold) that were left in place. This pillow can be washed in the washing machine.

The only down side of the foam pillow compared to inflatable pillow that foam pillow cannot be folded away for storage.  However, for me this is not an issue as never deflated inflatable pillows in the past.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Tea Tree Oil Shampoo Anti Dandruff Dry Itchy & Flaky Scalp from First Botany Cosmeceuticals

The first thing I want to mention is how much I like the scent of this shampoo. Some of the tea tree shampoos smell I've used in the past smelled minty and somewhat like medicine, this shampoo has a lemony scent mixed in with the tea tree scent.  This scent is very fresh and refreshing.

The second thing that I liked that it came with three caps for me to select from: a regular cap, a cap with a slot for dispensing, and a pump.  I like the cap with a slot best and was happy to see that it was one of my choices.

My hair feels really good after washing my hair with this shampoo, clean and fresh.  The hair looks full and shiny after it dries.

This shampoo generates a medium amount of suds (i.e. this is not a low suds shampoo but it is not a hugely sudsy shampoo either). I am including a video where I use it on my hands to show the amount of suds it generates as I wash  my hands.

Amazon description does not contain a full list ingredients so I am including the list of ingredients copied them from the bottle:

Ingredients: distilled water, Argan (Moroccan) oil, tea tree oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, camellia seed oil, botanical keratin, almond oil,coconut oil, acyl sarcosine, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium lauroyl sarcosine, grecat btms-350.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Remote Control Holder Organizer Storage Caddy by Archi

Our household, like many others, has a large number of remotes - tv, dvr, stereo, fan, wall clock...  Archi caddy is a five compartment organizer that  helps me to keep them in one place. Keeping them upright also takes up less space on the night table.

The caddy is made out of leather cover over the cardboard dividers which keep the caddy stiff. The leather is soft to touch and not shiny.  It smells like real leather, it is either real leather or a really good imitation leather. I ordered the black organizer. It blends in the background  because of its dark color and, thankfully, it has no logos or writing of any kind.

The size of the caddy is: 2.76" wide, 4.53" high and 8.46" length.  Each compartment is 1.5" wide.  The middle compartment is the deepest and is 2.5" deep, the side compartments are the shallowest and are 1.5" deep.

It is exactly what I was hoping for - simple and functional.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Sunyou Marco Raffine Fine Art Colored Pencils

If you are used to buying pencils you probably want to know the value of pencils from Graphite Grading Scale. Unfortunately, this information is not available. The pencils are made in China and they do not have the numeric scale or HB scale marked on the pencil.

How do they compare to a well known brand like Prismacolors? They are not as soft as Prismacolors, but the difference is not significant, and they work well with color build up. Ability to build up colors is what I look for in a colored pencil, and these do fine. Each pencil generates a light color and I can make a deep color depending on how hard I press when I use it.

The pencils come already sharpened. They come without the case, but they can be kept in the box as the box has cardboard separator inside so it is easy to slide out just one pencil from the top or the bottom row.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Book review: Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb, by Tinky Weisblat

If the word "rhubarb" makes you think of pies this cookbook will expand how you think about rhubarb. Yes, this book has rhubarb pie recipes, but also rhubarb in sides, salads, and breads.  The author shares a nice tip that she often adapts cranberry recipes to be used for rhubarb as cranberries and rhubarb has a lot of similarities in their taste profile.

I really liked the Persian rhubarb stew with chicken, delicious and I thought the flavor was unique.  Another recipe I tried and really liked is rhubarb-glazed meatballs.  My mother used to use pomegranate to make meatballs sauce and this recipe reminded of that this old favorite.

This cookbook is well organized.  There are a couple of things that I expect in a well organized cookbooks - I want to see pictures of completed dishes (check!)  I want each recipe to fit on a page, or be on the two pages facing each other so I don't have to touch the pages while my hands are covered with food stuff (check!), I want to hear a little bit about each recipe before getting into ingredients and preparation (check!)

What is missing?  The recipes do not tell me how many people they will feed, how easy/difficult they are, caloric information, and how long it will take to prepare. However, the interesting recipes and good organization outweigh the few short comings, it was a 5 star cookbook for me.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★