Product review: Pill Organizer, CHC Weekly Pill Planner Portable Travel Pill Container

This pill organizer has the best closure mechanism among a fairly large number of pill boxes I have owned.  To open each compartment you need to press a level which releases the cover.  It opens easily when you press, but does not open when you just shake it or press on the cover. 

I was looking for a new pill organizer is as the old one I have been using became too small to hold all the pills I need to take. The size of each compartment is not clearly marked and I was not totally sure if it would be the right size, so I will start with size.

The inside dimensions of each compartment are:
1 3/4" long x 1 38" wide x 13/16" deep

The outside dimensions of the entire pill box (7 compartments):
8 3/4" long x 2 1/4" wide x 7/8" high

I also measured how many pills of common size I was able to fit into each compartment.

I can fit thirteen 600mg Calcium pills in one compartment and still be able to close it.

Summary:

1. The best clothing mechanism I have seen, holds very well
2. Very roomy
3. Each lid is clearly marked with a day of the week

This has become my favorite travel pill box because its clothing mechanism is so secure.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Okea-Nami Reusable Cotton Mesh Produce Bags

I do all my grocery shopping using re-usable bags. Many stores in my area no longer offer plastic bags, and some don't offer paper bags with handles, so re-usable bags are the best solution.  These bags are made out of cotton mesh.  I like this material as it is very light weight yet strong.

These bags come in three sizes

* 3 large bags measure 16.5 x 10.5 each (note the sizes of the large bags is slightly smaller (1/2 inch) than Amazon description)
* 4 medium bags measure 12.5 x 10.5 each (note the sizes of the medium bags is slightly smaller (1/2 inch) than Amazon description)
* 3 small bags measure 8 x 11 (matches Amazon description)

For my shopping needs I found that even the large bags are a bit on the small side, especially since my favorite place to shop is Cosco which sells items in large sizes.

However, the bags are made out of cotton and I was able to sew two large bags together to make a larger bag, and 2 medium bags together, giving me three larger bags.

One other thing to note that the bags have no built-in handles. They do have a draw string across the top that came used as a handle, but that makes a bit less balanced to carry than bags with built-in handles on each side of the bag.

I really like the mesh material, and I hope future versions of this product will be larger and have handles. 

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Namay Cooling Towel

These towels are made out think microfiber -one side is a net-like material you see on exercise clothing, it is supported by black netting to prevent stretching. This materials is cool when damp and it does not hold a lot of water so it does not drip.  I wring it out before cleaning. It dries quickly against the body, so I re-wet it about every 20 minutes or so.  I also like throwing it in the freezer for a few minutes to get it really cold.

Each cooling towel size is 19" x 11" (a little smaller than the Amazon description) and they come in a pack four with different vibrant colors. 

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: NM Microfiber Cleaning Cloth for Polishing Wiping Dust

Namay Microfiber cloths are 11.75" x 11.5" (slightly smaller then Amazon description).  They are very soft and absorbent. I use microfiber cloth for many jobs: dusting around the house, cleaning computer and TV screens, washing windows...

Another great use I found for them them is by sewing two of them together to form a square "mitt" for the window washer pole I use to wash my car. I have a tall SUV and cannot reach across the windshield all the way to clean it. Using the extended reach of the window washer squeegee with a microfiber towel mitt on it gives me streak free window with very little effort. Once the the mitt on the squeegee I tie it to the handle with a thin short rope to keep it from sliding off. I have one mitt for washing and one mitt for drying.

The tag on the towel recommends washing it before first use, and in general washing them in warm water.

Overall, this is a nice set of micro fiber cloth.  They make a lot of cleaning jobs easier, faster, and better. 

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Fenniu Ultra Thin 14 inch laptop, Windows 10 PC, Rose Gold

This laptop is Microsoft's answer to Chromebook.  It similarly sleek and thin, long battery life, built-in virus protection.  It is best for surfing the internet, watching YouTube or Netflix's videos, answering mail, using Skype.  It is not a replacement for a gaming laptop, or a laptop where you want run complicated memory and disk intense programs like Photoshop or Video editing.

The package include the laptop and the power supply.  It comes with 4GB of memory and a 64GB SSD drive (which can be upgraded to 512GB at an additional cost by the owner). The laptop comes without a manual. Even though the built drive is small, it has more space available than I expected.  The operating system and pre-installed programs took only 15.7 GB (which is pretty good for Windows!) leaving 42.5 GB free to use.  This laptop comes with a stripped version of Windows, but it has everything you need for doing Chromebook-like activities.

For a slim computer it has in a reasonable selection of ports, with two USB 3 ports, a display port, a USB  type C port and a micro SD card reader.  It has a large sensitive track pad. I prefer to use a mouse and I am using one of the USB ports for a mouse.

The keyboard is responsive and has a nice feel to it.

This laptop is 14" 1920x1080.  The actual screen measurements are 12" wide and 7" high. Its weight is 2 pounds and 15.2 oz.

In my video you see some typical uses such as YouTube and Skype.  Overall, it is a nice computer for the price and its usage as an internet computer.

The laptop comes without documentation.  If you need to boot into BIOS you need to hit "delete" key multiple times as soon as it starts booting. To start booting from a USB stick (which you would need to do if you plan to replaces the SSD drive) you need to format the USB stick as FAT32,

and then use F7 to boot from USB stick.

This laptop has an expansion slot M.2 2242 SSD (support up to 512Gb), it can be used add an external SSD to get more storage without replacing the  SSD that contains the operating system.  The first photo below (the one with the door open) is the SSD compartment, all you have to do is remove one screw, open the door and put in the card. The second picture shows the latop with the back cover removed. The M.2 slot is on the bottom right just below the copper shield, the M.2 connector is clearly visible.

Here are a couple of updates after using the laptop for a while:

To create a recovery disk (needed for upgrading the SSD or just to have a backup of the operating system) you need to use a USB stick with a minimum 8G space.

The power plug on the laptop is made out of two parts.  The body which is common to all countries, and prongs attachment which is specific to each country.  This two part construction is not as good as a once piece power plug.
I noticed that my laptop does not always charge as the prongs become loose.  When the laptop drains to 7% the screen does not stay on for long, just enough to show you that it is almost out of juice.

WiFi on the laptop is not very speedy and it has no Ethernet plug. So doing updates is pretty time consuming.  I found that using USB to Ethernet converter gives me better speed than WiFi.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: PYLE PLDM22 Handheld Laser Distance Meter with Backlit Lcd Display

This laser meter is very accurate. It is rated to be accurate within 1/16 of an inch. The key to getting a good reading is to position the back of the unit (i.e. the side opposite to where the laser is emitted) where you want the measuring to begin. The meter is 5 inches long so if you think you are measuring from the front of the unit it would look like the measurement is 5 inches off.

I started by measuring the accuracy on the gridded mat which is 18 inches long. As you in attached video I placed the laser meter one inch into the grid and got a reading of 17" inches. In all experiments with different distances and different background colors the measurements were accurate.

I also liked that the I could turn on back lighting on the meter, so I could see the numbers very clearly. The meter comes with study canvas pouch, which has a loop on the back so you can carry it on a belt or hang on something when you need free hands.

The laser meter runs on two AAA batteries (which are included). It auto-shut offs after 3 minute of inactivity.

The unit is 5.1" x 2.16" x 1.1" and is splash proof.

Pyle laser meter has several functions: it can measure as a single measure, do continuous measuring, perform additions and subtractions of the measurements, it can calculate areas, volumes, Pythagoras (given 2 sides of a triangle calculate the length of the third side) and so forth. I found the manual explained the functions clearly.

The only negative I can say is that the laser meter has no memory of my settings. For example, when I switch units to inches the next time I turn it back on the units go back to meters, so I have to reset it every time.

Overall, I am impressed. Very accurate measurements and it is easy to use.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Cambond Clip On Fan (5" fan fan battery powered)

This fan is 5" across and it can be moved 360 degrees in two directions, so I can aim it at any angle I want. It has a large clip which can serve as a stand, the clip opens up to 2" wide and holds well. I can mount it in various places, I use this clip fan at work clipping it to a shelf.

The fan has three speeds from low to medium to high. On the low setting the fan is very quite and it gets progressively louder with increased air flow.  I show all three speeds in the video.

The fan rans on 18650 battery.  One was included in the package but it appears to be defective.  When I put in the charger it shows that it is full, but the fan does not run when it is inserted. However, when I used another 18650 battery it works fine. The battery can be charged in the fan or in an external charger.


The fan has been in use for a week, and functions well. It has not developed any noises and I had it running all the time for these two weeks.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆