Product review: VonHaus Window Vac Window Cleaning Vacuum Kit

This window cleaning system has two parts: the spray bottle (to be filled with a cleaning solution) and the vacuum with a rubber blade. I found it to work very effectively, most significantly it leaves no streaks. I work each window in small section - around 3 feet by 3 feet before it has a chance to dry out. The vacuums is turned on and off with a button on the handle.

The vac has a 1300 mAh rechargeable battery, I can use it for about 20 minutes, and it takes about 3 hour to recharge if it is totally drained. I tried another window vacuum that requires the button to be pressed continuously for the vacuum to work. This other design used the battery more efficiently, however it was much harder to use as my finger got tired holding down the button, and prefer the on/off button design of the VonHaus window vac.

The vac weighs 1 lb and 8.8 oz when empty and can hold 10 oz of water. 10 oz is enough to wash a large deck window. As you see in my video 3 feet by 3 feet area does not generate all that much water.

This window vac a timer saver for me, I don't have to repeat section to remove streaks.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: KMASHI MP836 15000mAh (2Amp+1Amp Output) Dual USB Portable Fast Charger Ultra-High Density External Battery Pack

♦ size: 6 1/8" x 3 1/8" x 3/4"
♦ weight: 1 lb 0.6 oz
♦ number of ports: 2
♦ flashlight: no
♦ pass through charging: no (i.e. the battery can charge while being charged itself)
♦ cables: 1 charging cable

The external battery performed pretty well charging my devices but I have been able to fully charge it. No matter how long I keep the battery charging the forth light in the charge level indicator continues blinking, I never got 4 steady blue lights even after charging the battery for 24 hours.

To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the one that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port.

I also tested to see if the battery supports pass-through charging (i.e. whether the battery can charge mobile devices while it is being charged). This battery does NOT supports charge through charging. It can not charge while being charged.

Finally, I check if the cable that came with the battery is a charging cable (i.e. capable of charging at full AC rate) or a data cable (charging the battery at USB rate). This is easy to tell using the current monitor, and this package includes a charging cable.

Samsung Nexus phone:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
port 1: 1.03A/5.06V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)
port 2: 0.95A/5.06V (good comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)

As noted above these tests are not designed to test the maximum capacity of the port, so 2A port not showing 2A is not an indication of a problem

iPad Mini tablet:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
port 1: 0.93/5.08V (average for 1A port for the same device with other chargers)
port 2: 1.35A/5.10V (good comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)

The battery has a nice capacity, some of the battery capacity is always lost to heat, voltage conversion, and operation of the power bank itself. I always estimate that 30% of the capacity will not be available for the charging of the device.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Sabrent 4 Port Mini Portable USB Hub, the World's Smallest USB Hub

This a really tiny USB hub. Its size is 2.25" x 1" x 0.75". To see how well it performs I ran benchmarking utility on each port and the results were impressive.
The numbers are impressive! When I got it I thought I would use it for travel because of its size, but performance is so good that I am using it with my desktop.

Port 1:
average read rate 86.3 MB/s
average write rate 19.9 MB/s
average access time 1.10 msec
Port 2:
average read rate 85.5 MB/s
average write rate 20.0 MB/s
average access time 1.12 msec
Port 3:
average read rate 85.3 MB/s
average write rate 20.0 MB/s
average access time 1.13 msec
Port 4"
average read rate 99.9 MB/s
average write rate 20.0 MB/s
average access time 1.11 msec

My video include a view if this hub on 1/2" grid for size reference as well as benchmarking chart results for each port.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Mactrem Q666 Portable Camera Magnesium Aluminium Tripod Monopod Q-666 Tripod With Ball Head

This is a nice tripod and has a lot of features that I really liked. Photography is one of my serious hobbies and I own a number of tripods. This tripod met four of my requirements for a tripod and fell short on one.

My requirements:

❌ Quick release legs. This tripod does not have quick release feet. Each collapsible leg is made out of 4 sections and is released by twist locking mechanism. Quick release legs is something I find extremely helpful - often to catch the desired short setting up tripod in a few seconds is the difference between getting or not getting my shot. For this reason I use this tripod in my home studio where speed of set up is never a factor. The twist lock mechanism is slow, but holds well.

✅ Ability to attach a quick release plate. This tripod include a quick release plate. The release plate is made out of metal and is sturdy with a heavy duty construction. Quick plate tightening mechanism can be tightened by hand with a loop that is built-into the screw (no need to use a penny like quick plates with a slot mechanism).

✅ Lightweight. This tripod weighs 3 pounds 5.6 oz (this weight include the tripod and the ball head). The ball head by itself weighs 13.6 oz. This tripod is heavy enough to withstand a gust of wind yet light enough to carry around without much trouble.

✅ Able to support a digital SLR with 300 zoom lens. This tripod handles my Canon DSR camera with 300 zoom lens without a problem. It is rated for weight up to 17.5 pounds.

✅ Flexible ball head or ability to mount any ball head. This tripod comes with a nice ball head and this tripod can accept any standard ball head. The panning and tilting is smooth.

The ballhead has three adjustment knobs.

♦ Pan knob is a small knob at the bottom.
♦ Ball knob is the medium sized knob. Using it I can position to ball to align with a 90-degree slot for vertical orientation.
♦ Tightness control this is the largest knob. It allows me to control how loose the ball movement is (i.e. how loose or tight the movement feels). When I want to make fine adjustments I tighten it, when I want to reposition I make it loose.

This tripod came with a couple of extras:

✅ Comes with a padded carrying case. Most of my tripod cases are just heavy duty nylon, this one actually has thin padding all around.

✅ It comes with a spare bag to store the ball head. Since I already have another ball head I find a storage bag useful to store the one I am not using.

Tripod's maximum height is 61". When it is collapsed its size is 13 3/4".

This tripod can be converted into a monopod using a provided hex key. The conversion is not fast as it requires working with a number of screws and washers. It is not something I would do on the road as it is easy to loose a washer or a screw. Some of the screws were extremely tight the first time I unscrewed them.

This is a nice sturdy tripod and a very reasonable price.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Mactrem BK-03 Photography Camera Tripod Ball Head Ballhead+Quick Release Plate

This ball head fits a standard 1/4" screw. It weighs 13.6 oz. All parts are metal and fell like they would last a long time.

The panning and tilting is smooth. It has a bubble level to help with lining up my shots.

The ball head has three adjustment knobs.

♦ Pan knob is a small knob at the bottom.
♦ Ball knob is the medium sized knob. Using it I can position to ball to align with a 90-degree slot for vertical orientation.
♦ Tightness control this is the largest knob. It allows me to control how loose the ball movement is (i.e. how loose or tight the movement feels). When I want to make fine adjustments I tighten it, when I want to reposition I make it loose.

I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and have been pleased with it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: BOHM MATE Rechargeable Bluetooth Speaker with DuoLink

Let me start by saying that these speakers have a nice sound. They sound rich and they can handle base. I really like the surround sound effect I am able to get with them. They worked well streaming music from my phone via bluetooth. I liked the sound so much that I decided to hook them up wired to my den TV and this is where I ran into some limitations. I would describe setup with two speakers as quirky (see details below), but the main issue is that the duo link introduced sound delay by a second or so and everything looks and sounds like a dubbed movie where the lips are not synchronized with the words.

Duo link introduces a bit of complexity into set up. I hope my notes will add additional details to the manual and save someone time.

Power indicator light has several meanings:
(1) Solid red means the speaker is charging. You can charge and play at the same time.
(2) Slow flashing blue means the speaker is on and active.
(3) Fast red and blue means it is in pairing mode

The LED ring around the on/off button has several meanings.
(1) Blue ring means bluetooth mode
(2) Green ring means aux wired mode

You need to hold on/off button down for a few second to turn on and off.

Bluetooth connection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To connect the speakers to a mobile device I paired the first speaker. Speaker appeared in bluetooth as "Mate". The speaker was not detected by my older tablet that does not support Bluetooth 4.0, but no problem with the newer devices.

Once I connected and tested a single speaker I paired the two speakers together. First, I turned on the second speaker, then pressed "M" twice on the first speaker. The speaker power indicator starts blinking red and blue. The I pressed "M" twice on the second speaker. The manual is not clear whether you need to press twice at the same time or not, and initially I tried pressing both buttons at once but that did not work. Pressing first button twice and then the second button twice worked. The speakers have an audio indicator that it worked. This operation does not need to be repeated if the speakers turned off and then turned on, they continue to be linked.

For the mobile devices that have Bluetooth 4.0 the set up was fairly easy and the sound is excellent.

Aux connection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To set up the Aux connection with the TV took several attempts. It is possible that this was because I already had a bluetooth connection set up, I am not sure. Later I discovered that I can delete the bluetooth connection by pressing and holding Prev and Next buttons together for 2 seconds at the same time. Both speakers need to have this operation done to remove history from both speakers.

Connecting the first speaker was easy. I put an audio cable from TV into the AUX port of the first speaker, turn on the speaker, and hit "M" once to switch to AUX mode. It worked well, there were no delays.

Then I tried pairing the second speaker. First I repeated what worked for me in the Bluetooth mode: double press "M" on both speakers. This did not turn on the second speaker. Then I tried connecting two speakers with an audio cable using headphones connections on the first speaker and aux port on the second speaker. The instruction say that inserting cable into the headphone port turns off disables the first speaker but the speaker can be reactivated by holding "M" button on the first speaker for 5 seconds. This did not work for me right away. However, as I removed the audio cable both speakers became active.

So the final set up I have is the first speaker is connected by an audio cable to the TV and the two speakers are paired to each other via bluetooth. I have both speakers plugged into the power continuously as I wanted them to be permanently hooked up to the TV. I hear no interference when I am using the speakers while they are charging.

This set up was not easy, the sound is excellent, but there is a small delay so when people on TV speak their lips do not match the sound.

What can be better?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It would be better for watching TV if duo link did not introduce a slight delay.

Pairing dance could have been simpler. Maybe having more buttons rather than overloading one button to do so many things would have made things more straightforward.

Each speaker comes with a AC converter plug. Each plug has only one USB port and each plug covers up 2 slots. It would have made more sense if the AC plug that came with the speakers had two (or more) USB outlets. I am using a different AC converter as I did not want to give up 4 slots for 2 speakers.

Overall, my experiences average out at 4 stars - below expectations for TV and excellent for music on mobile devices. In attached video I show the sound of one, then both speakers. I have short snippets from bluetooth operation with my phone and then wired mode with my TV.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Himal Folding Collapsible Ultralight Travel Hiking Trekking Pole

This is cleverly designed folding pole. It consists of 4 parts that snap together and a fifth part that telescopes. The folding mechanism works easy - easy to unfold and easy to fold as you see in the video.

The telescoping is somewhat limited and works best for tall people. I am 5'3" and at its shortest length is it a little higher than I like for a long hike especially uphill. The best height for pole is when you hand from elbow to the handle is parallel to the ground and for me on the shortest setting my hand is going slightly up.

However the design and strength of the pole is good. Being able to fold the hiking pole into a backward is so convenient! It also useful for travel, as these poles can fit into luggage.

The foam handle is comfortable and will not slip even when the hands are sweaty. The pole weighs 10.5 oz. The maximum height is 54", the shortest height is 44".

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆