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Comment on Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display – includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers Critiques by Brucer

Brucer — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:22:07 +0000

109 of 112 people found the following review helpful

Breakthrough Price & Value, April 22, 2012

Brucer (Hawaii) -

This review is from: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7-Inch, Wi-Fi) (Personal Computers)

This is a brand new product from Samsung that breaks the $250 price barrier. There are a lot of tablets at or below this price but they are mostly very low end devices with slow CPUs, poor screens and built for non-US markets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 makes none of the compromises typical of this price point and provides the same kind of performance you'd expect from the rest of the Samsung Galaxy Tab portfolio. It's fast, slick, has a great screen and even has Android 4.03 (Ice Cream Sandwich). I do like the new operating system and adapted to it in minutes. In addition to front & rear cameras there is bluetooth and even an IR blaster so you can use it as a remote for your TV. It only took a minute to set that up and get a program guide downloaded. All the apps on my Gingerbread phone loaded up to the Tab and run fine on the ICS platform. I can't comment on battery life yet as I plugged it for the initial charge and setup and haven't run on battery yet. As far as WiFi reception goes, it picks up all the same signals at the same strength as my laptop so no problem there.

If you've been waiting for a 7" tablet with Android 4 your wait is over.

UPDATE: Now that I've had it for about 10 days I can report that battery life is very good. After being online for several hours the battery still had more than 70% remaining.

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Comment on Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display – includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers Critiques by Chris Boylan "MrBoylan"

Chris Boylan "MrBoylan" — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:02:24 +0000

163 of 169 people found the following review helpful

Why I prefer the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 to the Kindle Fire, April 23, 2012

Chris Boylan "MrBoylan" (Astoria, NY USA) -

This review is from: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7-Inch, Wi-Fi) (Personal Computers)

I have a Kindle Fire and do enjoy using it (for the most part) -- love the form factor, enjoy the apps that I can get for it and am very pleased with the Kindle eReader app and ability to share books across all our Kindles. But when we were offered an opportunity to check out the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 a few days early, we jumped at the chance. The Kindle Fire is great at what it does, but its custom Android O/S, non-standard Web browser, limited selection of apps, lack of expandable storage and lack of Bluetooth support leave me cold.

*Browser Issues*

I've experienced multiple issues trying to browse web sites with the Kindle's Silk browser which work fine on the Galaxy Tab 2 and other full-fledged Android devices. Specifically on many sites with Flash content, I get a message on the Fire that viewing the content requires an update to Flash, but clicking on the link to upgrade the release of Flash fails after the download of the new version. The Fire is apparently unable to open and run the Flash installation file. Also, Web apps like the Facebook versions of "Words with Friends" or "Bejeweled Blitz" are really kludgy on the Fire, though the native Words with Friends app for the Fire does work fine (well except when it dies with a "Force Close" error which has been happening more often than not lately). Also, the content management system we use on our web site is able to load pages (articles) on the Fire, but unable to scroll within large text input windows. The same problem does not occur on the Galaxy Tab 2's browser. The Silk browser is able to access many web sites properly, but when it fails, there isn't much you can do since updates to the Silk browser have been few and far between.

*App and content space*

The Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 each come with 8 GB of internal storage on board. The Kindle Fire has no expandable storage, as it is designed to work in "The Cloud." In other words, they expect you to store music and movies on an internet-based cloud storage area for access when you want it. The big caveat here is that the Kindle Fire offers only WiFi access (no 4G support) so if you do not happen to have a WiFi hotspot or home network handy (like, for example, on a long distance car trip), your cloud-based content is completely inaccessible. I filled up the Kindle Fire's internal storage within the first six weeks of ownership. If I want to install more apps or add local content now, I'll have to remove some from the device. These apps and content are still available to download later from the cloud, if I wish to do so, but this really isn't convenient. The Galaxy Tab 2 also lacks 4G support (in its current version) but its standard microSDHC slot allows you to expand the on-board storage up to an additional 32 GB, which is plenty of room to move your movies, music and additional content to be stored locally without requiring access to the internet.

*Bluetooth Support*

When I am taking notes at an event or meeting, there's nothing like a full sized QWERTY keyboard. With the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, you can connect just about any standard Bluetooth keyboard and happily start typing away at full speed. With the Kindle Fire, since it lacks Bluetooth support, you do not have this option. Also, when you want to listen to music, movies or apps on the Fire without bothering those around you, you'll need to plug in a pair of standard headphones (with the jack awkwardly placed on the bottom of the device instead of the top). With the Galaxy Tab 2, not only is the jack placed more logically at the top, but you can also use Bluetooth 3.0 stereo headphones for high quality sound without the wired tether.

*Cameras*

The Kindle Fire lacks an on-board camera while the Galaxy Tab 2 includes both a front and rear-facing camera. Admittedly the camera on the Galaxy Tab can't really compare with a real digital camera (particularly indoors) but having the camera available on the Galaxy does allow you to snap a quick pic when the real camera may have been left at home, or participate in Google+ Hangouts (not an option on the camera-free Kindle).

*Limited App Support*

Amazon's Kindle Fire, like Barnes and Noble's Nook Tablet, is not compatible with the Google Play Store app market. To install apps, you have to use the proprietary Amazon app market which has a limited selection of apps. There's no access to cool apps like the Logitech Harmony app, or the Samsung or Panasonic remote control Android apps for their TVs and Blu-ray players. The list of Android apps you can't get for the Fire goes on (and on... and on). And speaking of remote apps, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 comes pre-loaded with the Peel app which uses the Galaxy Tab's integrated IR port (another option not available on the Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet) to... Read more

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Comment on Asus VH238H 23-Inch LED Keep track of Testimonials by SatchmoDan

SatchmoDan — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:29:38 +0000

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

A great LED monitor for the price, April 5, 2011

SatchmoDan (Las Vegas, USA) -

This review is from: Asus VH238H 23-Inch LED Monitor (Electronics)

I bought this at a local brick and mortar, rather than on Amazon.
No dead pixels and easy setup. Some people have complained that the menu is confusing to go through, but I didn't find that to be the case.
I have this setting side by side next to my Acer p221w 22" LCD and I must say that the difference is pretty noticable. 23" LED full HD with a 2ms response time and goes up to 75hz all for under $200 ...Asus you ROCK.

The only thing I don't like about the monitor is the top housing. It is very thick and has an edge on it in the back...If you have a webcam that mounts to the top of a flat panel, won't work.
If you get this monitor, make sure to register it on Asus' webpage, otherwise the 3 year warranty is void.

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Comment on Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display – includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers Critiques by J. Haggard

J. Haggard — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:25:30 +0000

389 of 403 people found the following review helpful

Went from an iPad 1 to Galaxy Tab 2 and love it, April 22, 2012

J. Haggard (Nashville, TN) -

This review is from: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7-Inch, Wi-Fi) (Personal Computers)

So this device just came out this morning, and I hadn't planned on buying it but I was down at my local best buy store and played with it just to see what it was and loved it! Let me say I used to have all apple stuff, apple computer, iphone, ipad, etc. Over the last year my apples have rotted, went bad and needed to be replaced. Instead of paying high dollar for all new apple stuff I went back to a windows PC, an Andorid Galaxy S2 phone, still had the iPad but it was in need of replacement.

So I got to Best Buy they didn't have these out yet but they pulled one out and let me play with it while they set up the are for the demo unit to go. I liked it, very snappy, great screen. The device comes preloaded with ICS on it, it's VERY snappy with zero lag so far.

The screen while not a retina display like the iPad is still clear enough for me. After all I'm not holding this inches from my face. if you do you get a chance to play with 1 of these before you buy go to the movies app on the device and play the life demo to see how clear and crisp the display is.

It quickly synced up with my Google account and I was already able to start downloading apps from the play store within minutes of getting it turned on.

So far this device is excellent. It feels like it's built well, the back is not as fancy as the Galaxy S2 phone however I plan on getting a case for this so the back battery panel to me doesn't matter much.

I'll update this later after I get more time to play with it, so far though for $250 this is a great deal. I also played with the Kindle Fire and the Blackberry playbook both which were available for $199, but I opted to spend the $50 more for the Samsung as I've been impressed with Samsung quality over the years. (Currently my TV's, blu ray players, computer monitor, phone and now tablet are all samsung brand. They make good products in my opinion.)

--UPDATE 8 hours later--
I used the GPS on this earlier and google navigation/maps to get me to the hardware store. Ok I didn't NEED it but I wanted to test it out. I found that you MUST have internet for google maps to give you directions, I had a hotspot in my car so I turned it on and navigation worked perfect. If you don't have wifi you can still use GPS, it does lock on fast however it can't query to get you directions. If you used an offline GPS program like navigon or something that would do the trick, but YES gps is accurate and fast.

I also used the bluetooth on this to stream music from the Tab 2 to my car, quality was excellent.

Apps and stuff, so far every app I have tried is compatible with the exception of one, and I can't remember what that one was so it was one I really didn't use much at all I guess. I have put a few games on to test it, so far so good and still no lag.

Hows the keyboard? It comes with stock ICS keyboard and it works well, if you start typing fast there is a tiny lag between hearing the click of the feedback and seeing the character appear, however all letters make it without any vanishing. I am looking for another keyboard though as spelling isn't built in it appears... I am probably switching to Swiftkey or swype both which appear compatible with the device.

Also, the IR Blaster = awesome! I was going to buy a $100 harmony remote for my entertainment system, well this Galaxy Tab 2 has an IR blaster built right in and the application for it is simple to configure. Less then 3 minutes I had it set to turn my TV on, control my bose sound system and also control my Tivo HD and Blu Ray player. Very slick!

More to come, if you have questions on how this works please leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them quickly. Also, if you find this review helpful please make sure to mark it as such!

--UPDATE--

Morning after, do I regret buying it? Nope, still a fantastic device and I'll tell you a few more things I found out.

1. I use Dropbox on my home computer and put the app on this tablet. I also use a tivo at home and thought about how could I get my shows on my tivo to my computer then to my tablet? Well I use TivoToGo to transfer shows to my computer, then I place them in a drop box folder and they sync automatically to my dropbox account. I then on the tablet have an app (free and paid versions) called "Folder Sync" and I have that set to every hour check my drop box Tivo folder and download any latest tv shows my computer has copied. This means that in the morning when I leave for work my tablet has all my shows from the previous night I didn't get to watch on it so I can for instance watch one or two on my lunch break, without having to have a wifi connection at work!

2. Need to make a phone call? Unfortunately this device doesn't have phone support. However Skype works great with both video calls and audio calls. You can pay for a phone... Read more

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Comment on Get Prepared For This Reviews by Country Woman

Country Woman — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:10:58 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Just Beautiful!, December 6, 2011

Country Woman (Kansas) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Mary, Did You Know (MP3 Download)

What a wonderful voice! His version of this beautiful song is just that...beautiful.

Where can I find more music by this artist?

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Comment on Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display – includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers Critiques by J. Ts

J. Ts — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:55:45 +0000

3,407 of 3,499 people found the following review helpful

Facts to Consider when Buying This Kindle Instead of Others, September 29, 2011

J. Ts -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers (Electronics)

First off, I received my new Kindle this morning. I previously owned the Kindle Keyboard, but actually really didn't like the keyboard or the way the buttons were pressed together. I'm not a fan of touch screens so I bought this one.

There are a few things to know about this particular Kindle that can help you decide if it's right for you...

Here is a list of things to know about this Kindle.

1. You'll be using an onscreen keyboard with the 5-Way Controller. This is not a problem for setting up WiFi and a little writing but if you are an avid note-taker or do a lot of writing with your Kindle, you might want to opt for the Kindle Keyboard.
2. NO AUDIO - If you are planning on listening to audiobooks, Mp3s, or Text to Speech on your Kindle, this is not the device for you. There is not even a headphone jack, so there is absolutely no audio support.
3. 2GB! This device has 2GB of storage, which is half of all the others... if you seriously need to keep over 1,400 books or so on your Kindle, you should opt for one of the others, all of which have 4GB. I only keep a hundred or so books on mine and the rest are up in the Amazon Cloud waiting for convenient download.
4. There's no 3G version but the WiFi works just fine.
5. There is a shorter battery life. Amazon reports the battery life is only one month of reading, compared with the others that clock in at two months. If you are going to be away from electricity for over a month, first of all RESPECT!, second of all, you may want a Kindle that has the 2 month battery life.
6. It's lighter than all the other versions. It weighs in at just under 6oz (170g). The closest competition is the Kindle Touch which is about 7.5oz.
7. It has 5 buttons on the face at the bottom. In the middle is the big 5-Way Controller button as found on other Kindles. There are two small buttons on either side of this. On the left side, from left to right are the "Back" button and the "Keyboard" button. The "Back" button is the same as on other Kindles. The "Keyboard" button calls the onscreen keyboard onto the screen. On the right side of the 5-Way Controller are (again, from left to right) the "Menu" button, and the "Home" button. The "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons are the same as on other Kindles.
8. Because of the above 5 buttons, I find it much easier to use than the Kindle Keyboard. On the Kindle Keyboard, the "Back" button was right below the 5-Way Controller, and I accidentally hit it on more than one occasion.
9. On the bottom there is only the mini-USB port, the charging light, and the On-Off Button.
10. There are not a whole lot of covers available for this Kindle yet. (Amazon's won't be available until the end of October.)

As for reading, and as a pure reading device. It is awesome... in fact, without the keyboard, audio, and other features I don't need. This is actually the best one for someone like me who just wants to read.

I've already successfully transferred my library, downloaded books over WiFi, and borrowed library books through the Overdrive Library eBooks System. My only small point of dissatisfaction is that there are so few good covers and accessories right now (though there ARE some available that look pretty good).

All in all, I believe this is the BEST of all the Kindles currently available. Only consider others if you:
a. Really want the touch screen version.
b. Need audio.
c. Need 4GB
d. Need a big Kindle DX.
e. Take a lot of notes or do a lot of writing that requires a keyboard.
f. Prefer the design of another version.
g. Need more than a month's battery power.

Hope this helps someone make a good decision!

(Brief update: I love this Kindle, but right now the scarcity of good, inexpensive covers for it is a little troubling. The Amazon made leather one with light won't be available until November or so and there are currently no inexpensive ones to use in the interim. I'll just have to use it gently for a month or so.)

Update on cases:
I mentioned this in the comments section, but I'll repeat it here for people who can't yet find a good case -

Checking the specifications for the Kindle, Nook Touch, and Kobo:
Nook Touch
6.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
Kobo Reader
6.5 X 4.5 inches
Kindle (4th Generation)
6.5 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches

It looks like the Kobo is about exactly the same size and the Nook Touch is slightly longer. If you need a case but can't find one that you like yet, it may be worth a little hunting to see if a nook or kobo case or cover might fit the bill.

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Comment on Asus VH238H 23-Inch LED Keep track of Testimonials by kdo

kdo — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:41:08 +0000

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful

ok for the price, May 23, 2011

kdo (CA USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Asus VH238H 23-Inch LED Monitor (Electronics)

I settled on this because it was the cheapest 23" I could get, living in california.

It also has a 3 year advance exchange warranty. Asus pays shipping both ways if you have problems with your monitor, and will ship you a replacement promptly to minimize downtime. This was a big deciding factor in my purchase.

In comparison, Acer (and some other brands) may sell cheaper monitors, but they only pay RMA shipping one way. Shipping to Acer for warranty claims is at your expense. Considering that shipping a monitor can cost around $15 fedex, you can see why I chose Asus, and not Acer.

Features-
The monitor is loaded with connectors. hdmi,dvi,vga, 3.5mm audio, and spdif.
So, if you want to connect a higher powered audio system, you can. If you want to plug in your headphones, you can.
The built in speakers are about as good as a typical laptop's. Don't expect much from them. Speaker quality was not a consideration for me when I bought this.

The OSD controls are easy enough to use, though I've seen better. There's a Menu button, back, up, down, and mode button. How hard could it be? Learning curve is minimal.

Performance-
No dead pixels. LED backlight means no warm up time, and instant power on.

There are a few color/brightness settings built in- standard, theater, nighttime, and a few others.
I set mine to Standard, and tweaked the RBG settings myself. Out of the box, it is set to 100% brightness. I turned it down to a comfortable 80%. The colors are bright; almost a tad neon.

This is a TN lcd panel, so you'll get color shifting at different vertical angles; not so much at different horizontal angles. so the person sitting next to you shouldn't see that much color distortion. Blacks will show top to bottom gradients depending on your viewing angle.

Gaming performance is good enough. minimal ghosting. The monitor minimizes ghosting by cheating- it has an overdrive feature in the menu called "trace". If you increase Trace to 60%, response time is lowered. Turn off Trace, and you have a regular 5ms panel. Increasing trace has a negative effect on movies, for example, at the beginning of Sony/columbia movies, where you see the light bursting behind Lady liberty, the light burst is jagged and not smooth. So you'll only want to turn on Trace when you're playing games.

This monitor has a matte anti-glare screen surface.

The service menu suggests that the lcd panel manufacturer for this monitor is Chimei Innolux.

This monitor had more uneven backlighting than samsung and LG led-backlit monitors I compared to. The uneven backlighting can be seen as alternating vertical bands of darker/lighter color, when viewing dark non-black backgrounds. See picture attached at the top of the page.

backlight bleeding is typical, on par with other lcd's. I have a little from the top, but it's not intrusive.

So, considering the uneven lighting and the fact that other manufacturers' led panels have more even backlighting, I'd give this 3 stars. I can't dock off too many stars considering the price paid.
Bonus points for cheap price and good warranty terms.

I will update my review if my monitor ever fails.

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Comment on Get Prepared For This Reviews by YogaCat

YogaCat — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:32:43 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Jeff May - Mary Did You Know?, December 4, 2011

YogaCat (Hernando, FL United States) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Mary, Did You Know (MP3 Download)

I was so pleasantly surprised when I played this free download to find such an incredible voice. This artist was able to take a Christmas classic and turn it into what will be one of my year round gospel favorites. I look forward to listening to other songs as interpreted by Jeff May. A marvelous song - be sure to download.

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Comment on Get Prepared For This Reviews by LetsReason "Robert"

LetsReason "Robert" — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:05:12 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

The song I expected., February 20, 2012

LetsReason "Robert" (Martinsville, VA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Get Ready For This (MP3 Download)

Simply the song I had listened to on the radio years ago. Good quality. Immediate delivery. No issues. If you like dance music, download this song.

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Comment on Canon PowerShot A2300 IS sixteen. MP Digital Camera with 5x Electronic Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Vast-Angle Lens with 720p Hi-def Video Recording (Red) by lulu

lulu — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:04:13 +0000

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful

So far so good., April 10, 2012

lulu -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Canon PowerShot A2300 IS 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Digital Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens with 720p HD Video Recording (Blue) (Electronics)

This is a pretty neat little camera.
This is not a power house this is a small camera to carry for quick shots of your kids or even something light to travel with when you larger camera is packed up in your luggage.

It has a few simple really useful functions, a modest zoom (though 5x out does some of the other cameras like this)the lens seems to be doing it's job. 16 mega pixels makes for a pretty clear photo.

There is small shutter lag but a good sd card seems to help that and it's on par with other digital cameras of this kind.

I really like this little camera and I look forward to using it.
So far...
Cute
Light
Compact
easy to use
decent photos
A+ for this sort of camera.

I will update at a later date after I use it a bit, maybe even post a sample photo or two.

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