In this review I’m taking a look at the Emery Cat scratching board. This cat toy claims to not only provide a scratching surface that cats love but to trim their claws automatically while they do it. Does this product really work? What works with it and what doesn’t? Let’s find out…

Review Continued Below…

Basically, the Emery Cat is an arched, floor mounted, hard plastic base with a specially treated honeycombed cardboard insert. The idea is to create an attractive scratching surface for cats while the special abrasive surface trims the cat’s claws as they scratch. In theory, the board will give the cat a fun place to work out their scratching instinct other than your furniture while giving them a claw tip blunting pedicure.

We have 5 cats and keeping their claws trimmed down with regular pet nail clippers is an ongoing chore. While they’re mostly cooperative with the clipping process, they can get sharp claws from time to time before we notice them. Therefore, the Emery Cat was an attractive option for us. We knew that our cats like the honeycombed cardboard scratchers so it seemed like they would enjoy this product too.

Overall, we found the quality of the Emery Cat scratcher to be quite good. The size is a good size for even our larger cats and the base stays stable enough even from the vigorous scratching by our hefty Maine Coon Cat. The arched cardboard insert holds up well too, lasting somewhat longer than the standard cardboard scratchers we’ve used before. The toy attractor is OK but our big cat tore it up pretty quickly, like he does most toys that have a catnip smell.

So, does the Emery Cat actually trim a cat’s claws? Sadly, based on our experience with it, no, it does not. In fact, it seems to sharpen a cat’s claws rather than blunt them. So, it doesn’t seem to work well for this purpose. I can’t recommend it if you expect it to keep your cat’s claws trimmed automatically.

That said, our cats really like the Emery Cat scratching board. Of course, one of the purposes of a scratching post is to get a cat to scratch on something other than furniture. The refill packs aren’t too expensive, generally about $10-15 for a pack of 3, about the same as regular cardboard scratchers.

Bottom line, the Emery Cat scratching board is a very good cat scratcher that cats seem to enjoy. It just doesn’t live up to the hype of trimming their claws.

Recently, I had a chance to try out Heeltastic Cracked Foot Repair Cream. I’ve had problems with my feet most of my adult life and I’ve tried a number of remedies to help sooth them. As with most ‘as seen of TV’ products I was more than a little skeptical about a product promising a lot. Unfortunately, most don’t deliver. But, how does Heel Tastic stack up? Read more to find out…

Review Continued Below…

Basically, Heeltastic is a roll-on balm made from various herbal oils. According to the manufacturer, the oils used provide moisturizing of dry, cracked, skin while also having some anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. The active ingredient is dimethicone, a common component in skin protective lotions. They also tout exotic oils like karanja and neem that have good reputations for natural healing.

The packaging for the Heeltastic Cracked Foot Repair Cream is the typical plastic card type. Fortunately, it’s is perforated so you don’t need a blowtorch to break open the package. The balm is in a roll-on container, much like a deodorant roller.

The scent of the Heeltastic dry foot balm is sort of a citrus/coconut smell, strong but not unpleasant to me. Other people may find it a bit on the strong side though.

Applying the Heeltastic lotion is quite easy, just like deodorant, you roll it on. It sticks on dry foot skin quite well. I would recommend using a foot scraper, like the PedEgg, or a foot scrub and wash your feet before you apply this ointment in order to remove any dead skin. The dry foot balm goes on feeling quite smooth and cooling without burning raw areas, a common problem with some foot lotions that contain alcohol and other irritants. The moisturizing effect is almost immediate and will help to quickly sooth a painful crack than can making walking difficult. I also recommend wearing socks once you apply HeelTastic since it’s very slippery and to keep the medication on your skin.

I found the effects from Heeltastic Cracked Foot Repair Cream to last about 4-6 hours, depending on how much I’m on my feet. If you can, I’d recommend reapplying the balm to your most severely dry cracked areas rather often at first. This helped me a lot with a very painful crack on the sole of my foot. Of course, you will need to continue to apply the cream to continue to get the benefits of it.

Heel Tastic isn’t particularly cheap at about $10 for 2 ounces. There are effective dry cracked foot remedies, such as emu oil, that are also decent and less expensive. However, the roll-on delivery system is a big plus and probably helps prevent some waste.

You should be able to find Heeltastic Cracked Foot Repair Cream in local stores and online. Some of the best deals though are online since most stores sell it at full retail. Don’t pay more than about $10 for a 2 ounce container and look for multi-package deal that can save you money.

Today I’m taking a look at the Nikon Coolpix S560. The Coolpix camera line has been heavily promoted by Nikon and this model is one of the mid-priced ones. Unlike many cameras I review, this one wasn’t a temporary loaner but one my wife has owned for almost a year. So, during this time, what have we found that we liked and didn’t like about it. Read more to find out…

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We’ll begin by looking at some of the basic stats for the Nikon Coolpix S560. It is a 10 megapixel, point-and-shoot, style digital camera with a generous 2.7 inch LCD and 5x optical zoom. It has all the usual features of cameras in this price range such as face recognition, automatic face recognition, photo correction, scene adjustment and image stabilization.  It has 44MB of internal memory so you’ll want to supplement it with a SD card. In addition to still pictures you can also take movies as well. It’s relatively lightweight, weighing in at just under 5 ounces. It isn’t tiny but isn’t too bulky either.

The photo quality of the Coolpix S560 is what I’d call average for the price range. I’ve seen some similar digital cameras that had better picture quality in some circumstances. We’ve found the camera to work best in natural light or brighter indoor lighting.  In low light situations the S560 tries hard but tends to come up short with grainy pictures with auto-corrected peripheral shadowing. The built-in flash also seems to create harsh shadowing in a room without additional lighting. Basically, while the camera gets the job done it doesn’t come close to what you can do with a digital SLR with an adjustable flash unit.  For an example of some photos taken with this camera, see my post on Snowing in Georgia.

The user interface on the Coolpix S560 is also average. There’s nothing all that innovative about it but nothing confusing or obtuse either. Pretty much if you’ve used any digital camera before you can pick up how to use this one easily. If you want to get creative you can turn off some of the automatic features. This can help you get better quality photos, especially in low light situations, but, if you’re like me, you don’t want to be futzing around with the camera and miss a good shot. Battery life is also about average for the price range.

However, there are some potentially serious problems with the Coolpix S560 and these seem to extend to other Nikon cameras in the Coolpix line. The problem basically boils down to cost cutting in manufacturing. It seems as if Nikon spent all their money hiring Ashton Kutcher to promote the line and wound up taking some problematic shortcuts in manufacturing of the cameras.

The problem we encountered with the Nikon Coolpix S560 was the “memory card is write protected” message. This problem is caused by a cheap spring that’s used by the camera to detect a write-protected memory card getting locked in place. This causes the tiny write protect switch on the memory card to be moved to the locked position when it’s inserted in the camera. The choice is to send the camera back in for an expensive repair, using a thin tool to push the small switch back or putting tape across the write-protect switch on the memory cards you use with the camera.

Other people who owned various Coolpix cameras  have reported problems with the cheap battery door breaking or the LCD screen cracking even with light pressure. All-in-all, these problems point to some serious cost cutting in manufacturing and design.

Overall, we’ve been mostly happy with the Nikon Coolpix S560 aside from the memory card problem. Manufacturing cost cuts are becoming a plague in this price range of digital cameras and almost every brand and model has its little quirks and defects. The Nikon Coolpix is no better or worse than most in this regard and there is sort of a cool factor with it being promoted by a big time celebrity. I can’t really recommend this camera over other similarly priced ones but I strongly suggest that you buy at a good closeout price from a store or seller that has a good return policy. I also recommend that you buy a sturdy protective case and handle the camera carefully to avoid damaging its weak components.

It seems that the popular acai berry has a new competitor, the maqui berry. In this review, I’m going to take a look at a maqui berry supplement I recently tried, Ultimate Maqui Berry, and let you know what I thought of it.

Maybe you’re wondering exactly what is a maqui berry. Well, it’s a berry from a small tree that grows in the temperate rainforests of Chili and Argentina. It’s sometimes called by the less exotic sounding name of Chilean wineberry. The native berry has been a staple of native tribes in that region. Recent research into the berry has indicated that it is packed with antioxidants such as polyphenols, anthocyarins and resveratrol. While the berry has less in certain compounds than other berries and fruits, as a whole, it contains one of the highest aggregate amounts of antioxidants.

OK, so, what do these antioxidants do for you? Polyphenols and anthocyarins have been proven in clinical trials to be effective at inhibiting the effects of bad cholesterol. There has also been research that indicated that these compounds helped boost your metabolism and thus lose weight. Resveratrol was been clinically proven in a study by the University of Illinois to have an appetite suppression effect. Basically, the idea is that a diet that includes these compounds will assist you in weight loss and overall health. The important thing to remember is that they will assist a healthy eating plan, not replace it. You can’t eat Mickey D’s supersize meals everyday and assume a pill will offset the effects of all that unhealthy food.

Now, unless you live in that Valdivian region of South America, you can’t get the maqui berry fresh. This leaves supplements that are typically in pill form. The one I tried was the Ultimate Maqui Berry. This pill contains 1800mg of antioxidants that are 100% natural that have been harvested from maqui plants and processed using an ultra filtration processes.

Now, the big question, does it work? Well, from my own experience, I’d say that I’ve felt some positive effects from it. My appetite has been a bit less and I’ve lost a little bit of weight, about 10 pounds, over the past month. One of the struggles I have with weight loss is that I enjoy food. I’m a bit of an amateur chef and love to cook so that makes not overeating harder sometimes. I feel that the Ultimate Maqui Berry supplement has helped in this regard. As for energy level, I think its helped here some but, after all, I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen so it’s hard to tell.

OK, so there are some benefits to the Ultimate Maqui Berry supplement as compared to other products in the category? Yes, there are dozens of companies offering acai and other herbal weight loss and detox supplements. Unfortunately, many of these have two basic problems and those are the quality of the product and how the product is sold to you.

I’ve been rather disappointed with the cheaper detox/weight loss supplements I’ve purchased at grocery and drug stores. I really didn’t notice any benefit from them, unlike what I’ve experienced with Ultimate Maqui Berry. You have to wonder what corners were cut to make the product more affordable in the mass market.

Secondly, many herbal weight loss and detox supplements are sold via continuity plans or multi-level marketing schemes. Continuity plans reel you in by offering you a free trial and get your credit card number. Have you ever tried to cancel one of the plans? It can be rather difficult to do and is at the very least annoying. Multi-level schemes have a huge amount of built-in overhead and you have to deal with someone trying to recruit you into their downline rather than selling you a product you want.

As for the Ultimate Maqui Berry supplement, as I mentioned, the quality is there. Plus, they offer a 180 day money back guarantee so that if you aren’t satisfied with the product you can get a refund. While I haven’t requested a refund I’ve heard that they have a great customer support team and are very consumer conscious. The also provide additional bonuses such as weight loss and healthy eating guides along with your purchase.

One thing that I really liked about the Ultimate Maqui Berry supplement, and what encouraged me to use it, review it and promote it, is that they aren’t using any gimmicks like continuity or MLM to sell the product, it’s just a straight forward purchase. That they don’t have to resort to trickery to sell it says a lot to me about the quality of the product and the confidence the company behind it puts in it.

Now, the thing is that Ultimate Maqui Berry isn’t particularly cheap, $54.95 for a one month supply (less if you order multiple months supply). But, if it doesn’t work out for you within 180 days, you can get your money back so it’s low risk on your part.

If you’re interested in trying out a herbal weight loss and detox plan I recommend that you give Ultimate Maqui Berry a try. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

In today’s review I’m taking a look at the Mimo UM-710 USB Mini LCD Monitor. This 7 inch auxiliary monitor simply plugs into your USB port and you have an extra monitor. But, just how useful is this tiny screen and is it a good addition to your computer setup or not? Read more to find out how things went when I recently had a chance to try one out…

Review continued below…

A quick look at the stats for the Mimo UM-710 USB monitor reveals that it has a 7 inch, 800×480, resolution. It can be configured for either horizontal or vertical display. The monitor uses DisplayLink technology which was originally developed for servers. It’s also very lightweight, just slightly under a pound, even with the integrated stand and cover. It folds up pretty neatly into a laptop bag friendly package. The power for the unit is supplied by the USB port so you don’t need to plug it into an outlet, just make sure you plug it into a powered USB. The monitor does come with a second USB port that you can use for power if your PC’s port doesn’t provide sufficient power.

You may ask, why would someone want two or even three monitors? For me, the advantage comes from being able to see everything I’m working with when programming or doing web design or graphics. It’s also kind of neat to have your instant messaging apps, like Skype or Windows Live Messenger, or music apps,  like Pandora or Rhapsody, running on a second monitor so that you don’t have to toggle windows to find the app. It’s also great for folks who need to monitor stocks, website or server stats, social networks and such while doing other tasks as well. You quickly get used to the convenience of having a second monitor around.

Visually, the 7 inch Mimo UM-710 monitor takes some getting used to, especially when you have a much larger desktop or laptop screen. The monitor is bright and out of the box it needed a little adjustment to tone it down for the average home or hotel room. I guess the default adjustments were done in a fluorescently lit office. Readability of text is good on the screen without any significant blurring although it is small text. Update speed is good for your average applications like word processing and Internet browsing and even basic graphics. Most video games are best played on your main monitor though. 

Drivers for the Mimo UM-710 USB monitor are included in the package for Windows XP and Vista but you’ll need to download drivers for Windows 7 or Mac from the company website. Installation is simple and straight forward.

For laptop users it’s important to note that the Mimo UM-710 will be pulling power from your USB port and thus your battery. When using it you can expect your power time to be cut by about 1/4 to 1/3 of your normal time.

Concerns? While I like the portability of the Mimo UM-710 it is a bit on the small side for me to use on a daily basis with my desktop. If I was a laptop based ‘road warrior’ though I might consider it. It is also a bit pricy, typically around $129-149 unless you catch a good deal. You can buy a good standard LCD monitor for less than that although it won’t be portable.

Overall, I liked the Mimo UM-710 USB Mini LCD Monitor. If I traveled with my laptop a lot I’d have to consider buying one for myself. For day to day use with my desktop, well, I don’t see it as being practical for me.

In today’s review I’m going to take a look at the Mr. Coffee Coffee Bean Grinder, model IDS77. I enjoy good, fresh, coffee and I finally got this grinder for Christmas. I had wondered if inexpensive grinders produced as good a coffee experience as commercial grinders and more expensive home ones. How did this Mr. Coffee grinder measure up? Read more to find out…

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As always, let’s take a look at the features of the Mr. Coffee IDS77 grinder. It’s a blade grinder, which means it uses a set of high speed metal blades to grind up the coffee, much like a blender. It features the ‘Chamber Maid’ system which are plastic arms that sweep the coffee back into the blades. There are 3 grind settings, coarse, medium and fine, and amount settings for 4-12 cups. These settings determine the grind time. The grind bowl is removable and can be washed separately. The unit is rather small, about 4 1/2 by 4 by 8 inches and includes a retractable 3 foot cord. It can easily be stored in most cabinets.

Grinding coffee well requires a consistent grind size. Inexpensive blade grinders, like the Mr. Coffee IDS77,  simply don’t do this as well as more costly burr grinders. If you don’t want to spend $100+ on a burr grinder, blade grinders or having your coffee ground for you are your choices. I like the smell of fresh coffee beans and fresh coffee but I’m also cheap so the blade grinder was my choice.

Operating the Mr. Coffee IDS77 grinder is pretty simple. Just measure out your coffee beans, put them in the grinding chamber, lock it down, select your grind and amount, press and hold the button until it stops when it’s done. The unit is a little loud when grinding but not more than your typical blinder. The pour spout is a little clumsy to use, especially when filling an espresso container, and some coffee, about a teaspoon, always seems to get stuck in the chamber in spite of the ‘Chamber Maid’ system. A quick tap or two shakes most of this loose.

As for the grind size and consistency, it does a decent enough job for regular drip brewed coffee. For espresso, I didn’t think it was quite as good as store ground espresso blends but it was close enough. The concern here though is that if the grains aren’t consistent, this can cause clogging problems with some espresso systems, especially pump based ones, and French press coffee.

One concern I have about this Mr. Coffee grinder is the long term durability. While the grinding chamber and blades are metal, the rest of the unit is plastic, including the ‘Chamber Maid’ arms. Breaking plastic parts from wear is common in cheap appliances. There’s also the chance that wear on the cleaning arms might result in tiny plastic bits ending up in your coffee. I would recommend assuming that you’ll have to replace this unit sooner or later. However, given the typical sub $25 price, this isn’t too big of a deal.

All in all, I recommend the Mr. Coffee Coffee Bean Grinder, model IDS77 to anyone who’s looking for a cheap way to enjoy freshly ground coffee at home. It isn’t perfect, but I think the price and enjoyment factors are just right.

In this review I’ll be taking a look at the Creative Zen Mozaic 16 GB MP3 Player. I recently got to test drive one of these digital music players and since some of them, especially models with less memory, are starting to hit the closeout and refurb market now, I thought this would be a good time for a review.

Review continued below…

The Creative Zen Mozaic comes in 4 different memory capacities: 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB. You’ll mostly find the 8GB and 16GB models still on the new market with the lower memory sizes on the closeout market. The device supports MP3, WMA and WAV audio. They claim to also support the Audible audio book format but there are apparently some restrictions on how this works. It also supports voice memo recording and FM radio. The unit also features video playback on a 1.8 inch TFT screen with 128×160 pixel resolution using a modified AVI format as well as image viewing of JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF formatted pictures. It even sports a mini-PIM feature that allows you to setup alarms and contacts, much like a smartphone. One feature that sets the Zen Mozaic apart from many MP3 players is that it has a small built in speaker. The USB port is a standard micro port. Also in the box are an installation mini-CD, earbud headphones and a pigtail USB cable.

First, let’s look at the usability of the Mozaic MP3 Player. The button interface and screen are relatively easy to use and has some nice shortcut features. The buttons aren’t big so someone with larger hands might find them a bit of a challenge at times, something that’s typical on smaller players. One slight annoyance is the sleep function that turns off the player after 30 minutes of non-interaction. If you use the player while on a long driving commute or working out you have to remember to ‘ping’ the player to keep it on. The shuffle feature worked quite well, better than on my Sansa player. I thought the shutdown and start-up times were a bit on the long side but I’ve seen worse. The unit did lock up a couple of times and required a hard reset. Fortunately, the reset button is easy to use.

As for sound quality, the Mozaic has 8 EQ presets plus personal customization. This really helps when you’re plugging into a car audio system. There seemed to be a little more than expected high end compression on some songs as compared to other players I’ve tried. The included earbuds aren’t all that great, pretty standard generic headphones that you can get for a buck or two at a discount store. Upgrading to better phones is almost a requirement. The video quality is about what you would expect for a small screen, not so great. The built-in speaker can get surprisingly loud but the sound quality is awful.

Battery life on the Creative Zen Mozaic is quite good. They advertise up to 32 hours of audio playback time although you will see some variation in this based on the way you use it. From my own experience, I got about 24 to 26 hours of play time without a recharge. When recharging it via the USB cable, make sure that you plug it into a port that provides full power to get a good charge. I’ve found a dedicated car charger to work the best for charging this type of player.

Subscription music from places like Rhapsody and Napster work with this player although this feature was cut from the newer Mozaic EZ line. The older models, like the one I’m reviewing here, do support it though. I consider this an essential for a digital music player unless you already have an extensive CD and/or MP3 collection.

The Creative Centrale software used to control the Mozaic from a PC is rather slow and buggy. It also isn’t Mac compatible. Unfortunately, it’s required to transfer video to the device. Fortunately, for audio, you can use Windows Media Player to transfer music. Even the memory hogging Rhapsody program is better than Centrale.

In the final analysis, the Creative Zen Mozaic 16 GB MP3 Player is a decent digital music player with a few quirks and questionable design choices.

In today’s review I’m taking a look at the Casio Exilim 10MP Digital Camera model EX-S5PE. I recently had a chance to try out this camera and I decided to use it to grab some photos of my niece’s wedding. Read more to find out how well that worked for me and what I thought about this camera…

Review Continued Below…

Let’s begin by examining some of the basic stats for the Casio EX-S5PE. The 10 MP camera has the typical features you’ll find on many newer digi-cams in this price range such as 3x optical zoom, wide-screen HD video, in camera picture editing and face recognition. Casio calls their face recognition technology a makeup function that’s supposed to make adjustments to soften facial shadows during the shot and for editing afterward. As for video, it has a YouTube mode so that you can pre-format your video for uploading there. It works with SD and SDHC cards. You’ll need to buy a card or two for the camera since it only has 17mb in built-in memory.

So far as picture quality goes the Casio Exilim 10MP Digital Camera performed rather well. I’d rate it slightly above average for the price range, as I did its cousin, the Exilim EX-Z85. I thought the facial and motion handling was slightly better on EX-S5 but not dramatically so.

On ease of use, I found the Casio EX-S5PE relatively easy to operate. Some of the buttons are on the small side and cramped but this shouldn’t present a problem unless you have large fingers. The on-screen functions are relatively straight forward and organized well. The camera is small and will slip easily into your pocket or purse. My wife carried this one in her small formal clutch purse and it fit in well with her other stuff.

The battery life seems good but I didn’t have a chance to really test it out with the unit I tried.

Why didn’t I get to try out the battery life? Well, unfortunately, the Casio Exilim EX-S5PE I was using decided to flake out during the wedding reception. To be fair, the one I tested was a returned one but it wasn’t listed as needing repair. Here’s what happened. When the camera was powered on it made a buzzing sound as the lens was extended which didn’t sound good. Then the LCD had the message “Lens Error”. I powered it down and tried again with the same result. I tinkered around with it a bit more but I had to give up pretty quickly since the newlyweds were starting their first dance. I had to snap some shots of the occasion with my LG Neon phone which weren’t as good. After doing some checking around online I found that this glitch isn’t uncommon with this camera.

So, the bottom line is I can’t really recommend the Casio Exilim 10MP Digital Camera model EX-S5PE to you. The features seem good, the picture quality is good, but somewhere along the line a design or manufacturing error slipped in it seems. Fortunately, it seems specific to this model of Casio Exilim since other models I’ve tried and heard about seem more solid. I guess it’s not surprising that this model is making the rounds right now on the closeout circuit. My suggestion if you want to give this camera a try is to only buy it from sellers who offer a good and reliable return policy.

In this review I’m taking a look at the Philips GoGear Aria MP3 Player. I recently purchased one of these players, the 16GB version, for my son since he wanted a player that would hook into the Rhapsody music service. I’ve been a big fan of the Sansa players but I decided to go with this player from Philips this time around. Read more to find out why…

Review continued below…

Let’s begin by looking at some of the features of the Philips GoGear Aria. The player supports the basics like MP3 and WMA playback, FM reception and voice recording. It also directly supports digital rights managed (DRM) subscription music through the Rhapsody service including channels and other features. The unit has a 2 inch full color display and is capable of limited video playback. There is a built-in rechargeable battery. The player is about the size of a credit card and is about 1/4 inch thick. The Aria is available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB versions. I recommend the 16GB since the price difference is usually less than $15 between the 8GB and 16GB models.  The regular retail package includes a ‘pigtail’ USB connector and earbud headphones.

Basically, the player isn’t all that innovative but simply a decent presentation of proven technology. Design-wise, the Aria uses a plastic body, which is common in lower cost MP3 players these days. The video playback is OK but you can’t really get anything great on a cheap 2” screen. For displaying album covers and text it is clear and readable. Charging and downloading music to the player is handled by a standard Micro-USB port. I would have liked to have had a longer USB cable included in the package rather than the 3 inch pigtail but I guess they had to cut costs somewhere.

The user interface of the player is a little quirky and it will take you a while to get used to it if you’re more comfortable with the way the iPod or Sansa works. I found trying to operate it a bit annoying at first but I got used to it eventually. My son, who hasn’t used that many other players, took to it quite easily.

The battery performance of the Philips GoGear Aria MP3 Player has been quite good. On average, I’ve been disappointed with the rechargeable battery life claims on electronic devices but the Aria does live up to the 30 hours of playback time on a full charge.

The sound quality is about what you would expect for the price range and compressed digital music. You won’t get CD quality playback but it’s not bad. Through a car system you will probably need to adjust the EQ for best results since it’s obviously tuned for earphones. Speaking of earphones, the enclosed ear buds aren’t bad. I wouldn’t recommend an immediate upgrade unless you’re going to be spending in the $30-50 price range for new ones.

The biggest complaint I’ve heard about the Philips GoGear Aria is interfacing the with Rhapsody service application. Yes, I agree this program can be buggy and a system hog. For me though, it’s worth some of the aggravation based on only spending $15 a month for as much music as I and my son want to listen to rather than spending $1 a song.

Why did I buy the Philips GoGear Aria MP3 Player? Two reasons, the memory size for the price and integration with the Rhapsody service. If these two criteria fit your needs, then I highly recommend this player. While the Sansa Fuze has a few more features going for it, the current pricing on the Aria make it a little more attractive if your purchase criteria are the same as mine. If you’re looking for an all-round MP3 player, the Aria might work for you as well but you may want to check out some other options as well.

In today’s review I’ll be taking a look at the Motorola H790 Bluetooth Headset. Since I recently got a Bluetooth compatible phone, the LG GT365, I wanted to get a Bluetooth headset to go with it. I decided to give the Motorola H790 a try due to the reputation of Motorola and that this headset seemed to be slim and affordable. Here’s what I found…

Review Continued Below…

First, let’s take a look at some of the stats for the Motorola H790 Bluetooth Headset. This unit is the thinnest dual mic headset from Motorola at only 7.1 millimeters. In uses their CrystalTalk™ technology to provide noise cancelation and reduced wind noise. The device is multipoint, which allows you to pair it with two phones at the same time, great for those who have a personal phone and a business phone. It uses voice prompts and buttons for its user interface. It weighs in at about 0.34 ounces, making it lightweight enough to wear comfortably for an extended period.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider with a Bluetooth headset like the H790 is the call quality, can you hear callers and can they hear you. Of particular concern to me was how well wind noise was cut down. Unfortunately, I have sinus problems sometimes and with old style cellphone headsets I could sound awful over a headset mic. Well, from what I’ve heard from callers, wind noise from me or the natural environment has been minimal. Another common problem with some Bluetooth sets has been them having a tinny metallic sound. The H790 doesn’t seem to have this problem, the sound is good and clear.

The other important factor is the comfort level of the Motorola H790 Bluetooth Headset. Sound quality won’t matter much if the headset is uncomfortable to wear. Fortunately, the thin size and light weight make it reasonably comfortable to wear. The fit is snug, so you don’t feel like it’s about to fall out all the time, but it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to burrow into your head either. I don’t like to wear ear devices like this for long periods but I could live with it. You can also wear it with the less secure ear bud method but I haven’t tried this.

The usability of the H790 is good although there is some compromise on the size of the unit vs. the size of the buttons. While the buttons were easy enough for me to use someone with larger hands might find the tiny button size troublesome. The voice prompt system will walk you through setup, muting, calling and inform you about power status. The dedicated power button is also a nice touch along with other power indicators which helps prevent you from leaving the unit on, draining the battery when it’s not in use.

Speaking of power, the battery life on the Motorola H790 seems pretty good. They advertise 5-8 hours of talk time but I suspect that this is a little on the optimistic side. The rapid charge seems to work well though. The unit typically comes packaged with a car charger but you will want to make sure that this is included if you’re buying a refurbished unit. The recharge port is a standard micro USB and the headset should be able to be recharged that way as well.

Bottom line, the Motorola H790 is a good, basic, Bluetooth headset. It’s functional but doesn’t have every bell and whistle in the book. It’s quite affordable if you take the time to  look for the right deals. For your basic Bluetooth headset today, this is probably one of your better choices on the market today.