Monitor Reviews

This radio works fairly decent, but as stated by others, every button push emits a loud beep. Turning the beeps to a low volume also turns the alert siren to a low volume that cannot be heard unless you are in the same room. With that in mind, I found the alarm-clock/clock-radio feature of this radio to be of limited use due to the loud beeping for every key push. So I use this radio for the WX alert feature only. On the high volume setting the alert beeps are loud enough to be heard throughout the house, and the radio's speaker volume goes loud enough to be heard across the house without distortion.

I live in an area where the reception of any NOAA broadcast stations are somewhat poor, so the radio does not receive well unless it is placed near an exterior wall or window. Placing it in any room near the center of the house and all reception is lost. My Icom T90A handheld transceiver will still receive the signals fairly well in locations where the Midland WR-300 radio loses all reception. I feel that Midland could have done a better job by building the radio with a more sensitive receiver or by using a better antenna specifically tuned for the VHF frequency spectrum the radio is designed to receive (somewhere between 161-163 MHz). Of course if one was inclined to, it is possible to buy or build an outdoor antenna to improve reception, since the radio does come supplied with an accessory antenna jack.

The backup battery life of the radio is very good, last year during hurricane season the power was out for about 4 days and the radio stayed in standby mode 24/7 thru the power outage for 3 of those 4 days before the batteries went dead.

Did quite a bit of research on this before purchase and have been happy so far. Easy to program and customize alerts. Frustrating that display doesn't show date and time of alert, but for a notification device, works well.

I bought this for its features as I live in 'Tornado Alley' and although I do live in town I find it very difficult to hear the tornado sirens even if I know there is a warning. So I never hear it when I am asleep.

After reading the well written instructions once I found it very easy to program the alert monitor. I did have to look up the codes on NOAA site and then just input these where required. All setup and running in 5 to 10 minutes.

The only thing that was not explained in the instruction book was the section on deactivating certain alarms. You have two choices, 1. WARNING and 2. ADMINISTRATIVE. The instruction book does not actually explain what the latter is but I assume ADMINISTRATIVE are all the non-warning alarms, i.e. watches, etc. Warning alarms can not be turned off but is that not the point of having this device.

Another nice feature is the local weather at the touch of a button. Being an avid hunter it is nice to listen to the day's weather conditions in the warmth of bed before getting up and listening to the weather channel.

OK, now for the one thing I dont like ... the backlit display can be continuous or just lit for a couple of seconds. Fair enough but the display is so bright, and I mean BRIGHT it lights up the whole bedroom and if it is set to light at touch of a button, it beeps loudly as it does with every button press. Seems with all the features this has a, dimmer could be incorporated for the backlight and beeping for every button press could be deactivated. For this I take a star off but for the sake of all its other features it is definitely a must have safety device in the area I live in.

First, it only took a few days to be delivered. It was easy to program per instructions. I went on-line to get the SAME county codes and it was simple to do. Instructions are very good with the radio. The first time there was a weather advisory, the tone was loud and could be heard just about everywhere in my residence. I like the fact that you don't have to hear the weather all the time. Just hit the bar and you have the weather. It was everything I expected it to be. It's definitely a good product to buy for bad weather alerts and warning.

The radio has good reception even though I live in a hilly area, but what I really, really like is the "SAME" function so I can get some sleep when there are alerts in localized areas a hundred miles from my home. With my old weather radio I would be awakened dozens of times a night even though the storms were nowhere near causing a threat to my area. The only alternative was to turn the radio off and that might have been a hazardous thing to do. Well worth the price for peace of mind and a more restful nights sleep.

A couple weeks after I bouught this radio, it woke me up in the middle of the night with a shrill alarm. I had forgotten about it but was relieved to know it was working. It was very easy to set up although I did not go through the programming to block reports from other areas. It appears that this would be fairly easy and I'll do it if the alerts become a nuisance.

You can listen to the local NOAA announcements anytime by pressing a bar on top. Otherwise it remains silent until a weather alert sounds it's alarm.

All in all I am quite happy with my choice and readily recommend it.

The system works fine. The problem comes when you have to change batteries. Not just a matter of switching, the watch has to be sent to the company. This so called service has a double price. An abnormal high fee for a simple battery change and you don't have a watch for two weeks.

The B3 is a great toy for people who don't want to spend hours reading the instructions first. It has everything one needs: alarm, heart rate measurement (comes with belt), date, time, stop functions...it's so simple to use and POLAR is just really good quality stuff.

I bought this when I was trying to understand a sudden spike in our power bill. This unit does exactly what it says: measure kilowatt-hours used. It also measures some other power stats, but I didn't have time to experiment with them.

In terms of how it works, you plug it inbetween the wall outlet and the appliance you want to track. As time passes, it measures how much power the appliance consumes and shows it in a nice, big digital display. It resets when you unplug it.

It is a bit unwieldy to use in cases where the appliance is large and placed in a recessed area (e.g. dryers, fridge). The case is a bit large, so you have to maneuver a bit to get it plugged into the wall. Also the display resets when you unplug it, so it would help to have the results persist for a minute or two so you can still read them.

This is great - it did live up to my expectations, and at about $30, it's definitely a great buy.

This shows the volts, amperes, watt, KHW, line frequency, and so on. The power consumption is the best feature - it leads to quite a few pleasant and unpleasant surprises! It was great to find, for instance, that the tower fans use under 50 watts - compared to a 1200-watt AC, that's a great savings! However, it was not-so-nice to see that my hair dryer consumes close to 1800 watts with the heat on high.

While not a terribly cost-saving device by itself - it will have an effect on your power consumption, and may lead to smaller power bills. At least it tells you how much power your gadgets consume, unlike the packaging which is often misleading and rarely contain the power rating.

As another reviewer mentioned, desktop computers were the biggest surprise - with a core duo churning out Seti at Home work units, I was surprised to see it's costing me about 300 watts an hour, or about $27 a month - whereas, using the PC for just 4 hours a day for my personal use, I end up with less than $5 a month! Ouch!

My only complaint - this unit has only one outlet, but is designed in such a way that it guards both the outlets on the wall. That means, I run one outlet short of what I had before. Of course, I can buy a outlet duplicator from the dollar store and put it on this, but it would have been nice if this just took the space of a single outlet - just shifting the prongs a half-inch towards the edge would have solved the issue.

This product is a must-have for any household, and it's great to see them finally priced reasonably.

It could be improved -- for example, if plugged into a wall socket the unit blocks both plugs. However, it's still a 5-star in my book.

I think a lot of folks like me would love to see a delux unit offerred that can be attached to a computer (perhaps wirelessly) for ongoing data collection.

You wouldn't be able to notice by just walking up and looking at me, but my left ear-hole is considerably smaller than my right ear-hole. I know..your saying...."ear-hole my eye!" But that reality came all too clear when I was fitting these ear plugs into my head.

Yes, they offer sets of 3 different sizes. At first I figured that one of those things would fit both sides. So I started with the meduim...my right ear-hole eagerly clamped onto the bud and I was happy...then I tried to fit my left ear. Okay, I can handle some insults, I move on... Well, I went down one size for my left ear...but even the smallest fitting didn't work.

So you might think I'm a dwarf or a very small person. Problem is, I'm 6'3" and weigh 210...not a small dude.

I pan this product because the fitting issues; otherwise, the audio is nice...not tremendous. Also, while running, biking and generally walking out into traffic, the buds keep popping out and they are not easy to put back in. Hence...I give this product 2 stars because of the mentioned problem therefore; and they are not worth the cost.

I bought these for the gym, and for that purpose they provide good enough sound, since there is a fair amount of background noise anyways. Of course, they are vastly superior to the crappy Ipod earbuds... In my opinion, these are not audiophile headphones - good but not great. I would recommend these with reservations: I notice a fair amount of noise whenever I move around and the wires bump into my body, or themselves (even brushing against the wire ends up like a scraping sound when it's magnified by the earbud). My main warning is the noise I get from any breeze. Walking at even a moderate pace, I hear a fairly loud "wind noise" from the wires that is magnified into the earbuds. So here is my dilemma - these phones only sound good when you are not moving, but if you are sitting still for serious listening they just don't sparkle. Bottom line: I'll stick with these for now, but I wouldn't buy these again.

The sound is excellent, and the ability of these ear buds to isolate noise is incredible. I tried it on my last cross Atlantic flight, it works great, more than what I expected, it reduce the noise up to 80% with excellent sound quality, not too much to carry with you while traveling, not bulky you can sleep while you wearing it, it is much better than Sennheiser PXC 300, which I tried and I was so disappointed.
I'm impressed with this ear buds and I wish that it come with a carrying case.

I purchased this keyboard on the advice of a jazz piano instructor. All I can say is the piano has come a long way since I was a kid. The Yamaha YPT 200 is an excellent keyboard. Rich sound and full size keys. To be honest, I did not know what to expect because I was rather ignorant of this product. But after I did my homework on the internet, I decided to take the plunge. You get more for the money with this machine. When I am more advanced with my piano playing,I will purchase a more sophisticated model I love Baby Grands but lets face it they are bigger than my house.I love the classical music folder. The one down side is I can hardly see the screen butI am not going to dwell on that one.Love this keyboard. Try it - you will not regret the purchase. Make sure you purchase the one with the adapter.

I bought this for my daughter whom is taking piano lessons. She likes the fact that you can do other things besides using it for the practice. It's a great starters keyboard that is all I can say. I love it because she isn't watching TV, She rather practice on this.

I just started to learn piano (I play guitar)and wanted something with normal sized keys to use at home for practice and composing tunes. I am not ready to invest in a piano yet. I have really enjoyed this little keyboard and have been tinkering with it since the day it arrived. The sound is good and the keys feel closer to the keys of a real piano than a competitor's model I tried at the store. I use it almost exclusively with a headset so as not to disturb anyone else and this has been a great asset. It has a lot of features which I have not yet figured out completely (that requires reading the whole manual and you know how fun that is) but we have had a blast with the sound effects and other instrument "voices". A few little things I've noted: 1. The keyboard is very lightweight so getting it positioned properly on the stand is very important to make sure it stays stable - it could be very easy to tip over. And don't lean on it! We've had a close call with that already. 2. I saw on the CD that comes with it that the silver model the instructor had has symbols above the key that relate to the different percussion options associated with that key. The model I have is black (not silver) and while it turns out the symbols are there, you cannot really see them. I would have liked them to be visible as I may wish to use the percussion feature in the future. Not sure why they didn't print them in white for this model instead. 3. If you are going to use the headphones, you should be aware that the outlet is a stereo-sized headphone receptacle, which means it is larger than those used for personal devices (ipod's, portable CD players, etc) so they will not fit it. Currently I am using my ipod headset fitted with an adapter and that works just fine. I have ordered a larger headphone set to use just with the keyboard.

I have not yet purchased the MIDI cable and linked into my computer yet, but will do very soon. Until then can't comment. I also did not buy the stand or stool advertised online, but probably should have. I paid a bit more locally and don't think I got more quality or better fit for it.

Am rating five stars for fun factor if nothing else!

I received this on timely matter and in excellent condition. It does what it says it will and I definitely recomend it too!

Clock, chronometer and heart rate monitor: the three basic operations I need at the gym. I haven't compared it yet with other monitors, but I think it's accurate enough. Because of the short range of the transmitter, it hasn't interefered with other people using monitors (not yet, at least), but it allows my trainer to read my heart rate from its wrist monitor when he stands close to me to try to catch the signal.

I am a recent cardiac patient in a rehabilitation program. I wear the monitor each time I exercise, whether on my bicycle at home or at the rehabilitation gym. I have been given a range in which to hold my heart rate (80% of my maximum of 153 per minute)Using the Omron I am able to monitor my rate keeping it between 114 and 126. I find it easy to read as I am exercising and pretty effortless to properly monitor my heart rate.

My husband bought this for me for training. It's great. It tracks my miles and then I can plot it comparing my progress. The heartrate monitor is also a great feature. It's easy to use.

My wife and I have a Garmin 201 & 301. We are very happy with them both. They take the guess work out of time & distance allowing us to try new routes more easily.

I recommend paying the extra for the 301. The advertised difference, of course, is the heart rate monitor. But the biggest advantage to me is it connects to your pc with a USB connection. Just plug it in after a run and it uploads your workout stats into your record book. The 201 uses a serial port connection and frankly, I've never gone to the trouble of connecting it to my pc.

I'm just getting used to the various features of the monitor - as this is the first of it's type that I've used.

I really enjoy the heart monitor function. I haven't had the problems that others have. I wonder if they are placing the strap correctly. I have the sensor right under my heart with the two leads on either side, below the breast. The GPS seems to work pretty well also, just takes a bit to lock on to the signal. I look forward to getting the various features utilized in the future.

I've had my earbuds for about 3 months and I was really never impressed. Maybe I expected too much from some $50 earbuds, but after reading all the user reviews I thought I was going to get a great set of earbuds. The sound always sounded "stuffy" and not very clear; really didn't seem to matter what I did to the EQ. The fit on these is OK, I could really never get them to get a nice fit no matter what size fitting I used. The worst part is that my left earbud has no sound now at all and this is after very infrequent gentle use for 3 months. If sennheiser gives me the option I would get my money back and use it towards a higher end pair.

Had these for about a month now and have been quite satisfied. Originally got these as a replacement for my ipod cheap plastic buds that died a slow and painful death. The sound quality is superb and the fit is quite comfortable even for extended times. It will definitely block out a good bit of ambient noise and people don't notice when you wear them so expect people to talk to you and think you're ignoring them. =)

My only sound comparison is to the ipod ones, which are worthless, and my Bose triports. The quality is close to the Bose, but not quite there, especially in bass response. Obviously much easier to transport than the Bose, so these in-ear monitors are now what are used travelling with me.

Only few little nit picks. The cord is a touch short. I've pulled them out a couple of times from moving my chair in the office. A cheap extention would take care of that. Also, it would've been nice to have some sort of carrying case. Even cheap-o earbuds have cases, so this was a disappointment. Just find a small pouch for something else and it's fine.

All in all, I'd recommend them for general use as a fine replacement for the ipod ones, esp. if you can snag a pair for under $35-40. You won't be disappointed.

I used Sennheiser CX 300B (Bought it here from amazon.com) for over 6 months now. I am very happy with its performance.

I owned 3 pairs of SONY fontopia (2 MDR-EX71SL, 1 MDR-ES51LP). I use SONY MDR-EX71SL when I am in gym using my ipod w/armband. The short cord of SONY 71SL is perfect for use with armband.

I own ipod nano and Motorola M25 MP3 players.

I like SONY 71SL, but this Sennheiser CX 300B just blow away SONY 71SL in every categories.

Sennheiser CX 300B
Pros:
1. The sound stage is much clear.
I am not a classical music lover. But boy, using this EIM in conjunction with ipod, I can really listen and appriciate classical music. Voice of Opera singers or Yo-Yo Ma's cello come alive. You feel they are singing or playing instrument in front of you. (Note: on ipod, I use EQ=Jazz when I listen to classical music)

2. Greater Dynamic range:
If you use it with ipod, try change the EQ to Acoustic, for good recording music, you will hear all these low's you wont hear from regular earphones. Regularly, the high/mid/low are balanced. In my comparison, the SONY 71 or 51 sound small or limited(flat) compared to CX 300B.

3. It is much louder than the SONY 71 or 51. This means you can tune down your MP3 player volume to save battery.

Cons:
1. I have no problem using it with ipod or my laptops. But when I use it with the Motorola M25, I hear this humming sound many reviewers here mentioned. If I switch to SONY's, I dont hear humming sound. There might be a compatibility issue with some MP3/CD players.

2. It comes with 3 sizes of silicon in ear fitting but none of them fit my ears comfortably. Luckily (or unluckily), my SONY MDR-51 die so I took its silicon in ear fitting and they fit perfectly on Sennheiser CX 300B!

3. The cord, while it is better than the SONY MDR-51(my MDR-51 cord literally melted for regular use of less than a year), has its problem. My problem with the cord is it is taking curve shape because I tend to warp it around my ipod when not in use.

Despite these cons, I still highly recommend Sennheiser CX 300B in-ear Monitor. It is much cheaper than Shure and it sounds better than the SONY.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

I bought this monitor for the price. However, it as been a really great monitor. It was easy to set up, great color, and no dead pixals. This is my first LCD monitor. But when I need a new one or buying for that old computer that I let my grandkids play with. I'll think about buying another Viewsonic first!

This monitor is marvellous. Very easy to install. Comes with a free DVI cable, no hassle setup. It has all the bells and whistles that you would look for in a perfect monitor.

The colors are too good. Brightness is perfect. The stand is adjustable according to your viewing preferences. You can watch DVD movies in actual wide-screen format because this monitor has an aspect ratio of 16:10. You will only see a small rectangular bar on the top and bottom when watching DVDs programmed in 16:9 ratio. 8 millisecond response time renders smooth videos.

Active TFT display means you can watch it from any angle in your living room. I watch it even at 70 degree angles and it looks good enough.

The black finish adds elegance to your room. The power transformer (to convert 120 or 250 volts to 12 volts) is built inside the monitor. So you won't see ugly cables outside. The monitor cable to connect to your computer is also neatly tucked inside the monitor's casing.

To enjoy the monitor to the fullest extent, you need a good video card that supports 1940 X 1024 resolution and has a DVI output. If your computer has DVI output, make sure you connect the monitor using the DVI cable provided. The output is impeccable when using DVI signal. Even VGA signal is not bad, but DVI is too good.

The monitor has built in speakers. But I would suggest not to depend on this feature. The speakers are ok for web-chatting, VOIP calls, etc. But when watching DVD or listening to audio, you may want to go for external speakers and not depend on the speakers this monitor provides. Also if you turn on the speaker to full volume, the monitor sometimes flickers. Reason is both monitor and speakers are using the same power source and the power source may not be able to support the extra wattage required when the speakers are at the maximum sound level.

In summary, do go for this monitor TODAY. Don't wait an extra day. You will love your purchase.

Please don't go for the ACER monitors that are available for the same price. They don't have all the features that are available in this monitor. Also make sure you shop around for the best prices. This monitor is the best selling monitor of 2006. Hence lot of online sites are offering very competitive prices.

Enjoy