Archive - Technology Reviews/Guides Category

Prodigy V2 E-Cigarette Review

Friday, March 19th, 2010

I waited awhile for this review to make sure I gave it some time so I could maybe find flaws.

Anyway, on with the review.. All in all, I was pretty pleased with this device. (I’m using a 510 atomizer.) However, I’ll go over the negatives first. The biggest problem on this device is the switch. Mine worked fine for about a week, then I had to press harder and harder to get it to work. Eventually, I took it apart. Lost the spring right away (still haven’t found it). I replaced the spring with a pen spring, of course that doesn’t fix the issue I was having. At this point I didn’t really know how to fix it so I got my multimeter out and tried to figure out how to get it working again.

After awhile I figured out that it was the o-ring, wasn’t fat enough or something, because the washer wasn’t making contact with the 2 points in the switch. I did a little more reading on e-cigarette-forum.com to see if this issue was really wide spread. Apparently, it is. There were a few suggestions on how to fix it, the way that worked for me was taking some pliers and moving the contact points from the flat side to the round side.

About a week later, the button was doing the same crap again. The metal they’re using as contact points must be soft or something because it looked like one side flattened out. Did the same thing again, moving the contact point to a different round side. Result: fixed again.

What I’ve gained from this experience is that on the Prodigy V2 you don’t want to push too hard on the button, ever. That’s what causes it to get screwed up from what I can tell.

I’ve had no other issues with this device except for the fact I can’t stand using 3 – 3.7V anymore :) If they would fix the switch, I think this would be a really good device.

Vapor production is great, as you’d expect running 5V to a Joye 510 atomizer, been using it non stop since I got it. Very satisfying feeling compared to 3 – 3.7v. I go through about 2 sets of batteries per day, so about 7 hours per set.

My RYO cigarette tubes/tobacco hasn’t been touched for three and a half weeks. I intend to keep it that way.

Totals

Affordability – 9/10 – Well within range for most people to be able to pick one up.

Build quality – 5/10 – Problems with the switch, as I noted above. Otherwise, I’d say it’s pretty solid, but really the switch is pretty important so 5 points off.

Looks – 8/10 – Looks decent, especially with a silver atomizer and t-tip.

Usability – 8/10 – So long as the switch is working, it’s fine. Switch still doesn’t always work though, so 2 points have been taken off. Batteries last 7 hours per set (for me) so very good amount of time :)

Overall – 7.5/10 - Would still recommend to people *if* they don’t mind messing with the switch here and there or modding it with a fatter o-ring.

Right now I’m waiting on a GGTS, supposed to be very good build quality. Is $212 too much for something like this? Well the way I looked at it is if it lasts a long time who cares? The thing can handle almost any bat/atty combination so there won’t be any reason to buy different mods, unless it’s something unique like the juicebox (well, the GGTS actually has an auto feed system… ) or a double barrel silver bullet. Will write a review of the GGTS after I have about a month with it, same style as this one.

Not getting rid of the Prodigy V2 though, will be my back up device. The back up for that is the Janty eGo.

Oral-B Triumph 9900 Review

Friday, December 4th, 2009

This toothbrush is priced around $100+ or so. You might think that’s a bit expensive for a toothbrush :) However, if you really want to keep your teeth clean this one will do it. I picked it up only because I’m sort of worried about my teeth in the long run, I have a sensitive tooth and a cavity that has been filled already. (Note that I use sensodyne toothpaste at all times) Of course, I have no insurance to go to the dentist as much as I want (nor can I really go to the doctor) I will probably be picking up some “minimal” insurance that will cover catastrophic problems soon.

So anyway, I think the investment is worth it if you have a reason for it. On with the review…

Compared to a “cheap electric” is there really a difference? You bet! The thing spins like crazy and you can feel the plaque being removed, the smart guide shows me which area of my teeth I should be working on, and how long I should brush my teeth. I have a feeling I was never brushing my teeth for 2 minutes before :(

After brushing I can definitely “feel” a difference. There’s no plaque anymore, it just tears it right off. That’s a HUGE thing right there. My cheap electric never did that nor did any manual toothbrushes I ever used.

If you’re thinking about whitening more than overall teeth health (Which I’m more worried about the health of my teeth rather than whitening) it does help to whiten your teeth. I had lots of stains from coffee/cigarettes and it does seem to help remove that stuff fairly easily. I struggled with it with my old electric and the stuff wouldn’t come off, however with this one it started to come off almost immediately. A lot of it was just tar that was stuck there so it probably just needed something powerful enough to take it off.

So, overall was it worth the investment? Yea, I really think it was. I mean I spend crazy amounts sometimes on computers and other “junk” that I really don’t need, it’s just a good thing to spend a little cash on personal hygiene sometimes :)

Braun Series 3 Electric Razor Review

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Recently, I purchased a Braun Series 3 Electric Razor from Walmart. Does it really work well? You bet. Totally worth the cash invested, because now I shave without being irritated, and it’s quick and easy. You can’t get much better than that in my opinion.

Setup is pretty straight forward, and I have a model that includes self-cleaning, so apparently I’ll have to buy alcohol packs every once in awhile. I’m kind of lazy sometimes and really I think without self cleaning I would end up forgetting to clean it, so that’s a definite plus, and I don’t mind the slight added expense.

How does the self-cleaning feature work? Well you just plug it into the base and then you can hear it sucking up the alcohol and running the motor to clean everything out, it’s pretty cool, really. The base also has a blue glow which adds to the “cool factor” I guess :)

As far as how close it shaves, I was quite impressed. It’s definitely the closest shave I’ve ever gotten from an electric razor, and like I said it just sort of “glides” across my skin taking off the hair and not irritating me at all. So yea, quick and easy shave no hassle or fuss with anything. Quite awesome.

Pick one up from amazon here Braun Series 3 370 Men’s Shaver

Logitech G9 Mouse Review

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

First of all, the scroll wheel on my Razer Diamondback gave out on me. I mean, the mouse still worked but the scroll wheel was completely messed up. It wouldn’t scroll at a certain point in the wheel. I thought about just buying another Diamondback since I enjoyed it so much, but I decided to try something different.

Up until this point, I thought the Razer Diamondback was the greatest mouse in the world. Today, that vision has been shattered.  Today I received my Logitech G9 laser mouse. When I first plugged it in, I wasn’t very impressed with the feel of the mouse. Never fear! The G9 comes with 2 grips! I just popped in the slimmer grip and instantly loved the feel.

New problem, I felt it was too light. What do we do about that? Well we just pop in a few weights of course! That’s right, the G9 allows you to customize the weight of the mouse to your liking. At first, I popped in 4 4G weights, but I thought that was a bit heavy. I removed 2 4G weights and it seemed like that was the sweet spot for me.

Gah, the LED light is red. I don’t want it to be red, I’d rather it be blue. Wait, the G9 allows you to customize the LED color! All I had to do was open up the Logitech SetPoint software and set the LED to be blue. Wallah.

Yet another problem! I didn’t like how slow the cursor moved across the screen. Yet again, the G9 has a solution for me. I can set the DPI on the fly, I found I liked the DPI just below 3200DPI. Of course, for gaming it will be a bit different and I can just set it to my liking in game.

Click click click click.. Bah, wouldn’t it be cool if you could just spin the wheel once for long page documents? Wow, the G9 thought of that too. You can switch to free spin mode by pressing a button under the mouse.

Some other features include horizontal scrolling via the scroll wheel and of course the back/forward buttons on the side of the mouse.

At this point, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself, or rather the mouse. It’s customized to the point where it’s everything I want, and more. You can customize further, like adding in macros and adjusting how much the scroll wheel scrolls, and plenty more. It’s all there in the SetPoint software.

There’s one thing that stops this from being a perfect mouse, and that is the fact it doesn’t have SmartShift. I would love if the scroll wheel automatically went from the regular click click mode to free spinning mode by itself. Unfortunately, only the MX-Revolution has this feature.

Still, I am very happy with my purchase, and if you’re in the market for a great mouse you should definitely check out the G9. You can buy it here: Logitech G9 Laser Mouse