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I am now sharing personal experiences of items purchased over the course of the years, which I currently use present day.
| Product | Experiences |
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Creative Sound Blaster AE-7 - Sound Card  | An affordable upgrade worth exploring - " This will be a slightly lengthy review given that audio is highly subjective and I WAS the "average Joe" (very sporadically), an audio listener to music on any platforms (also in the absence of music production, sampling, or benchmarking) via 5.1 Creative Inspire T6300 speakers. Firstly, I felt the aesthetics would be excellent in a new transparent computer case (as per photos). However, this was a secondary reason for the acquisition. The design looks very professional, and ergonomically, it felt like a quality upgrade. I also previously had a PCI Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX (SB0090), technology dating back to before 2000 (when sound cards produced pitch-perfect instrumental translations of MIDI files and were a must have for an enhanced DOS gaming experience). However, this card was no longer logistical on a new PC given the lack of directly inserting PCI expansion card into new motherboards. So I had taken a calculated risk on this high fidelity audio component, when there is considerable debate as to whether onboard audio outperforms an expansion (slot in) card at all. In absence of drawing comparisons to other vendors, my impartial observations are below. NOTE: I have not utilised the Headphone bi-amp since I have historically preferred audio delivered via desktop speakers: 1) I have utilised this soundcard for nearly 2 months. My initial mindset was to return the item after 1-2 weeks. I previously enjoyed relatively more low frequency, "bass" components in favour of the mid-range aspects. I felt a distinct lack initially. However, this could be related to numerous factors, some of which were beyond my control. I wasn't confident in modifying the equaliser settings in the software since I expected a "one-size fits all" for an audio card in respect to my intended usage. Hence, I continued to use the product for longer to formulate a better opinion (given all permutations), while practically all settings in the SoundBlaster command software were set to close to factory defaults. 2) At a given volume level with the Creative SoundBlaster AE-7, I had to adjust the onboard sound volume bar setting to approximately 2-3 fold in Windows settings. I found a similar trend when I had the previous generation of Creative card with better ratio audio output than the onboard. 3) I purchased a i9 PC just 1-2 weeks prior, predominantly for gaming (prior to purchasing the audio card). No conducted research factually led me to believe an audio card is superior. 4) I am now thoroughly enjoying music harmonics via YouTube surfing, maintaining almost a steady 20% in Windows audio settings. I have spent significantly more time listening to music than gaming (on a gaming PC), and I have identified music artists that I thoroughly enjoy (Delta Goodrem and t.A.T.u) through endless streaming, which brings blistering engineered quality (that compliments the music artists "look and feel") into my room. There is no time bias since these several tracks were prominent over 15 years ago. I deduced both artists were instrument rich and utilised subtle "time-space" tempo harmonics releasing a plethora of emotions, and I believe AE-7 is built to handle the dynamics much better than onboard (however compared in limited capacity in practice). I can now readily identify and explore music that appeals to me (irrespective of the above artists), determine when to listen, hear the impact in a timely manner, and understand them more each time I listen repetitively and ENTIRE duration of the track. This has encouraged me to buy music CDs for the first time and also listen to music on a "de-facto" high quality medium. 4) I would encourage anyone who requires pristine audio and appreciates the music artist's intentions (music more than likely produced on cutting edge technology) to reciprocate this range and EXPLORE this journey as an affordable upgrade. I feel immersed, not overwhelmed, and can refrain from navigating to high volume settings uneccessarily (this is potentially an underlying factor), and the audio still propagates outside of my room with the door closed. AE-7 has exceeded my expectations and delivered exactly that; it makes the sound "sound much better" and more captivating. Please accept any inaccuracies in word selections/typos since I am not from an audio background and written an elaborated review respectively, and have tried to formulate a transparent positive experience (without actually completing identical exhaustive testing on both configurations, other vendors or officially benchmarking). |
Creative Inspire T6300 speakers  | "There is a great array of sound - " A refreshing sound experience. These have been paired to a desktop PCI soundcard "Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SB0090 gold". The audio resonated is crisp and clear, the quality sustains upon pushing it through the gears. There is a great array of sound, some of which were undoubtedly omitted prior to my upgrade. I strongly advise on purchasing these. The wired remote control is an excellent value added. My expectations were that the dial would be a lacklustre feature and simply govern the master levels on the PC. Instead it allows the adjustment without affecting the PC setting, which is excellent news for fine tuning audio requirements. |
Delta Goodrem - Wings Of The Wild - Tour Edition  Perfect musical balance of emotions | "Perfect musical balance of emotions" - I am extremely satisfied with this collection. I have recently discovered that musical video supplements the audio experience exponentially. This DVD is a classic example. Some tracks fulfill happiness, some are sombre and one or two videos instil laughter such as 'You Will Only Break My Heart'. It has everything in my opinion and Sony Entertainment have completed an astonishing job with the presentation, portraying excellent titles. This DVD has been repeatedly played on my PC. And Amazon has provided all singles in my Amazon Music for the main CD. Overall, it is definitely a different genre of music the CD and DVD... but ultimately have "best of both worlds". |
| Eric Prydz - Opus | I recall playing previous catchy track 'Call on Me' approximately 20 years back by same artist. This song has broken the norm in my recent music listening habits. In my opinion this track is a music neutral journey and is very self-sustainable and rewarding given its 9 minute length. Perhaps its my lack of listening to this genre of music, but it seems to encapsulate different genres and is very sleep inducing. I believe this track is an open invitation to delve further into Eric Prydz collection. |
IIWEY Humane Mouse Trap, 32 cm Enlarged Smart Mouse and Rodent Trap, No Kill The Mice, Pets and Children Friendly, Like a Real Mouse Home (Black)  | During the course of the andear since purchase, several mice have been trespassing. There was no evidence if they had eaten from inside and left. Only exception being when food was left closer towards the entrance, in which the trap was void. On this occasion, a mouse has been caught. On another day this might have been a different story. On examination of the closed trapped, it was thought an accidental knock had caused this. So the trap door was about to be released. But taking a close examation, the small mouse has tried everything possible to hide from view. It didn't seem distressed at all, but feel it wasn't too keen on eating any more food. Next issue is releasing it. Even on attempt in the rear of the garden (by a household member) forcing it towards an unused alleyway, it had interest in returning inbound as oppose to outbound. Perhaps this is a service Amazon can facilitate in future, picking up rodent and offloading it to a non-residential area. |
Goodyear 900315, Cordless Car Vacuum Cleaner with Hepa Filter | Wet | Dry |USB |Wireless, Black   | From the perspective of ergonomics, which I consider to be periperhal for a vacuum, I consider this to be lightweight with uniform centre of gravity. The two head components are useful for given situations. It picked up tremendous amount of debris during its approximate 20 minute operational time and retains strong suction uniformly. I have refrained from using it in wet areas. But in ALL scenarios such as car, corners in house and even open spaces, it operates perfectly. It has to be observed due to smaller suction area, it requires surface contact for relatively longer timescale. Removing the dirt and maintenace also is without any concerns. |
ELAIMEI Natural Detox Food Pad, Naturally Absorbs Toxins and Impurities  | I believe it is surplus to requirements to upload discoloured sedimentary debris from an overnight. I have now ordered 23 packs predominantly from official reseller. There have been no instances whatsoever in which the pad had fallen off overnight, also in absence of wearing socks.... I followed instructions to rinse feem warm water each night before usuage. I found it performed optimally with minimum of 8 hours sleep. Also I consider myself as a total non-dreamer/zero recollection in the morning. I was able to recall experiences with these pads. A definite tangible improvement is removal of chills in body. |
Vocabulary 4000: The 4000 Words Essential for an Educated Vocabulary by Kolby, Jeff  | I previously owned PDF version of this book, which I will honestly mention was from an illicit web source, which several are succumbed to online. Approximately 10 years later, I purchased a hard copy version costing £4.34.. In a nutshell, the book has permitted balance between being verbatim and verbose. I find much English vocabulary untransferrable in my everyday scenarios, but I feel it liberates fews words between the range.. |
Philips Oneblade Pro QP6520/25  | I purchased this product in mid-2017 for £60, at a reduced price from £90. I have not used the additional attachment since the blade trims multi-directionally. Entire device has been submerged into water and it functions efficiently on wet or dry skin. The duration of the blade supersedes its indicator mark. I recall no cuts whatsoever on the face to the present day. I consider blade to be ultra powerful and refrain from using it over the sink. The battery life span has not deterioted across 7 years. |
HEPA Air Purifier - 3000 hour filter system   | I still remain unsure how this product appeared on my radar. But I believe once I stumbled across this research as below which also documented on their official website (Bio Lec Health), I purchased item without hesitation:
The most appealing aspect was the utilization for removing formaldehyde and also having a UV ioniser. Although I use the product infrequently, it has a clear indication of the particle pollution from fine particulates (PM2.5). I found this measure to be accurate and it instantly reflected changes in quality such as general operations in kitchen to more volatile organic compounds such as anti-fungal nail polish. Or even opening the front door in the house. It has modes to adjust speed and also a night mode feature to reduce its light. The anion and also UV modes can be disabled... The product is extremely lightweight and portable. Only concern is centre of gravity, so best to support it from toppling forward... It was also extremely easy to set up and install the filter.
All functions are fully operational via a remote.
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Flexispot Professional Gaming Chair with Mech Design GC5 
 | I initially discovered this company whilst studying an online Java course on YouTube, it was listed as one of the recommendations by the tutor.... I was immediately startled by the prices notably for items such as queen size bed, which I was initially tempted by. However my priority switched across to the gaming chair.. The assembly of the chair entailed 5 steps. I did initially find it difficult to locate the insertion point of the arm rest, but it required a closer examination... My main reason for purchase was to support my upper spine upwards, I felt once I locked the seat to a vertical position, no further adjustments were required. Although I am not a headset person, the dedicated hook at back has been used for hanging clothes. One particular observation is to ensure the hooks are retracted if no items are hanging on it to avoid accidental collision and injury.. This is a minor criticism and perhaps hooks should be red from health and safety perspective.
From the gaming perspective, its ergonomics resembled a luxury car seat.. I immediately experienced a much better handling experience using steering wheel for gaming Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.. I previously experienced lots of sidewards movement on the steering wheel due to angle of orientating wheel. This became increasingly annoying, since I had to physically shift the unit wheel to natural 180 degree position. With the chair, I applied more downward pressure on the wheel (with arms positioned naturally relatively higher) and it rarely moved the unit. |
Maxx Tech Pro Racing Wheel Kit For PC, Xbox, PS4 - Switch 
 | I purchased item for £50 from Argos for use with my PC. Please note the steering wheel initially worked in Forza Horizon 5 but once several updates were released on Steam, it ceased to function. I wrote to technical support and unfortunately it appears wheel is no longer supported...
I find wheel to negate extensive use of keyboard due to availability of several key mappings.. The wheel can also be used independently of foot pedals, there are clickers behind the wheel on either side. Please note with all equipment connected, the pull clickers represent exact mappings as the pedals.. To this present day, I have not configured the calibration in any games and resistance felt inline with rendered graphics.. The directional keys are extremely useful to navigate the avatar in racing game such as Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. Also note there is no clutch pedal however the gear stick permits manual gear shifts irrespective. I believe this is beneficial since several cars require manual intervention for speed efficiency. |
Porsche Design - Drinking bottle Essential 
 | I have reviewed this item prematurely but it was solely that it appears as a solid lifetime investment.
I had accidental spillages recently with typical mineral water bottles, notably angular tightening, causing inadvertent spillages. So I immediately simulated this with the Porsche product, partially tightening the top. And in its lateral position, there was practically no spillage whatsoever.. Also with full tightened coverage, it remained complete spillage - tight... I used the product for numerous drinks (including dairy products) and found under normal water rinsing (as stated in product manual) and leaving lid open to dry, smells did not linger at all... I also experienced a more uniform taste with product... In terms of hot drink, I conceived this as a challenge given no perception of liquid temperature... I was disproved immediately.. The extended nozzle ensured I could adequately gauge drink and also readily counterract if liquid remained too hot.. In terms of product quality, its grade falls nothing short of the materials envisaged in their range of Porsche cars.. exactly fit for purpose |
QED HDMI Active Optical Ultra High Speed Cable (7.5m)
 | I have taken approximately 6+ months to review this product. I purchased this in November 2023 for £140 from AV.com, solely for purpose of experimentation. Little did I know at the time it would become a multi-fit versatile product.
I initially used this product for the connectivity of a high-end soundbar Porsche PDB90 to my PC via the graphics card Nvidia GTX 3080 HDMI port, residing 1.5m apart. I noticed a significant increase in quality immediately (as per article on the website)..... However both cables were utilized under different stress factors, and both considered to be superior in its own domain... Further down the line, it was used for an immersive AV experience for 4K passthrough. It connected my graphics card to the soundbar. A second HDMI cable (the original soundbar cable) connected the soundbar to a 4K monitor. I have seen sufficient evidence to suggest it is handling all audio and visual data in tandem, and there is perfect on screen synchronization (such as in movies), given the net length of cables nearing 10metres. Infact it is better than using standard analog speakers. Moreoever it has left the sound signature intact on the soundbar and is interoperable with my existing HDMI cable in the configuration. I consider this to be an excellent price point for my hardware configuration. At the current moment, it is used in a more simplifed configuration.. It is connecting to a Dell U2713H 1440p monitor.. There is a uniform balance and I experienced a massive utilization of the LED backlighting.. This monitor, now even operating at 350nits in SDR, gives an extremely good account against the HDR@1600 nits on the Porsche PD32M 4k monitor... Again, resolutions varied across both screens... The underlying outcome is that it has been exceptional in all scenarios at a competitive price point. I also had timely interaction with their customer support, so had a solid experience with product at a competitive price point.
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