Lexerd - HTC Hero TrueVue Anti-glare PDA Screen Protector (Dual Pack Bundle)

This screen cover eliminates all glare from the screen of the the HTC Hero by Sprint. It's also provides a lot better "feel" to the screen no more "sticking" of thumbs. It comes with a small plastic card to use to remove bubbles (smaller bubbles go away over night) and a small cloth to keep it clean with. Great product!

Got this almost 6 months ago now and it is still on my HTC Hero. i liked the way this protector feels when i use the phone. It is different from some of the others because i dont feel as much drag when i use it. As good as the screen protector was the better part of this purchase was the company. The first set i got started to come off after about 2 weeks so i conteact the seller and they sent me a replacement right away. I will be back for a new set when i upgrade my phone.

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Acer Revo RL80-UR318 Desktop (The Smart PC)

I have tried other small form factor PCs for use with my home theater, and returned every one of them because they could not stream high quality video at 1080p. This one can, and does it like a champ. The unit comes with a bluetooth keyboard, a bluetooth mouse, and an infrared remote control. The documentation is poor (still have no idea what 2 of the buttons on the remote do,) but the product is superb. Note that the optical drive is DVD, not Bluray, so if you need the latter this is not the gadget for you. This Revo comes with Windows 8, which I have found to be mildly annoying because of the changes to the layout from previous versions, but no big deal.

If you know what a HTPC is and have been holding off on Windows 8 look no further. There is a bit of a learning curve but with perseverance and looking up things on the internet when you get stuck, you'll end up loving this little machine. As far as form factor, and included specifications its harder to do better if you're looking for a HTPC.

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Many moons ago, Windows Media Center got me hooked on the notion of creating 'the perfect living room PC', and here it is.

The Acer Revo L80 is a good looking, characterful little machine that you want to stroke from the moment you take it out of the box. Just make sure you're wearing gloves or your fingerprints will be over it in no time.

Booting up for the first time revealed the usual OEM desktop clutter. I could have sat there for an hour uninstalling programs, but had an SSD I wanted to install in place of the 750GB hard disk.

Even the internals of this machine are aesthetically pleasing, with everything laid out beautifully. There are a few screws to undo, but once in bits, replacing the drive was a cinch.

So far, so good. Now, I confess I'm old-school: I know lots about BIOS but zip about this new-fangled EFI, or UEFI depending on who's confusing you. Installing Windows 8 was seemingly impossible, with errors thrown up all over the place, so tried WIndows 7 instead, which was very much trial and error, but I got there after a few hours (yes, a few hours). Determined not to be beaten, however, I then spent another 8 hours trying to install Windows 8. Eventually, I gave up and am stuck with Windows 7 not a bad choice of OS, but this machine is designed for Windows 8, so I'm interested in discovering the differences / benefits. Unfortunately, converting the disk from GPT to MBR meant wiping out the recovery partition, but hopefully the instructions I discovered this morning will help me in my Holy Grail-like quest for the perfect virgin Win 8 install (

I'll be honest so far, this has been the single, most frustrating install I've ever done, without doubt, but the blame doesn't entirely lay with Acer: EFI is the way forward; it's a new technology that will eventually completely replace the ageing BIOS (which has been around since the 70s, let's face it). So I have to learn a new technology no biggie; I just wish I'd known about it beforehand. This is where Acer is to partly to blame: there is nothing in their (somewhat limited) documentation describing the new tech or explaining how to build your own installation from the ground up. PC manufacturers clearly want you to stick with their 'official' release, but surely they're not so naive as to think nobody every replaces their software?

One final gripe: why Microsoft hasn't released a 2nd Service Pack for WIndows 7 yet is beyond me. Seriously, it took 2-3 hours to install the various Windows and Office updates yesterday, which could've been sped up considerably with a single SP2.

Now, the good stuff.

This machine is speedy. It's much speedier than its specs suggest. I use XBMC to deliver all my 1080p HD content (movies, TV shows plus DVT-T2 HD TV recording across 2 tuner sticks). I've yet to see a stutter. 5.1 audio is delivered faultlessly to my DTS/Dolby receiver/amp. The only issue I have is getting my RC6 MCE remote working with the built-in IR receiver, so at the moment am using an external USB IR blaster. This is the one final tweak I'm working on, then it'll be a perfect system.

I've yet to find a set top box that provides the same functionality as XBMC: there are compromises all over the place STBs that do everything but don't collect the rich metadata on your external HD movie collection, YouView boxes here in the UK that sound ideal until you discover you can't connect external storage. My PC has two uses: XBMC and web browsing, so have never really needed the horsepower of my ageing XPS420.

If you want a perfect living room PC, this is the one to beat if all you want to do is plug in and go. But go in with your eyes open if you're planning on re-installing the OS, to save you many hours of fiddling.

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I've only had this product for a few days, so I can't vouch for its longevity... but overall its pretty fast and capable for its small form factor. It was very snappy, and seemed to handle Windows 8 fine.

There were some minor issues, however, that sort of irked me.

1) Wireless mouse and keyboard do not work out of the box. I had to plug in a USB mouse and keyboard, as I couldn't get these to sync up. That is sort of a problem, because Windows 8 requires you to answer a few questions. I can easily see someone not being able to get passed the initial setup because the wireless keyboard and mouse didn't work with it. Its ok to me, because I didn't want to use the supplied keyboard and mouse anyway.

2) I could not boot to CD or USB drive with the default settings. Secureboot needs to be turned off in the BIOS, and launch CSM needs to be set to always in order for this to work. The Launch CSM setting is actually deceptive, as it takes on a grey color that usually indicates you aren't able to change it in the BIOS. It took me a while to notice it was there.

3) Gigabit ethernet driver needed to be updated This one was sort of a big one for me. This machine shipped with a barely working driver for the built in gigabit ethernet. Using a LAN cable, it crawled and the connection often stalled. I had to connect using the built in wireless and use device manager to search online for a more recent driver. You could also download the updated driver from Intel's website, although it seemed to me that the driver that device manager found made the network traffic a little more snappy than the one from Intel's site..

4) The UEFI bios and the requirement to use Launch CSM made the linux install I did very difficult. The fact that I needed to use compatibility mode to boot to CD meant that I could not install Linux on the disk while using GPT. Since compatibility mode (Launch CSM always) was on, Linux thought the machine was only capable of booting using an MBR, and would not install on a free partition. I had to wipe the machine and make the disk boot via MBR instead of GPT. This was sort of s***ty, since I really wanted to keep Windows on there as well.

I also ended up loading a special firmware for Linux on there. I'm not sure why I had to do this, but everyone seemed to recommend this.

So, in effect, the hardware is quite good in this machine. I really hate the BIOS in this machine. I can't stress that enough. Never had this problem with an Asus UEFI bios. The driver for the NIC and the failure of the KB and Mouse to work out of the box was annoying, but it was easy enough to work around these problems.

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I got this PC delivered to me today and I have played with it for a couple of hours and so far I love it. It is faster than the Acer RL70-UR10P which I also own and it has a few additions compared to RL70-UR10P. There is Bluetooth connectivity, faster CPU, Blu-ray DVD player and more RAM. It also comes with Windows 8 (not PRO).

I did have one small issue though. I wanted to do a clean install of Windows 8 PRO and it was not able to boot up from the Windows 8 DVD or even Windows 7 DVD. I did set in BIOS CD/DVD media as a primary boot option and it still wouldn't boot up from either DVD which did work on another PC. I even tried an external USB DVD player/recorder which also would not work.

If anyone knows a solution to this issue, let me know.

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DURAGADGET Car Charger For Samsung Galaxy TAB (P1000) (Rated 2A)

Ordered 2 of these. Received the usb to tablet cord only. How in the hell does that make it a car charger? Any problems, it instructed me to call them in U.K. Do not buy anything from this seller.

This cable was a waste of my money. The Car end of it won't stay in the AC Outlet for more than 30 seconds. It's worthless. I have to hold it in the AC outlet to use it. Not what I had planned on!

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this item is perfect you can use it for anything to charge once you have a USB.

BONUS DURAGADGET Tech

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Bought this as it was considerably cheaper than the OEM Samsung item. Works just fine, good quality moulding on the plugs etc.

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Does not work with my Samsung Galaxy Tab as advertised. I called 800 SAMSUNG and paid more but the quality is good and more importantly works.

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Optoma PK201, VGA, 20 LED Lumens, Pico Pocket Projector

I'm in the tech field and I've been waiting for the pico projectors to come down in price. I just never expected one of this quality and feature set to sell for under $300.00. I've looked at the 3M ones and some of the others but none come close to this 20 lumens switch blade of a Pico projector. I got mine about 3 weeks ago and I've been using it constantly. Everyone who see's it is like "I'm so getting one of these". I like the fact that it came bundled with the cables required to connect your laptop. With other units this was extra as well as a case. I purchased the IPOD connector kit so I could hook up my Iphone. It looks awesome with video coming from my Iphone. Please note that the extra battery in the Ipod/Iphone connector kit is for the PK101/102 projectors and will not fit in the PK201. So bascially I'll ebay that battery. The Arcsoft media software I'm not so happy about. I tried converting a video to the PK201 profile settings in Arcsoft only to have it not work on the unit. If I convert the same file utilizing Arcsoft's PK101 profile (lower video bit rate) then the file will play on the PK201. I have a support case open with them about but its really an Arcsoft issue. I've worked around that anyway by utilzing other software to do the job. Long story short is that I've done a lot of research regarding the Pico Projectors, this is by far the best due to its brightness, input capabilities, resolution, and ability to play content on its own (built in media player). Those are some of the most important things to me when I was looking for a Pico Projector. Did I also mention it utilizes Micro SD so I you can have up to 16gb of storage. It's great just taking this unit out without having to hookup any wires and play a movie or project a powerpoint. I've never written a review before and I hope this helps you in selecting a Pico Proejctor.

Cheers

This little projector is a joy in the dark.

The ability to throw in a SD card and let it play is genius. It will even pick a piece of music off the card to play with your picture slide show.

Unfortunately, it is not bright enough to use in any but the darkest rooms. If you intend to use this on the road where you might not get a completely dark room, or you need to use it along with written materials, then this projector is not for you.

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Had the PK201 for about 3 weeks now. 4 1/2 stars. The brightness has much improved. I love that I can now connect just about anything to the PK201. Hopefully the rest of the cables/adapter will be available soon. Battery life is poor, at about an hour. But I mostly keep this plugged in all the time. I wish the screen was just a little bit bigger. 70" easy with good clarity. The focus wheel is much better, not loose like previous models. Great for travel and hotel rooms. Even with some light ambient lighting you can see the picture fine. Best with complete darkness.

**** Update **** After a lot of use I've noticed a few things when compared to other PK models. First the projection screen on the 201 has a smaller footprint on the wall. I'm unable to get the entire screen to focus. Areas remain blurry no matter what. 101 had better focus. Get the PK301, really impressed with that model. Bought one myself.

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1. VGA output from connection to portable laptop: Adequate due to focusing problems, i.e. unfocused image across the breadth of the projection which comes from a distance of approximately 12' in this case. Furthermore, focusing the image adequately with the focusing wheel is somewhat difficult. However, if the operator fiddles long enough with the focus, one can generally see a clear image over MOST of the projection if the projection is nearly perpendicular to the wall with minimal skew. Although 12' is outside the range suggested by the manufacturer, the Optoma PK201 has focusing problems even at shorter distances, e.g. 9'. The HDMI capability begs a user to connect the PK201 to a computer and project the desktop onto a wall as a replacement for a large screen TV. Currently, the latter process doesn't work well because not all quadrants of the projected image are in focus at the same time. Personally, I'd love to use this capability with my speech recognition system while browsing the InterNet, but a projected desktop consisting of text is very difficult to read. In order to read the fuzzier text, heavy use of the web browser's zoom capability is required which causes other problems. Optoma, you blew it here and I fully expect your next generation of micro projectors to precisely focus all quadrants of the projected image simultaneously. I won't be as forgiving if this problem reoccurs in succeeding generations. No excuses.

2. Thermal: A purchaser wouldn't want a micro projector producing greater heat. Personally, excessive heat might be playing a role in the focusing problems. With the current design, 20 lumens is about maximum for micro projectors using LED DLP (currently) and passive cooling. Employing laser diodes instead of LEDs is an option for micro projectors, but I'm unsure which option has the greatest luminosity per unit of thermal output.

3. Luminosity: The projector is barely acceptable at 20 lumens. Unless one restricts the usage of their micro projector to nighttime hours, don't buy a micro projector with a rated output less than 20 lumens. The projection from the PK201 can be seen in a room with some INDIRECT exterior light so the brightness is acceptable.

4. Battery life: Marginal at best. Buy another battery as a spare. You'll need it.

5. The power switch is too small.

6. One can replace the included conversion software with Handbrake if the user is willing to fiddle with the settings. Personally, I use AVIDemux 2 to convert video for the PK201, but Handbrake will work as well. Thanks to legondaree on the Handbrake forums for these selections for use with Handbrake:

a. Select the "iPhone & iPod Touch" preset.

b. Set output format to "MP4 file"

c. Set Video\Video codec to "H.264(x264)"

d. Set Video\Quality to "Average bitrate(kbps): 1500"

e. Set Advanced\B-Frames to "0"

f. Disable Advanced\CABAC Entropy Coding

g. Set Advanced\Motion Estimation Method to "Uneven Multi_Hexagon"

h. In "Picture Settings", select a maximum width of 720 and height of 480 and set Anamorphic to "None"

Although, I initially thought about returning the PK201 due to the difficulty in focusing and the minimal life of the battery, I've decided to keep it as one can get a readable image across MOST of the screen if the aforementioned precautions are followed and one can always purchase an additional battery. The PK201 is a good micro projector and worth $300, but the difficulty in focusing and the minimal life of the battery detract from its usefulness. Remember, technology will continually advance these micro projectors so one has to weigh various factors before deciding to purchase. Personally, I don't think either the PK201 or PK301 are mature enough yet although they are close. The next generation of these micro projectors will probably see much wider adoption of these devices. I suspect 30+ tested lumens will probably be the minimum output and at least 90 minutes of battery life before these devices see wide acceptance.

In conclusion, the PK201 will work nicely for displaying pictures and video as a slightly out of focus condition won't generally be noticeable in parts of the image. Furthermore, if the PK201 is used primarily in a room with INDIRECT light, e.g. ALL shades pulled during daylight hours, or at night, the brightness of the projected image is adequate. The PK201 can also be used to display text, but slightly out of focus text can be maddening after awhile. Personally, I'm able to use the PK201 to project my desktop while browsing the InterNet with my speech recognition system IF I heavily zoom my web browser to enlarge the text and precisely fiddle with the focus wheel. The latter can be done with some difficulty and the text is largely readable so all isn't lost. I've decided to bump my overall rating from 3 to 4. The PK201 is so close to meeting the requirements for many applications and it's a very good buy if the intended use is primarily for viewing pictures or watching video.

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I was so excited when finally my PK201 arrived. I read the manuals before actually used it, charged it, connected to my laptop and watched one 20-min tv series. At the end of the series, I realized that white spots started to appear at the bottom of my screen.

Now these white spots have multiplied and black spots are also appearing and multiplying themselves. All in a span of 1 hour since my first usage!!!

I wouldve loved this projector because it's what I thought it would be, it was bright enough for my room. But a huge turnoff on the white spots. :(

If anyone knows how to remove these, please let me know. I am from Singapore and would be a big hassle to return it and ask for replacement.

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Kensington Virtuoso Signature Stylus and Pen Black for New iPad 3rd Gen, iPad 2, iPad 1, Kindle Fir

I read through the top 10 websites for recommendations for a Stylus for my iPad and after some research and lots of reviews, I decided on the Kensington Virtuoso based on it receiving above average ratings due to it's precision stylus and high-quality ink pen. In my opinion, the ink pen is about the same quality as a pen you would find in a hotel room and the rubber stylus ripped and came off after only two weeks of use. The price for this stylus was too much for a tip that only lasted two weeks along with mediocre pen. And I still don't know why I or anyone else would want to pay 3 or 4 times more for a 'precision' stylus like this over one that costs a few bucks and lasts longer? I would recommend you save your money with this one.

I travel frequently for work and I'm always looking for a way to reduce the travel clutter. Having a pen and stylus combination helps with that. The pen writes well and the stylus is good. Helpful Hint: To change the refill, UNSCREW the refill... don't pull.

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I haven't used a stylus since I finally gave up using Palm OS devices, almost a decade ago. The advanced touch screens and interfaces of today, are made to be be used with fingers, rather than with a stylus. But when I began to play Draw Something, it occurred to me that it'd be much easier to play on a 10-inch tablet with a stylus, than on a 4-inch screen with my fingers.

PROS:

Stylish good looks

Responsive stylus

Doubles as a nice pen

CONS:

Pocket clip is a bit shallow

Before computers, the Internet, and touch screens, I was a bit of a pen and mechanical pencil collector. When I first saw the Kensington Virtuoso Signature Stylus, I thought it looked a lot like a Mont Blanc pen. The fact that I had a black Mont Blanc pen with silver accents, probably had a lot to do with the association. Either way, I immediately found the Virtuoso Signature to be a stylish-looking pen. It doesn't write like a Mont Blanc, but it's definitely a decent pen and a nice convenience. And of course, the ink is refillable.

The stylus end of the Virtuoso Signature looks like an eraser, or more similarly, like an earphone tip. If you were expecting the stylus to look something like an old Palm Pilot styli, you might be wondering why they're so different. Most modern touch screens are capacitive, while the older touch screens, like on the Palm Pilot, are resistive. Capacitive touch screens work differently in that they require an electrical conductor to disrupt the screen's electrostatic field. Long story short: you can't use the old-school styli with modern touch screens.

Getting used to a capacitive stylus took me about 15 minutes. After I got used to it, I was able to draw more precise lines and was having more fun playing Draw Something than using just my fingers. I was also able to sign my name better when using document signature apps.

I really like the Kensington Virtuoso Signature Stylus and Pen. It's stylish, writes well as a pen, and is more precise on touch screens than using fingers alone. My only gripe is that the pen clip is a tad shallow and doesn't feel overly secure when clipped in my bag or pocket. Given that the cost of the Virtuoso is in the same ballpark as a decent Cross pen, I'd prefer not to lose it. Aside from that, I'd say the Virtuoso Signature is a good way to go if you like to draw on your smartphone/tablet or need to be able to hand write with greater precision.

* Review sample provided by Kensington

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A beautiful pen that also doubles as a capacitive stylus. It is a little thick for my hand but has a nice substantial weight. The twist action to use the pen is preferable to other styles which use a cap. The stylus works well and does not detract from the elegant look of the pen.

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Very good stylus pen will purchase as long as available have tried several that were not this quality so I would recommend the Kensington virtuoso to anyone

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Mustek ScanExpress H610 Scanner

Since using this hand held scanner, I have put it through the paces. I have scanned close to 1,000 documents and it works beautifully. I'm working with extremely old and faded documents of various colors and illustrations, photos, etc. I am exceptionally pleased.

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3-in-1 Mini Bluetooth Keyboard for Apple iPad Nokia Symbian S60 Phones Sony PS3 Players (Keyboard,

The device worked fine for my Windows 7 Laptop, unfortunately, I bought it to use on my Sprint Galaxy Tablet. The box and the RiiTek website both say it works with Android, but every Android device I tried it on, it would not work... and that was after having to go to the website to find a driver that to this day requires authentication off the internet that fails to run no matter how good your internet connection is.

Best to leave this one alone if you are looking for a good Android Bluetooth Keyboard. I will be returning mine shortly.

There are two versions of this product. I made sure I bought the one that is bluetooth, the other works via a wireless frequency (and is generally less costly in price) but doesn't use the bluetooth protocols. I was able to connect this to my iMac (not using the included fob) in less than a minute. The keys are responsive and after some mouse sensitivity adjustments on the iMac, the track pad works well too.

I expected some limitations since the keyboard is a very compact layout; The most important limitation to note is that the "windows" key stroke is done via the Fn-Ctrl key stroke, which makes it impossible if you need to use key stroke combinations with the windows key, such as windows-M to minimize all windows (or Apple-Q to quit programs on Macs as the windows key is usually mapped to apple key on macs). You can almost get used to the keyboard enough to type without looking. The keys are raised enough to distinguish between them by touch, mouse buttons and arrow pad are distinctly different by touch from the keyboard. Enter and Fn key is two-key width and Space bar is three-key width; easy to distiguish by touch. The only thing that trips me up is the Enter key, on a normal keyboard it's located on the row with L, but in this compact layout it's located in the row with M. The arrow pad is in a great location right under the track pad, makes navigating around easy. While the left mouse button is right under the left side of the track pad, click-dragging is a bit awkward. It makes me wish they placed an additonal left mouse button where the Fn key is.

I do not use this frequently, it's connected to a computer in my kitchen that is usually just showing eyeTV. I wanted a tiny keyboard that I can just velcro to the back of the iMac; this product fills the niche well. whenever I need to jump onto a web browser and look up something quickly it's nice to be able to do this without taking out some bulky keyboard and mouse and needing a table to place it on. It comes with a laser pointer for presentations, I use it to play with the cat.

I usually leave it on and plugged into the USB cable that comes with it to keep it fully charged. Sometimes I leave it unplugged but have never left it unplugged for more than a day, so I've never had the device lose battery power yet. The box says standby time is 500-700 hours, I haven't confirmed this. I have left it unplugged for multiple days but turned it off on those occasions. Turning it back on (or picking it up after not using it for a while) requires the bluetooth to resync (takes a few seconds), but so far I've never had to go through the pairing process after the first.

The product is very well packaged, came with a well-written and illustrated user's manual and driver mini-CD. I used neither pairing it with my iMac. Dimensions: 151x59x12.5mm / 6"x2.4"x0.5" Weight: 104g. Feels solid in my hand. As far as dropping durability, I wouldn't be as careless as I would with a TV remote. I haven't dropped my Rii mini wireless keyboard yet. The keyboard is backlit, which is activated via Fn-F1 keystroke, not too hard to remember and feel for those times you need to turn on backlighting in a dark room. I haven't tested the limits of the wireless range, but it works flawlessly in my range of usage of 1-8 feet.

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This keyboard has some great features. It was a bit of a pain to get paired with my Droid Bionic. The instructions were misleading. If you're the type who never reads the directions, you'll have better luck getting it paired without difficulty. (For those who are curious, you don't install the software that came on the CD for new phones.). Overall, I really like the device and would recommend it for use with Webtop or HTPC on your Droid devices. I find the trackpad to be very useful, however the placement of the mouse buttons makes it a tiny bit awkward to use when dragging and dropping. I personally prefer the candybar style of this device over the Logitech DiNova Mini and the Lenovo Mini. No complaints so far (other than the worthless instructions). Although it would be nice to have a battery charge indicator, I have charged mine enough to use in less than 15 minutes or so.

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I connect my laptop to my TV in the bedroom. this is an amazin toy if you dont wanna type too much. I dont need too get up and touch anything. the price is very good. I didnt see the USB adapter at first so I had to buy it alone for $44 from best buy. (until I found the one attach to the keyboard and returned the one that I got from best buy).

I didnt use it for any other device, so I dont know if it's compatible or not! but there is a CD included in the box that has a folder for Android/Windows phone/iPhone.

I recommend this product

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For some reason the software for Android based phones does not work on Sprint's Photon phone. Very disappointing. I have not been able to find a work around.

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Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000 for Business

We purchased a very cheap Plantronics headset to record demos and trainings using a screen capture software. The headset was really cheap, but when recording it had a fuzzy sound. I wanted to purchase a more expensive headset to get a more premium recording sound. I looked for noise cancellation. Most reviews on the headsets I found still had background noise, even though it stated noise cancellation as a recording feature. This product did not have a review so I thought I would provide one for future buyers. I literally just unboxed this headset and hooked it up. I was blown away by the quality of the speakers. It fit very comfortably and most importantly it recorded a crisp and clean track. No background fuzz or anything. I cannot give my opinion on how long it will last, but the durability seems there. It came with a tie string pouch for it to be placed in. Overall very good product!!!

I liked the headset and have no issues with the sound or audio functions. I have had the headset a bit less than a month and it just broke. There have been no drops/wire pulls or anything else of that nature. Pulling the ear pieces apart to put a head between stresses the thin part of the headset leading to the earpiece. There was an audible crack last week when I was slipping them on and I've been even more careful since then, but it still broke. Going to try and get it taken care of through warranty, but it still seems like a weakness unless the one I received had a defect that I did not notice.

I spoke with Jason at the Microsoft Replacement desk and had no issues requesting a replacement though it's on backorder and may be a bit of a wait. That call was fairly short and pleasant. Bumping the review up from 2 stars to 3 as the combination of good audio and good customer service make it more palatable.

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I'm no Microsoft fanboi by any stretch of the imagination, but like their Natural keyboards, they again show that while they're not a hardware company, they understand good hardware.

I'm sometimes on loooong conference calls. These guys are super comfortable even during a long call. Sound is excellent, though I'm not using them for music or anything. The Lync controls are excellent, and the main reason I got these...I'd been looking for a wireless Lync capable headset, but all the ones I could find looked like bluetooth earpieces and I was looking for more of a headset like this.

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I picked up the LX-6000's through Amazon as they're not yet available at the company store on campus. They work great on Win7 and Win8 and are a lot more comfortable than the lx-3000/4000 the replace. The microphone is also much better than the microphone on the lx-3000/4000 series and they headset is Lync certified!

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it works perfectly. it's light, portable and sound is excelent for work purposes. microsoft is the best hardware company and i certainly recommend

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Protective Vinyl Skin Decal Cover for Amazon Kindle Fire 7" inch Tablet sticker skins Desert Camo

would have preferred if it didn't have the EGA, but that's clearly in the picture

could have stood to have some templating for applying, but removability kind of makes it unnecessary

but these are just wishlist nitpicking, the product arrived quickly and was exactly as advertised

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PalmOne m100 Handheld

I Recently bought the M100 after comparing the IIIE, IIIXE and Handspring Visor Models. What made me buy the Palm M100. Three reasons. 1. Palm's reputation of quality, and the look. I'm sorry but it's cool. Sure the screen is a bit smaller, but I'm not writing War and Peace on this thing! 2. The fact that I only wanted to replace my organizer and have room for a couple of games. Actually I have over 15 games on this along with a good chunk of info and still have over 75% of memory. Sure 8 mb is nice to have, but it's also another $100 bucks. I can't see myself spending more money on additional game-boy like cartridges. Sure for developers and heavy power users the visor is probably the way to go, but I didn't like the fact I had to pay $179 for a visor and another 30 bucks to serial link it with my older computer. That's $209 plus tax to start versus $149 for the Palm. Moreover, the Visor 8mb would have been over $279 dollars vs. $149 just to start out. FORGET IT. Like I said remeber what you are buying it for.!! 3. The way the standards are evolving and the way new devices are coming out, the next best thing is always around the corner, so again remind yourself what you are buying this for. The way I figure if something too cool comes out, (say after 6 months or so,when the flash module palms, new visors or the next best pocket pc version comes out, I'll just give the m100 to my daughter.

All things considered, the M100 is remarkably similar to the Palm IIIe and also to the Handspring Visor. They all run the Palm OS, have 2MB of RAM, and are powered by AAA batteries. They also all sell for $149. But the monochrome screen on the M100 is just 2 inches square--almost a half inch smaller than the Palm IIIe's screen. It's still large enough to be useful, but it feels cramped.

The M100 does have two handy additions to the Palm formula: the first is an integrated clock, and the other is a piece of software designed to replace Memo Pad. This feature, called Note Pad, allows you to draw and take notes directly on the screen rather than using Graffiti to enter text. I found it very handy for jotting down a phone number, which you can later transcribe with Graffiti. Don't think you must get an M100 to do this, though; third-party software, such as BugMe can do essentially the same thing on any Palm OS device.

By far the most appealing change is the small, light, new body. Although at 4.4 ounces it weighs little more than the Palm V, the M100 is much thicker than that model. When you tire of basic black, just snap off the faceplate and replace it with another color.

A new, double-hinged screen cover has a little window through which you can see a portion of the screen and a hole that allows you to access the scroll button. If you press this button when the M100 is turned off, the clock will be displayed through the window of the cover. When an appointment alarm sounds, you can read it right through the window as well. The cover can be folded behind the device, an improvement over the III series, but it tends to flap around a bit.

I like the price since, for $150, a Palm OS device with 2MB of RAM is plenty of computer. However, I recommend a Palm IIIe or, if you're fond of colors, the Handspring Visor because they offer slightly larger screens for the same price. The M100 is cute and the software tweaks are nice but its not really all that great compared to the IIIe.

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I have just converted fron a Psion to the palm about two months ago, and I love it! The main complaint of most people (build quality) is right: Palm could have easily done better. Other than that, here are my pros & cons.

(+) it's compact & inexpensive, so you do not have to think twice before slipping it into your pants or shirt pocket. I previously owned a palm pilot personal and the difference in size and weight is noticable carrying the personl (or the Revo) was annoying after an hour or two, I now carry the m100 all day and hardly notice it.

(+) hotsync: if you use outlook caledar, do not even consider a psion. Their synchronization software is stone age compared to hotsync & pocketMirror (all included in the box).

(+) batteries: a matter of personal taste I guess, but I like using a couple of AAA's for a month and than just buy new ones which can be found everywhere better than worrying about taking a charger with me when I travel.

(+) 360 degrees hinge flip cover the most functional cover I have seen so far: it's thin, sturdy, and can flip open using one hand.

(*) my favorite add ons: 1) minicalc a commercial spredsheet app. that syncs nicely with exell. 2) thinkDB a commercial 'database' app with customizable forms & filtering.

(-) MIA's: e-mail sync., spelling checker, display pixel count. voice recording.

(-) RAM Size: 2MB becomes marginal with the add on apps mentioned above. Had to remove AvantGo :(

I'll take a star for memory size and build quality but I never regret buying it!

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In other reviews, I have slammed this product, the m105 and the m125 for what I consider to be their fatal flaw -a SMALL SCREEN. I returned my m105 (a gift) after a week of squinting.

The dropping prices suggest that the marketplace has spoken loud and clear, and I hope that PALM soon remedies its problems at the low-end of the market with a full-sized screen in a basic unit for under two hundred smackers.

I can't emphasize that enough. With a monochrome screen to begin with, and the built-in difficulty of pointing and clicking on a Palm device, size matters.

However, I have to admit that at these fire-sale prices, the m100 is becoming a steal for folks who have missed out on the PDA revolution because of the cost.

Make no mistake, with a little patience, this is a device that will change your life. After a transition period, you will be able to toss away your Rolodexes (I used to have three) and your paper calendars.

I'd recommend buying a Handspring Visor Deluxe or the new Visor Neo for folks who want a full-sized screen, although they now cost a bit more. They also have an expansion slot for adding everything from memory to a cell phone to GPS. You will also need 8MB (the m100 model only comes with 2MB) if you want to run some of the cooler downloadable programs for your Palm. Three free programs that I use all the time include Mapopolis (free maps from mapopolis.com, streets are searchable), Vindigo (a restaurant and city guide with movie reviews and showtimes at vindigo.com), and Avantgo (a news service where you can get the likes of The New York Times, the Weather Channel and CNN on your Palm).

If you want to stay with Palm, but can spend a bit more, consider the Palm V. Although lacking in expansion slots, it comes in a

super-slim package with a rechargeable lithium battery and a full-size screen. I also have a friend who is very happy with his snazzy, expandable new m505, but in that price range I think a PocketPC might make more sense. Here's a basic product guide:

Palm m100/Handspring Visor -Bargain basement models with 2 MB of Ram. Good starter models for the price.

Distinguishing characteristics: Visor has significantly larger screen/expansion slot and fast USB cradle. Palm has slower serial.

Palm m105/Visor Deluxe -Workhorse models with 8 MB of Ram (plenty for monochrome models). Visor has bigger screen/USB/expansion slot.

Palm m125/Visor Platinum -Upper middle class models. Visor Platinum has larger screen. Both have USB/expansion slot.

Palm V -Classic, not significantly expandable. Smallest full-function PDA with lithium rechargeable battery.

Visor Prism -Cheapest and brightest Palm-branded OS, but bulky for its pricetag.

Visor Edge/Palm 500/505/Visor Pro...

Good luck!

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For many people who are currently jumping on to the PDA bandwagon, you really cant go wrong with this little device. Depending on how you look at it, when it comes to PDA's generally what you pay for is what you get. This holds true for the m100. It will do pretty much everything every other palm will do. The only difference is that you have only about 2mb of storage space compared to the 8mb most Palm units will have now. Also the other main difference is that instead of a cradle, this unit has a plug in type of sync.

Its a great gift to give someone considering how much you can get them these days. Its a great entry level PDA.

As a last piece of advice i highly recommend that you do your research before you go and by any PDA. Dont believe the PocketPC ads or even the Palm ads. Talk to a lot of people and read a lot of reviews, particularly reviews that are made my people like you or me who aren't on Palm's or Microsoft's payroll.(Unfortunately) They will really tell you a lot of things that you will really want to know.

Good Luck! Overall again this is a good introductory palm for those who dont have any type of PDA. Again it really depend on your needs in a PDA. If all you need is a place to write telephone numbers, keep a calendar, a to do list and maybe a few games, this would be adequate. However if you need to view documents, e-books, web clippings, spreadsheets, and even listen to music, you might want to go another direction. Also be prepared to part with a few more dollars.

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Keyspan by Tripp Lite USA-49WG 4 port USB DB9 Adapter

I've been using this USB serial interface for a couple of years now. I've used it under Windows XP, Fedora and Ubuntu Linux. The Windows XP drivers are available on Keyspan's website. Fedora and Ubuntu (except version 7.10) include the drivers in the standard distribution.

The serial interfaces are solid, providing good RS-232 drive levels. The interfaces can also handle decent bit rates. I've used it up to 115200 BPS. It's also very convenient the way it is packaged. Especially in embedded systems programming, it's nice to have four serial ports right on your desk top with just the one USB cable running to the computer.

This is the absolute best USB to Serial Comm port adapter.

You'll never need to unplug and replug it in.

You'll never need to go into Device Manager and change the COM port number.

It is a good performer and works well.

Tripplite/Keyspan has 64 bit driver for windows XP/Visa/W7.

I have used this device on 32 bit Vista and on 64 bit Vista.

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I have used Keyspans individual port adapters for several years. They work flawlessly and are quite fast. I do a lot of work on high speed serial devices running without flow control. The devices keep up.

I found that I often had 4 single Keyspans cluttering my desk. I wanted this device. When I finally found it, it was a no-brainer. It works flawlessly. (I had hoped it would be less expensive than 4 singles and it is just a little.)

A nice little benefit is I use their static mapping tool to make the ports appear as COM11 thru COM14, eliminating past confusion about which port goes with which device.

Serial is officially a legacy device. New PCs don't have serial ports. But, if you have a lot of serial devices to manage, this is a great way to simplify cabling and management hassles.

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This thing works. I am an amateur radio operator (ham operator) and I used an old 486 computer to run several communications and logging applications in my ham station. The applications control my equipment -changing frequency, logging contacts, sending/receiving Morse code, teletype, and other modes. When the old computer crapped out I had a real problem: The old computer had lots of COM ports -new computers have only USB ports. I purchased two different USB-to-serial adapters -neither of them worked reliably. I was a bit reluctant to pay the price for this one but, after reading the comments, I bought it.

This thing is great -it setup in seconds. I connected my equipment to three of the four ports, set up the ports in Windows XP Device Manager (had to set the baud rate), started my old applications and everything worked perfectly.

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I bought both the 4 port Keyspan USB-serial adapter and the single adapter after trying IOGEAR versions. I had various software issues with the IOGEAR when switching ports or plugging in different devices, as it would constantly assign a higher port number. I can only think it is a result of its incompatability with Windows XP (in the fine print of the instructions). The Keyspan USB-serial devices have worked extremely well and can easily switch ports. The difference is huge.

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Delphi SA10069 Home Adapter Kit for XM SKYFi Roady or Roady2

One day after activating the Roady 2, I purchased the home adaptor kit. I haven't turned it off since. As with the roady 2 purchase, this comes with more than enough hookups and accessories that you may or may not need. Turns out that the original antenna worked great inside as well but why disconnect and reconnect everything each time you drive or return home. I placed the antenna on the windowsill and that was it. The bitrate is at zero, my stereo receiver picks up outstanding reception without any additional hookups, as do other radios in the house. It takes up no space and offers such a rewarding experience that you'll be happy to say goodbye to free radio and pay for no commercials and a plethora of listening alternatives.

Why leave your Roady 2 outside lonely in your car or truck when you can bring it inside and maximize your XM value? I carry my receiver back and forth between the vehicle and my house. Once in the house, I plop my Roady 2 into the home cradle, plug in the power and antenna and use the built in FM transmitter to broadcast XM to the FM radio in my bedroom and the main stereo in my living room, about 40 feet away. Granted, I have a good antenna in my home stereo, but the XM comes through clear. By using the line-out option, you can get even more clarity, but then you're limited to one service point.

The home antenna is so powerful that, even though you're supposed to have it in a south-facing window, you might be able to fudge on that. Just use the "antenna aiming" feature on the Roady 2 available through the menu for a more detailed view of what the Roady 2 is seeing through the home antenna. The home kit also comes with a remote control that alone is about worth the price of the kit. The remote has features not available on the Roady 2 receiver itself including "scan" and "jump" (or a sort of "last channel" button).

I listen to the "Audio Visions" channel late at night and, sometimes, while I sleep. I wake up and dial the receiver over to CNN or Fox news for a little wake up. But wonderful programming is another subject all together! If you're just thinking about the XM service, . Amazon has great prices on the hardware necessary to enjoy the service.

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Awesome toy now that it's got power. I would give 5 stars however when I opened the package I was disappointed to discover my AC adapter wouldnt plug securely into my Roady2. Perhaps I have an older version? After compairing it to my auto adapter, I found that the AC adapter had a yellow plastic tip about a millimeter or two extending from the plug that shouldnt normally get in the way. I shaved it off with a knife so that it can plug into my Roady2 and have power.

The antenna works in my area as I'm surrounded by terrestrial transmitters, and plus my apartment is on the top floor. I just have the antenna sitting in the corner of my living room on a bookshelf.

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This item is a must have for XM radio ownwers. Why be stuck to having the radio in the car only, when you can hook up the unit to your home stereo or home theatre receiver?

The home kit comes with everything you needthe sturdy thick plastic base, the AC power adapter, the wires to connect to your receiver, and the powerful antenna with I think 20 feet of wire for it.

I use my unit in a bedroom basement, had to have the 50 ft extension cord to make it all the way to the south area of the basement. I have it mounted on the stairwall next to the backdoor which faces south. Surprisingly, you don't need a south facing window or an outside mounting. My unit gets perfect reception with 3 bars all the time inside the house. When the door is left open (which is rare), it does interfer with the signal and it usually goes down to 1 bar, but it's never open for any length of time, so this is no problem.

The base to the kit is very sturdy and make of thick plastic. It's durable and tough. You just slide the unit into the clamp, which is easy to do as opposed to some products where you have to position things perfectly to get them on their bases. The base tilts up and down so you can get the best view of the radio's screen...like I said, very strong and durableit sits there and it's not moving or falling over on its own.

The antenna, as I pointed out, works wellit's clearly pretty strong. It has a plate you can take out and put 4 screws in to mount it on the wall inside or outside. I have 1 screw thru mine and it sits against the wall of the stairway so no one can knock into it. The antenna tilts as wellyou can have it flat against the base or tilt it outwards to make it perpendicular with the base to find better reception. Mine, as mentioned, is flat against the base and it works fine this way.

If you have a south facing window and that seems to be the only way you can get 3 bars...it would probably sit easily inside most windows. Mine downstairs are very small and have no real window sills to speak of, so this wouldn't work...tho, no problemthe sigal goes right thru the door!

The wiring connecting to the unit is strong, but it's thin so it's easily run over my entertainment center and hidden well. Same for the power adapter and jacks to the receiver. Great sound quality via the RCA cables in the kit. It's all long enough for most people...the antenna comes with 20 feet of wire.

A great product and a must have for XM radio ownersthis makes it possible to listen to XM anywhere.

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The antenna is very weak. It definitely needs to face an open southern sky and it hates having walls in the way. There is an opportunity for a third party developer to create a better antenna here. On the other hand, the antenna cable is very long so Delphi is TRYING to make it easy to face it south.

The stand. . . well, it works and it seems rugged enough but it is very light and it slides around very easily. Too easily. I can see that it might be possible to accidentally knock it off the table.

The remote reciever in the roady seems to have a very narrow angle of view which limits the usefulness of the remote control. If you are too far to the right or left of the reciever, the remote is pretty useless. The remote itself, while physically small, is well designed and works with my gorilla hands. The buttons are of a good size. Overall, a good design.

This review might seem kind of negative so far, but that's not really the case in my mind. The components could be better, but they work reasonably well with each other and the Roady2 radio. I'd like to see improvements made and I'd even pay a bit more for a home kit with a stronger antenna. But overall, I am satisfied.

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Archos 5 32 GB Internet Tablet with Android

• 32GB capacity for up to 9,500 songs, 25 movies, and 320,000 photos
• 10 hours of audio or 4 hours of video on a single charge
• 4.8-inch TFT LCD touchscreen display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution and 16 million colors
• Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, AAC+, FLAC, and OGG Vorbis audio formats; MPEG-4
• One-year limited warranty

I have to say that I went against my gut when purchasing this device, as it looked really nice, and really, I wanted it for watching movies, listening to music and checking the internet quickly when I am on the run in airports.

The movie portion worked really well. For that, I give this device 5 STARS...I actually downloaded movies to my Amazon Unbox, then hooked up the Archos and bam, instantly on my new Archos 5 (well, after the movie downloaded to my unbox in 1.5 hours).

The music portion also works flawlessly. Not really any hiccups there, and the sound was good, but could be better. For that, I would give it 4 stars...

SO FAR SO GOOD RIGHT?

WRONG

First, I had the reset this device 5 times in 2 days because it just plain froze up. I would get multiple error messages when I was connected to internet, dropping the connection frequently (and yeah, I'm pretty skilled at making that work). TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE.

And I don't want to hear how a simple patch or download will fix this issue. If it doesn't work out of the box, than DON'T SHIP IT!! I've been reading that apparently, Archos is getting slammed with this stuff after only a week.

FOR THAT, it gets 1 STAR and should get ZERO stars!!

Second, the Appslib was never installed on this device. I called customer service, was talking to someone in 5 minutes, who then put me on hold for 45 MINUTES!! After 45 minutes (I only stayed on hold that long cause I was watching NFL game so I had nothing else to really attend to at the time), the phone rang for 10 more minutes, and then, line went dead. PATHETIC!!!!

I am reading that some software update added actually might have been the reason for the Appslib to never appear, and if you look at Amazon site, they pulled the 160GB version.

For that, I give it NEGATIVE STARS...TERRIBLE service and TERRIBLE that this device did not come preloaded as advertised.

I am sending it back and will use my Toshiba Netbook to watch movies on the plane rides for now. I'm really disappointed. The device itself was really nice and sleek looking. The interface was nice.

The resistive keyboard was kind of annoying as it took a pretty good finger press to make it respond, but worked well enough. I learned to type pretty well on it in 2 days.

I'm ANNOYED!!!

I would have bought the ZuneHD but the screen is too small for movies, as well as the Ipod touch..

I'm now considering the Viliv ex70 as I've heard great things and it's gotten favorable reviews.

I've read Archos history but wanted this device to work...The Android platform has a lot of potential and anything google touches pretty much works as advertised.

Now, I'll have to shop around a little.

I can tell you one thing...unless people start giving this device 4-5 stars when the bugs are worked out, I'll never buy another thing from this company.

EDIT TO REVIEW:

I have downloaded a new firmware update and the device is no longer needing to be reset constantly. It also does not lag any longer and seems a little more snappy and responsive. I'm going to hold on to it for now and see how this plays out over the next 3 weeks. I'm actually flying to CA for a sales meeting next week and so it'll be tested well. If I find it is just needing more debugging it's going back and I'll also update again.

I have 2 movies that I just loaded to it from Unbox. Wolverine and The Dark Knight...Both look very good, although I'd love to get my hands on a HD version of these movies to push to the device.

I'm nervous, however, to buy the HD plugin because I've read somewhere that it does not work or does not read that you have purchased it.

One last thing:

I also just read now that on the Viliv you can actually run Windows 7. It has a camera, and if that is the case, you can snap photos and then ink on them which I do when I'm on job sites taking photos and marking up buildings and plans. That seems practical to me. However, it's expensive (around $800-$900) and this device would be GREAT if these bugs go away.

Let me also so, GET THE 32GB NOT THE 160GB model. The 32GB runs SSD and it very snappy. It's also half the weight and thin.

I'd say it's as thin as my wife's iphone and as heavy as holding a large starbucks coffee. It's light and thin.

I have yet to try the GPS software but plan on downloading it from the disk provided to get the 7 day trial out of it. I'd LOVE that to work. Has a lot of potential when the 3D maps are available for the US in 2nd quarter of 2010.

BEWARE, not matter how much you want something...BEWARE

UPDATE #2: Done with it. It is going back NOW. I did the firmware update and it did NOTHING to help this machine. At first it appeared to make the system work faster, but then, it has frozen up 2 more times. Furthermore, I tried to install the GPS 7 day trial using the disk and the device again froze up. Sorry, but I cannot believe that these people would let these go out the door KNOWING it has issues. How the hell can they NOT know? If everyone here but one person has given this thing pretty poor marks, are they only using fully functional and perfectly tested devices?

Literally, look at the reviews and you will see what I am talking about. It's amazing to me that a company would do this. Yes, large companies have devices that periodically are returned defective. But at the rate that these people are getting complaints, you have to wonder how this could go on for the period of time that it has.

So, Archos will never get another dime from me, unless of course they come out with a fully functional non brick like device that people are raving about. I believe my next device will be a Viliv. I have read review after review on those devices and they are almost all positive. The machines perform the way they were intended to, unlike this one.

And it's too bad...this is such a nice looking and feeling device. The screen is nice, it feels really easy to use in the hand...It's a shame it just does not perform.

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Just don't buy this product. It's a simple as that.

Mine never really worked.

Despite buying the optional HD video software, the device isn't able to play HD (720) content properly. I constantly have a/v out-of-sync problems. The video lags the audio. All the time. Then you pause, resume playing and it's ok for 5 minutes but then it drifts out of sync again.

Accessing the microsd card is a disaster. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You need to keep on inserting and removing the card.

The battery doesn't even last an hour if you are playing videos

The device gets extremely warm (so warm that it is uncomfortable in your hands)

But what's worst is that you are on your own if you buy this. Archos support doesn't exist!

My device had all these problems. I logged tickets with their support and nobody *ever* bothered to respond. Then one day my Archos just stopped working completely. The screen would just flicker and never turn on.

So I wrote a letter to the CEO or Archos and returned this awfully engineered piece of hardware to them. All I got back is a standard letter telling me my warranty has expired (which for the record isn't true) and an offer to repair my Archos 5 for 148 EUROs.

Stay away from Archos.

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update 10/20/10:

save your money i have had to have this device replaced or repaired no less than 5 times so far, and likely more than that. in all honesty, most of the time it had to be replaced b/c their support people sent me back units that were either wrong (they replaced it once with the older archos 5 model, rather than android, in a folgers-esque "lets see if he notices" moment), or because they sent me back a unit that was defective in an all new way than the device it was replacing.

due to their rediculously poor support (being without my device for weeks on end is bad support in my opinion) and treatment of their customers, i just cant recommend any of their products anymore. its like they dont QA them at all, and they make no effort to foster any customer good will.

below is my original review, if only to contrast exactly how much my view of this company and device has changed.

-----------------------------------------------

This is a great device with a few minor interface issues and bugs. im not going to write a thesis on this, so ill just boil it down. just to let you know, ive previously owned an archos 604wifi and an archos av420.

the pros:

the interface is very slick, it takes some getting used to but once you do it is great! its MUCH tighter than any apple product in the way the interface works seamlessly throughout the entire experience despite what application you are using.

set up was very simple, streaming from either web radio, pandora, or my personal network (all via wifi) was amazing. surprisingly the battery life doesnt seem terrible either. i havent done any strenuous tests yet, but i used the device last night constantly streaming web radio via wifi, connected to bluetooth devices, and with the screen on and active while i was browsing the net a bit (looking thru applications to add) for 2 or 3 consecutive hours last night, and only seemed to use 1/3 of the battery.

its more intelligent than previous versions, letting me know why certain files i have wont play on this during the transfer process. it offered to still let me copy them across for storage, but said i wouldnt be able to play them with the device. previously it would copy them, let me add them into the playlist, then bail-out of playback whenever it came across it, which was very annoying since i tend to make big playlists and use shuffle.

built in fm transmitter! FINALLY! ive been waiting for them to put this into (or at least attached to) the device themselves for a long time basically since i bought the fm receiver for the av420 /thinking/ it was a transmitter. ;) sadly i havent figured out how to get this working just yet, but i havent had alot of time to play with it in the car (thats my after-work project today).

i havent had the chance to play with the GPS yet, but making this all inclusive like that is a great idea, i hope its executed well (however i havent heard good things about teleatlas).

the cons:

its ALOT thicker than it appears on the web probably dictated by hard drive size, but its basically as thick as my 604wifi. the web image was very misleading, i was expecting something much thinner.

i dont get why all the applications use the accelerometer to change orientation, but the home menu's dont? seems like a silly oversight.

it seems a little laggy, and its hung a number of times to the point that ive had to force-reboot it. im really hoping for a system update to fix this stability issue.

text entry boxes are a little odd, you cant easily click and drag to highlight parts of text to delete or edit. hoping a system update fixes this.

im pretty good with tech toys, but i have not been able to get this thing to "tether" to my phone yet. it seems to pair with phone, but my phone says there are no available services on the archos that its interested in so it never "connects". not quite sure whats going on here.

not a real con but since i am a previous owner it was a little hard to get used to: you cant choose to add an entire folder of songs to a playlist when creating them on the device anymore. at first i thought they were forcing me to add one song at a time, but its not as bad as that: what they do is make you enter the directory you want to add, choose any song and click to add it to the playlist from the menu. once you do it opens another small menu asking if you want to add just that track or all the tracks in that directory. its mildly annoying b/c it requires a few extra steps for something that seems really basic: they could have just let me add the directory and automated that functionality. im really hoping a system update fixes this as well.

booting up doesnt seem to be any better than it had been on the 604 (which was noticably longer than the 420 had been). however it does have a "stand-by" mode that appears to use no battery life and boots up in seconds. not quite sure if this really is a con since they seem to have provided a solution that is great, which is why its last. ;)

Summary:

great device, some bugs but very small and easy to overlook so far, and they should be easily fixed (hopefully quickly). im REALLY excited for this product and hope to see archos throwing its continued support behind it.

sorry, i guess that was alot longer than i hoped or expected.

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Well Despite all the reviews, I decided to order the Archos 5 160GB version. I was a little worried about what I would encounter, however there worries would soon transition from worried to eased.

The make of this device is very solid and it is a little big for the pocket, but it's manageable. This device would be significantly useful for people on the go as it allows you to bring a large amount of media with you all in a neat little tablet that can handle HD output (Given some videos are going to be laggy, but this is normal for most hand held devices as they do not have the rendering capabilities that of a computer does). However to deal with this, Archos is trying to maintain regular updates. Just recently they released 2 updates for the Archos 5. If you go to the main Archos site, which is at you can look at the updates that have been released for the device. It turns out that with each update they are trying to clean up the HD output given the limitations of the hardware also they are working on another update which is called doughnut, which is version 1.6 android, I believe (which will hopefully include the android market!! :)). This device also has a TON of space.

With all this space it can have other uses as well. I, Personally, have a large collection of books and music, I used this device as a backup of all my files so that in the event that anything happens to my main machine, I will always have the files I prioritized. Another neat little thing that the Archos 5 can do is it can read PDFs and Office Files, which is nice if you ever have to edit your office files on the go. With the amount of area that is displayed by the screen, it allows for a very nice and ease of reading. At times I can find myself reading a book on it and reading it with ease with the large screen, as well as the capabilities of the software to handle PDFs. One thing to be noted by this is the fact that due to the hardware constraint, it will have to load each page after you read about half of your current page and half of the next page in order to have it load the next page. This is done to save space and maintain its longevity due to its hardware constraints. However, the transitions is very fast, shouldn't be a pain, although a very minor annoyance. One thing I should note is that some people have claimed that some videos are not able to play, although I have yet to encounter this issue.

I feel that I got a huge bargain on this device. Given its updates and overall capabilities as not only an internet tablet but also its media playback along with its touchscreen capabilities (which is acceptable, in practicality -Make sure that you configure the touchscreen when it seems to not be functioning properly) it almost feels like a steal. To sum up the review I'm going to make a list of pros and cons.

Pros

Large beautiful screen

Touch Screen

Variety of Media playback capabilities

Made with Android OS (very stable)

Can be used as a PDF Reader as well as do MORE

Has GPS capabilities

Lots of applications -AppsLib (And much more will come when android market is finally released -although there is a way to get market on it with a little trick-but it does not include all the times that are in the CURRENT market, its a makeshift to get it to work AND Google applications be installed using this little trick, Google "Android Market on Archos 5 Internet Tablet")

Lasts a good amount of time

Easy to use

------------------------

Cons

No android 2.0 (yet..?)

Charging is somewhat slow (it will lose charge [when plugged in via DC-IN USB to MiniUSB] when transferring files to it, do it in chunks to deal with this issue, although you'll still lose battery life)

Somewhat laggy Video playback (should be remedied somewhat with updates)

Locks up sometimes (this was in the past, however with the new update they released I haven't seen it happen..yet?)

LONG start up time (use standby)

I hope this review helps you guys decide on buying one :)

There is one sure fire way you can guarantee to reduce your technology options, and that is to irresponsibly slam everything that's not an Apple product. There are companies out there, (like Archos), that are trying to give you options. It's not easy to do. It takes a lot of money, and there will inevitably be hiccups and bugs. But people are so spoiled and impatient these days, they are willing to sell their souls to one company for a few pieces of MAC crack. Their loss.

Now to the Archos: I purchased the original Archos 5 a couple weeks ago, and while I found that device intriguing, the fact it used a hard drive (250GB) for storage, and made unsettling clicks and pops from time to time, made me paranoid enough to return it and order the FLASH Memory 32GB Android version instead. Also, the Opera browser on the older unit did reset often while surfing for no apparent reason. But it did work, and in full screen mode...and I could play my videos FROM my computer which my wife's Itouch couldn't...well, touch. It did everything her's did, just not as well. In fact, using it as a book reader was pretty much a joke. The biggest shortfall was the way fonts were rendered in every application. They just looked cruddy compared to the Itouch.

Well, I scoured reviews from all over the web to see if I could find a comparison between the old and new Archos from someone who owned both. I couldn't really, and what little I did find in comparison went pretty much like, "The new Android is OK, but not so much different from the first version in the end"

Now I know there are those like me out there that want to know if the upgrade is worth it.

Listen up. This is like the jump from a Yugo to a Cadillac. This device rocks! If I were to rate the original, I'd give it a "3"...this one gets an "8"

The web browsing experience is probably the most shocking. I have never seen a full sized computer load and display web pages faster. The rendering is beautiful. Ever bit as crisp and lovely as the Ipod. All in full screen spender! The scroll is not quite as fluid as the Ipod, but Archos is almost there. The sheer amount of additional real estate makes up for anything else.

Bottom line: Archos brought the web browser light years ahead from the previous model.

Media: (Video, Music, Photos) are all pretty much unchanged and for good reason: They were fine the way they were.

Bottom line: Media experience is the same as it was. Nice music player, nice photo viewer, and by far the most awesome video playback no one, not Apple, not Microsoft, not anyone can match.

Touch Screen: Many people seem to have a lot of complaints about the resistive touch screen. Yes, it takes a little more pressure than the Ipod's capacitive screen, but I know people that have complained of those screens getting less responsive over time. The Archos screen is fine after you learn how to use it (and really, even before) Women will love it because it works especially well and is perfectly suited to using a fingernail where capcitive may not work as well via that method.

Applications: This is where Archos with Android is I guarantee you making Apple very nervous. Are they there yet? No. Are they gaining fast? You bet. Every day more apps appear.

Bottom line: There's a new kid in town. A bigger, better looking, and soon to be better all around, kid.

Other features like FM receiver (Pod don't got it) FM transmitter (Pod don't got it) GPS! (guess what? Pod don't got it) and I could go on and on about what my wife's Ipod CANT do that the Archos can.

Darn, but it hangs occasionally, or maybe a screen will freeze once in a while. Get the torches!!! Burn them out!!!! Archos must die!!!! We demand PERFECTION!!!!

If I had a nickle for every time EVERY ONE of you people's computers hung or froze or what not. Why aren't you throwing THEM in the trash? Huh?

I am not in love with Archos, nor do I hate Apple. The Itouch is a very classy machine that does what it does just about as well as it can be done. But it is not without it's faults. You don't really own it, Apple does. Why can't you see it like a hard drive? Why do I have to have their software on my computer to use it? Why have they banned Flash? Why do they mess with your legally purchased music and lock it down like it's in Fort Knox?

I feel like Archos sold me their device and by doing so signed ownership over to me. They don't restrict what I can do with it. They don't tell me to load anything on my computer to use it. They offer an infinitely more versatile device. Yes, with that sort of versatility and complexity there are bound to be snags. They are working on them.

Archos 5 was the crude foundation.

Archos 5 Android is the real deal.

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Wireless Finger HandHeld USB Trackball Mouse for Laptops Desktops

Easily installed on Windows 7 laptop fast and works perfectly. Comfortable to and easy to use. Has a small and virtually unseen usb wireless adapter.

I'm so happy they have made a wireless mouse for left handed people! It's so frustrating because everything is usually for right handed people. Item was as promised and received before the delivery date. This seller is great would definitely purchase again!

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THIS WIRELESS TRACKBALL/MOUSE IS ALMOST TERRIFIC. Actually, it may, in fact, be terrific for someone with relatively small hands. This unit is a small, comma-shaped device, designed to be held by the tail of the comma. Your thumb is then in position to work the trackball and your index finger fits into a hole at the front and operates a "left click" button. It's a a great concept.

The ball and controlls work well, 'tho you may need to go to Control Panel>mouse to adjust the speed of the cursor.

Where I have a problem are the physical dimensions; that 'comma tail' that you need to grip is too short to hold comfortably, especially for any length of time. Make the tail a couple of inches longer and this would be perfect.

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Pro's and Con's

CON: It's a low quality piece of junk that doesn't work.

PRO: The translation of the instructions from Chinese is so bad it'll give you a good laugh. Plus there are cartoons of typical Americans using this honorable product in their everyday American lives!

It's like getting a free comic book with every purchase.

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I ordered one and when I got it, it did not work. So I contacted you about this and it was replaced. But when I got it, it also did not work. So then I tried to return them and get my money back. When I did this was the last I had heard from anyone until now. So now I am sitting here with two trackballs and neither of them work. So yes, I have handed over my hard earned cash and have gotten screwed over for doing it. What am I suppose to do with these things? And why can't I get my money back? I should not have to pay for something that doesn't work. If you look you will notice that I have not placed an order with you since this has happened. And will not unless you make this right.

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PalmOne m500 Handheld

Ok...I just finished reading all the reviews between the Palm m500 and the Palm m505 (color). This is my first Palm so this review is coming from a novice point of view. I decided to go with the m500. I made a wise choice! I really don't need a color screen. I don't play games or anything like that. So I decided to go with the m500 and save almost a hundred bucks. I bought it for the address book, the memo feature, the to do list, and the additional memory you can buy. I really don't need to see these things in color. Many people complain about the screen clarity, size etc..etc..I really don't have a problem with it. It is nice and clear. I can see the fonts no problem, and the palm icons are nice and clear. The screen is a good size too. The illuminated light is nice and bright. The screen is dark while the fonts and all the graphics nicely light up. It comes with alot of extra software too. It was also very easy to operate. I started to feel confident within 5 minutes after I pulled it out of the box. It's navigation is very straight forward and easy to understand. I just installed software that allows you to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files right on your Palm!

All in all I am very satisfied with the m500. I would highly recommend it to beginners who want basic Palm functions, but also want the option of exploring and using the other great features that puts the m500 at the top of the line of Palm handhelds. You also save some money too!

I really liked this machine when I got it, and I like it now-when it works. The m500 is runs the programs I need it to run, is light and fits in my pocket, has a long battery life, and is expandable with SD memory cards.

Unfortunately the m500 is so unreliable that I am selling it and buying another brand. My screen developed problems 2 months after buying the machine. That machine was replaced with a machine that developed a screen problem before I had the chance to ship the first one back. The next replacement worked for 4 months with a screen that worked moderately well, then completely died. It was replaced by a machine with a defective screen, which has been replaced yet again with a machine that will last who knows how long. All Palm can do is continue to send me bad replacements, which I do have to admit I get quickly. That's about all Palm can do-replace bad machines with more bad machines, as quickly and politely as possible without addressing the real problem.

Please do yourself a favor and investigate the product further before buying an m500. I have read reviews on other web sites and am definitely not the only one with this problem. One site shows the m500 with a 52% negative rating for this machine based on 222 opinions, far worse than ratings any other PDA I've seen. Many people who comment on problems seem to be having very similar problems to mine.

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The Palm m500 is very similar to the very versatile Palm Vx in many ways. Palm has added some features that make this model even better. The interface with the PC and hotsync tasking is flawless.

The response time and speed of this unit is very much improved as is it's overall functionality given the software package. Coming with Documents to go, AOL and Power One, the software just keeps getting better. Now I can take my important documents and spreadsheets with me.

It has a nice greyscale screen and is much lighter than the Vx model. Eight MB of RAM might not be enough, but it can be expanded through the use of memory cards. I've backed up all of my data, e-books, databses and applications on one card which [are fairly inexpensive].

I highly recommend the Palm m500 for professional uses. It's wide variety of supplementary accessories also makes this model a plus. My only criticism is that the power button does protrude more than the Vx model. In the Palm hard case, the power button does turn on inadvertently at times. Hopefully better hard cases will become available for those, who like me insist on such accessories. Overall, a very responsive, high quality unit.

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My wife bought me the m500 for Christmas to replace my Palm V (she was sick of me telling her I had to delete Frogger to make more room for Datebk4). I am very happy to have the additional memory and room for expansion. Color would've been a nice upgrade, but it wasn't my choice.

On the down side, my first disappointment was the new diameter of the case-holder, or whatever they call it. I'm talking about the slot along the left side that is used to keep the palm attached to a protective case. With my Palm V, I used the Metallic Blue, Special Edition Hard case from Palm. Seeing as the overall dimensions of the m500 are just slightly smaller than the V, I figured I could reuse this case on my new toy. Apparently Palm saw this coming, and shrunk the diameter of the slot so that the old Palm V cases will not fit in the m500 series. I read an explanation somewhere that said this was due to some design change in the internal circuitry, but I don't buy that. It's a marketing change to get upgraders to shell out [more] for a new hard case.

Also, I'm on my second m500 now. The cradle on the first one stopped working after 2.5 months because of a pin that bent when I was putting it in the cradle. I called the customer support line, and they offered to replace it even though it was my fault. Great! Problem was, they had to replace the entire system cradle and handheld. I was even more upset when I found out the replacement I got was a refurbished unit. The service rep didn't mention this on the phone I had to learn about it from a message board. Palm's replacement policy could use some improvement.

All-in-all, it's been a worthwhile upgrade for me. The added flexibility of the expansion slot, USB HotSyncs, and the same dependability of the Palm V (excluding the bad cradle) continue to earn my respect. The design changes and replacement policy, on the other hand...

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I bought a PDA kicking and screaming, and this, my first one, has been dynamite. It's got great battery life and visibility, it's incredibly easy to use, and despite the fact that I've dropped it on the driveway five or six times, it just keeps on going. The slim leather case is fabulous--it's replaced my wallet altogether, and I have a simpler, more orderly life, with fewer bulky items to carry around. The design is incredibly elegant, and as a low end tech user, I'm very pleased.

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