You Should Read This Before Buy Milwaukee 2691-22 18-Volt Compact Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit

I recently owned a Makita set so I will compare the two. I use the tools every day in remodel and new construction work.

• The Milwaukee is slightly heavier, but still easy to use.
• The belt clip on tool base is very useful. Makita doesn't have same feature.
• Battery life seems to be the same. I love the charge level indicator on the battery, but when it is dead, it stops immediately, no gradual loss.
• The hard plastic carry case will last much longer than the Makita cordura bag, which was pretty beat up after six months of use.
• Both brands have a use light above trigger but Makita's will glow for a short stretch after trigger release whereas the Milwaukee turns off immediately.
• Makita also has the glow ring on the impact driver that makes finding it in the dark easier, very handy.
• The Milwaukee impact driver has a rubber bumper strip on both sides of the nose for friction protection [nice] but one end on both sides come unattached with very little use [annoying]. I had to super glue them in place and they have held for several weeks.
• I anticipate no difference in tool life and durability having used both tool brands for many years. 

And if you offer this here now, you can save 64% :)


Matthew S. Malone (Boston MA) says :


After owning two of the white Makita lith-ion drills I had to return both of them because the charger kept killing the batteries dead. From what I have read this is a known problem.

Here is what I like better about the Milwaukee.

First the charger does not kill the $80 batteries no matter how long you leave them on the charger. Second, the Milwaukee has a great battery charge indicator right on the battery. This is very important with Lith-Ion batteries as they have full power right up to the end and quit without warning. With is level gauge you know exactly how much battery life you have when you grab your drill. Third, the Milwaukee drill has bit storage on board, handy for philips and reg bits. Lastly the red color holds up much better then white.

Hope this helps.

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You Should Read This Before Buy Braun SE7281WD Xpressive Body System Rechargeable Wet & Dry Epilator

I have been using an epilator for years, so for 'newbies' just a few comments-
YES- the pain gets better. Stick with it. I use it for everything- upper lip, underarms, legs, bikini- and I don't need any special soothing creams or gentle 'caps' or anything. I barely even feel it. You can get there.

It definitely beats shaving.

But I would say that the "hair free for 4-6 weeks" claim is bunk. If I go more than 2 weeks or so, it's noticeable. Now, the hair is softer and lighter so even if it's there it's not awful- but if you are expecting to be totally silky smooth for a month- no.

And on that note- I'm not sure I'm EVER 100% silky smooth. there are always a few little fine hairs it can't get, or a few that break. It's not like that JUST shaven feeling. (but, that just shaven feeling only lasts what, an hour?)

But the reason I'm writing this review-
I've had several epilators, and have tried pretty much every model of the silk-epil. I was so excited about two things on this one: the rechargeable battery, and the wet/dry ability.

First re: the wet/dry- I tried it in the shower- It didn't work NEARLY as well. missed tons of hairs. I think the fact that you can get it wet is meant more so you can clean it- not use it in the tub. But, maybe that's just me, maybe I should try it again.

And the battery- I honestly wish I had saved money and gotten the corded one. The charge doesn't last long enough, and it gets wimpy at the end. Even if I plug it in, it's wimpy until the battery gets some charge back. And worst of all- if I use it too much, I think maybe it overheats- it gets really hot and seems to strain the battery, and it will just totally die. I have to leave it alone for 5-10 min, and then I can go again just for maybe 3 minutes.

I really think this has to do with the battery and charging system.

So my recommendation would be to save money and get the corded version. After all- where are you going to be using it that it's so hard to be near an outlet?

And now you can save 18% if you offer this at here!

S. Cohen (Atlanta, GA) says :

I was really really really hesitant to get an epilator...in fact, I had been scared to get one my whole life. IF I had only known then, what I know now!! (the irony of life, right?)

I have very pale white skin and very thick black body hair, thanks to some not-so-good luck with the gene pool. :-) Been shaving all my life, and not only would I get razor rash EVERY time, but the regrowth would be evident within a matter of hours. Yuck! So, a few years ago, I started getting waxed, which wasn't horrible, but was very expensive and not something I could afford in the long-run; this lead me to purchase my own at-home wax warmer and I started waxing myself. Things I loved about waxing: regrowth was slower; no razor rash or tiny purple dots at each hair follicle(!!!). The things I hated about waxing: very messy; very time consuming; have to wait until a good portion of hair has grown back AND until hair growth is at least 1/2 inch or so before waxing EVERY time, which is ugly and makes me feel self-conscious. So:

I decided I needed to find a longer-term solution. Looked into the No!No!, but it has horrible reviews by just about everyone who doesn't get paid by the infomercial company (certainly a few exceptions, but not enough to make me comfortable dropping nearly $300 on it!). Then I saw epilators... and I decided I may as well try one because it's no more expensive than one round of waxing (less, actually); plus, I've undergone waxing so many times, so it couldn't possibly hurt more than that! Right? I hoped.... Many epilators get great reviews, so I had a hard time deciding on one. I ended up going with this one (Braun SE7281WD) because (1) It had some of the best and most thorough reviews; (2) I wasn't sure if I'd prefer to use it in the shower or dry, so I wanted the wet/dry feature to test all the possibilities; and (3) I liked that this came with several "heads" so I could work my way into it with the massaging head, and use the precision head for special areas, etc. I made the purchase, even though I was still really nervous.

It's been about 5 weeks and I don't regret the decision one bit! The first go-round was a little painful and awkward, I must admit (I tried it in the shower first which was way too awkward, so resumed after shower with dry but warm skin and it was still a little painful, but not as awkward). The 2nd time I used it (dry only) was about 1 week later - only a little hair was present and it felt like almost nothing. Same with 3rd week. Last week, I had a little more hair growth than the previous weeks, and I made a leap and decided to not use any of the heads at all, but just the bare epilator (dry as usual). It took the hair off so well, and was nearly painless (honestly, at this point, it feels like the skin is getting "a good scratching"...I can't explain this, but it doesn't hurt...*almost* feels good in a way, but not quite).

I love this epilator. I usually charge it up on a Sunday morning when I wake up, and by the time I'm done with my coffee it's ready to go. I use it on my armpits, arms, legs, bikini (need to be careful around the creases - I did knick myself once when the skin was too tight and had a slightly elevated/pinched-up area...ever since, I have used the precision head for the bikini area!), and stomach below the navel. There's always a charge left when I am done. It is pretty fast and easy. Hair regrowth seems to be slowing down and thinning out...since my hair is so thick, I do get a few ingrowns, especially near the thicker skin at the knees, but that's WAY better than the MANY ingrowns I got during waxing; and a deep salt scrub always helps the problem (I make my own: fine sea salt mixed with almond or grapeseed oil and 2 drops of lavendar aromatherapy oil). Oh, last week I also discovered that for some ingrowns (those causing a little bump on the surface of the skin and therefore not deep), I can move the epilator several times over the bump in different directions and it'll remove the excess skin and pull out the hair! Much better option than me trying to dig it out with tweezers and making myself bleed!!

Oh, and the best part is: I don't have to wait until most of the hair has regrown before I use it...in a similar fashion as shaving, I can epilate anytime I need to and have soft, smooth skin!! However, different and much better than shaving, the hair won't regrow within a few hours...or days!

I know this review is long, but sometimes I think it's really important to share the whole story. I hope it will help someone else out there. :-)

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You Should Read This Before Buy

There are large, loud, and passionate debates about QB on the web, and many of the complaints people have are well-founded. But I've used just about every sort of accounting program out there and keep coming back to QuickBooks despite its shortcomings.

First of all, I'm not a trained accountant. While I do understand basic accounting concepts, and can look at a P&L without my head spinning, I can't really say the same about things like trial balances and general ledgers. So for ME - QuickBooks gives me the framework to keep close tabs on my business without feeling frustrated and stupid.

Entering information is extremely easy, and the import facility from Gmail is great - I decided to start a new company file from scratch for 2012 (I got a bit... sloppy about keeping up with an older file on my Mac, and figured out new and simpler ways to keep track of what was important), and it was a neat time-saver. While I'm on the subject, by the way, the Mac version doens't have all the features of the Windows version. If you have the option of either, make sure you choose carefully.

Entering information starting in Q4 of 2011 also went smoothly, and any time I made a mistake, or decided I'd like to keep things sorted a different way, it was easy to fix - something I always found could be a PITA with some other programs. Reports are easy to run, and connectivity with online banking is easy to do as well. I'm not using it for payroll, so I cannot speak to that.

But it does fall down in some places. First and foremost, they really need to stop trying to sell their additional (and IMO overpriced) products and services from within a paid piece of software - or at least making it so intrusive. The pop-ups are a total drag (though they CAN be turned off in preferences if you look hard enough or Google it) and things like a "Do More With Quickbooks" menu (which sells their services) that can't be removed from the Main Navigation screen is a bit of an insult.

As for missing or broken features, I've found two that are particularly irritating: the first is a lack of real price levels for products. In this version of QuickBooks, you CAN set a discount level for wholesale customers (we manufacture soap that's sold both retail and wholesale), but it's a blanket discount. What I'd like to do (and could in competing programs at the same price point) is set multiple price levels, and each product could have a pre-set price at each level, not just a blanket percentage. Seems to me if you're doning price levels at all, you should just do them right. The feature exists in QB Premier, but it's literally the ONLY feature I need from it and it's next to impossible to figure out how to upgrade (and likely wouldn't be worth the cash anywasy).

The customize forms section had some issues as well - I spent quite a lot of time working on customization, and it all appeared great until an invoice was emailed (they printed fine) at which point the entire layout came apart and it was unreadable. Awful that I couldn't see this unless I tested the send (which thankfully I did before sending one to a customer), and it took forever to figure out what was broken: turned out that it couldn't handle using Helvetica Neue for a font. I stuck with Ariel and had no such problems.

There are other issues here and there that make me unhappy: I can't change the default font size for program itself without a hack (it was just too small stock), whenever I go to the reports page I keep getting a popup telling me about the "New! Contributed Reports" that I can't turn off, and other minor customization issues.

In the end, I'll confess that if there was an accounting program that was as easy and flexible at the same price point, I'd consider it due to issues I've mentioned. But QB really does have the market to itself so that's not an option. But it's not so bad: the issues aren't killer (they're just the sorts of issues I, were I their interface consultant, wouldn't abide) and the positives for me make up for the negatives.

And now you can save 41% if you offer this at here!

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You Should Read This Before Buy PetSafe Deluxe Little-Dog Remote Trainer for Pets

We bought this for our Rat Terrier. He's very smart and was learning all his basic commands but not "Come". When he got lose he refused to come when you called him. I worried about his safety. With the kids in and out of the house all summer, something needed to be done. As a animal lover I was really torn about the idea of a "shock" collar. What sold me was that this one could be set low and could also be used with a "beep". It only took him three times before he got it. The first time he left the yard I called him, he did the typical "Ha-yeah right", and took off! I gave him the command "Come Cosmo!" and then zapped him. He did yelp, I won't lie:-( He stopped and started to take off again, I repeated. He came running to me. I praised him and gave him treats. Next time I "beeped" him first with the command, followed by a second beep (still didn't come) then a zap, then he came...more praise. Last time I just "beeped" him and he came instantly!!. Now he wears it and we don't even have it turned on! It comes with a book on training for other bad habits like chasing cars, trash raiding, and digging. Along with basic training. It was worth the money. He got out the other day without the collar on, I panicked but opened the front door and called him. He came running to the door!! Also we have neighbors walk their dogs by our house, we just tell him to "sit" and "stay". They just walk right by without any trouble. Perfect! In less then a week he was trained. We could have spent a couple hundred dollars and a month or more on classes for basic training. All of which we didn't have the time or money for. This was easy and worth it!

And if you offer this now, you can save 42%. Check this offer here!


D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) says :

I have owned dogs and been with dogs since birth. The majority of these wonderful animals have been pets, but I have also spent years working with hunting dogs; raising, training and working with. Until recently I have always been rather smug, and must admit to having done a bit of bragging that I have never had a dog or known a dog that I could not train. Now of the literally hundreds of animals I have been in contact with and worked with over the years this has been true. In addition I can truthfully say I have never hit a dog, lost my temper with a dog, and other than firm voice command and gentle authoritarian use of a leash, used any other training aid. I had very mixed emotions and must admit to have had strong reservations in using such a device as being reviewed here. I have had friend who have had excellent results with their hunting animals with the use of "shock collars," and swear by them, but still and all.....

Well enter Ivan (as in Ivan the Terrible) who is a small terrier who may be 13 pounds soaking wet, although I am convinced he thinks he is the size of a timber wolf. Ivan is about one year old and was "dumped" at our place and was in horrid condition when he came to our door. Being the stern fellow I am, and already in possession of three house dogs, I did the only thing I could do...yup, took the little fellow in. After several trips to the groomer, healthy diet, being checked out an neutered by the vet, given lots and lots of love, he is doing just great. That has been eight months ago.

Ivan is actually a very good little dog. It took two days to house train him, he is well mannered in the house, and is a perfect lap dog. He sleeps in my lap while I read and lies across the top of my head when I go to bed. He gets long with the other animals perfectly. Ivan though has a typical terrier attitude. i.e. a hard head. No method I tried could keep him from bolting from the door, giving a "you and the horse you road in on" look over his shoulder when called, and just keep on going. Now we live in the woods and about 200 yards from the road. Ivan was in great risk of being run over as he loved to chase cars, or being eaten by coyotes as he loved to chase the feral cats who inhabit the woods surrounding us. He would spend hours, day and night, in the pursuit of his feline "enemies." I spent many late nights tromping the bush trying to catch this little critter and bring him home. What to do? The cats are able to avoid (or sometimes not) the coyotes by climbing trees...Ivan does not posses that skill.

Well, as a last resort I ordered one of these wonderful PetSafe trainers for small dogs. I began by testing it on myself...several times, by fastening it to my arm and allowing my wife to zap me...using the high mode....I actually suspicion she enjoyed it...go figure. Anyway, I can promise you that the pain is not all that bad. It does instantly get your attention and is very uncomfortable, but the actual pain is not really all that bad.

Well we then put the devise on Ivan. To make a not so long story even shorter, this thing worked perfectly and it only took three days and about six zaps. Ivan no longer heads for the woods, has stopped chasing cars and stays within his five or more acre area. He comes instantly when called. I can truly say that this thing has probably saved him from being squashed or eaten.

The device is very easy to use. It has 10 settings, 10 being the most powerful. It has been through rain, ice and snow and keeps on working. It is easy to fasten it on the dog. The antenna is buried in the actual collar so there is little chance of it breaking. The batteries seem to have a very long life.

There are two modes on this collar. There is a "beep" button and there is a "zapper" button. It does, as advertised, reach for at least 100 yards. We found that by giving Ivan warning (two) with the beeper before we actually gave him the mild shock worked out quite well. He now instantly returns when he hears the beeping noise. Actually, at this point, he instantly responds and returns at a verbal command.

Some things to note:

Ivan is a bright dog and it did not take him long to associate the collar with the shock. After three times of being hit he behaved well but the first time we let him out without the device in place he headed for the tall timber....back on the collar went. We did this a few times and finally purchased a regular collar, a cheap collar, and when it is on Ivan thinks it is the "bad" collar and behaves perfectly. We are in the process of weaning him from the non-shock collar as I write this and all is working out quite well.

Second: I read at least one review here that stated the collar burned holes in their dogs' fur and skin. This is an absolute blatant untruth...there is no way this device is capable of doing such a thing. The people who wrote those reviews either left the collar on too long and the studs wore a hole in the fur of the dog, or they are misguided individuals trying to "save" the dogs from these "dreadful devices." Hey folks, better startle your dog a bit than have him killed. I am a bit surprised that Amazon has allowed these untruthful reviews to stand. These misguided "do-gooder" reviews could cost many pets their lives and the people who wrote them should be ashamed of their selves.

Third: Even if you get overly enthusiastic with your zapping, the device will automatically stop the shock after eight seconds. This is important when dealing with over zealous children using the device.

Forth: If there are buildings, large trees and shrubs and such in the way, the collar is less effective.

Fifth: the device on the collar should be turned off when the dog is in the house our training time is over as it will prolong the battery life. Also, the collar should not be left on the dog for over eight hours per instructions.

Sixth: These devices should never ever be used as a form of punishment for your pet; a pox on your house if you do so.

I could not be happier with a product than I am this one. It was with every penny I spent and it is much less expensive than many of these devices I have seen.

Now I have a grandson, 17 years old, who is having problems staying focused on his German lessons and British Literature assignments,...I wonder......????

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

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You Should Read This Before Buy Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3 TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive

I purchased the 4TB Seagate GoFlex Desk external drive with the intent of consolidating all my media files onto a single central drive. Straight out of the box, impressions were good. The newer generation drive offers a sleeker high gloss alternative to the previous Seagate Desk models. The drive comes equipped with a USB 3.0 base dock, which features five white LEDs on the front to illustrate power as well as indicate the capacity used on the drive in 25% increments. In addition, it also comes with the AC power adapter and a 4 foot USB 3.0 cord, which is significantly more convenient than the 1 1/2 foot cords that were supplied with my 1TB Seagate GoFlex Ultra Portable Drives.

Right out of the box I plugged in to my Windows 7 laptop, had the drivers automatically installed, and was off and running in about 30 seconds. Simple enough. Actual available space on the drive (due to conversion) is about 3.63 TB, which was an expected reduction.. but is worth noting for those who aren't aware there will be less memory actually available than what is advertised.

An initial letdown was the noise. The drive emits a low frequency hum when powered, as well as airflow noise from the vent holes on the top of the enclosure. Overall, the sound is somewhat noticeable, but not loud. Nothing I'd really complain about.. I think I'm just spoiled by my virtually silent USB powered portable drives. Also, one thing you don't want to do is tilt this thing on its side or move it around haphazardly while transferring data - you'll get a kind of faint and unnerving buzz-saw sound if you tilt it at an angle or jostle it roughly. Best to leave it stationary or keep it straight up and down when moving the drive while it's running.. learned that the hard way.

I did run diagnostics to determine the read/write speed of the drive, but since I only have a USB 2.0 motherboard in my laptop, my personal results are not at all accurate to the true capabilities of this drive. However, I have read reviews of users with USB 3.0 technology benchmarking the drive at approximately 190MB/s read and 160MB/s write speeds. When I gain access to a USB 3.0 PC, I'll run the tests and update with personal results.

Additional details from the diagnostic show the GoFlex Desk houses a SATA III 6Gbps 7200RPM 3.5" hard drive with 5 platters (800GB each). Temperature is around 47°C on idle startup. After 8 hours of running transfer, temperature maxed at 55°C. Pretty happy with the drive thus far - will update with any encountered problems over the next few weeks.

And if you order now, you can save 8%. Check this out here!

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You Should Read This Before Buy PlayStation Vita - WiFi

A few hours since delivery... I'm impressed. Just about everything about the PSV: display, controls, features, the games - top of the line. This is a gaming machine that shouts "quality" and, after the first few hours of playing Uncharted and a couple of small games off the PSN, I can say that I've had the best portable gaming experience ever - we currently have a PSP and a DSi in the house plus a couple of tablets and smart phones.

Briefly - and I will update my review as I experience more of the PSV - these are my findings so far.

HARDWARE AND FEATURES

I'm not going to get into details because Amazon's page has it all. Yes, it's quad-core this, and super-high-rez display that but what counts is that it translates into a super-smooth gaming experience with a bunch of non-gaming capabilities on top. I'm surprised how immersive playing a game on such a small screen with such tiny speakers can be. And it is so for a couple of reasons.

- the sharpest, best looking display I've seen on a portable
- the dual analog sticks make all the difference - Sony learned from past mistakes
- the back touch panel are something that it's better to experience because it's the one clear innovation on this machine and it won't give you headaches (sorry Nintendo :) )
- games can be either downloaded or purchased and shared on physical media - like I said, Sony is learning from past mistakes (sorry PSP Go)
- seamless integration with the PS3 and the Playstation Network
- a bunch of great multimedia apps including Netflix - I'll have more to say about these after I stop playing Uncharted :)
- cameras - more later but I heard that some games allow you to build characters that look just like you

THE GAMING EXPERIENCE

Anyone who has a PS3 or a PSP should feel very familiar with the PSV. All the PS3 controls are there although some of the buttons are smaller. Add to that the 'touch' capabilities on both front and back with support for gestures and the gaming possibilities are almost endless. Because of its high resolution, there can be a lot happening at the same time on the PSV's screen and, don't forget, you can also feel the action while playing.

I don't feel like doing comparisons at this time but anyone who claims that the PSV is no big deal because we can play games on our phones should experience the PSV and then consider revising their statements. Vita can easily play any one-dollar game that a phone can play and I'm sure we'll get a couple of those and Vita can do just about everything a smart phone or tablet can do and most of the time do it better, but no phone or tablet can play Uncharted and no 'next generation' phone or tablet is likely to be able to play Uncharted or Little Big Planet. And, let's not forget that the Vita costs a less than most smart phones.

EVERYTHING ELSE

I haven't had time to explore all of Vita's features yet but, they're all in there. Multimedia, wireless connectivity, music playback... it's all in there. Add to that one of the best laid out, intuitive and responsive user interfaces and even non gamers should be happy to have a Vita around.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

A couple of things. The most annoying is, of course, the hyper-overpriced memory card. You can't play 'big games' without one and Sony decided to make lots of money on this proprietary 'must have' add-on which is anything but optional. Then there's of course Sony not making the Passport program available in the US. We have a PSP and lots of games on UMDs. Not being able to play them on the Vita is very frustrating.

Other than that... perhaps I should have titled my review 'gamer changer' because the Vita is likely to change me into a more active portable player. I used to prefer the PS3 over the PSP but I'm not sure this will always be the case in the future. I know that I won't put the Vita down until I'm done with Uncharted and once I complete that there are at least half a dozen games available on lunch date that I'd like to play.

Oh and... I don't really like sharing our Vita with the kids at this time but I have to :)

____________________________________________

NOTES OF CAUTION

Before deciding whether you want to buy a Vita and as you are budgeting for one, keep the following in mind:

* SINGLE-USER SYSTEM - or so it is meant to be at this time. Like the PSP, the Vita will recognize only ONE account. Unlike the PS3, you can't have other members of your family or friends log with a sub-account. If you are planning to share the PSV, Sony suggests that individual users keep their game saves on separate memory cards but you will still be logged on the Vita as the one user who 'owns' it.

* TROPHIES - A Sony representative confirmed to me that only the 'owner' will get credit for the trophies, no matter who may be earning them during gameplay because the PSV only recognized one user.

* DOWNLOADS - If you buy a 'download' you will have to download that game on each of your family members memory cards who wish to play that game individually.

* MEMORY CARDS SIZE - see above for the multiple users scenario. In addition, get the biggest memory card you can possibly afford. The size of downloaded games tends to be enormous. Uncharted alone is 3.2 GB which is just about all that a 4 GB card can hold. Most games I care about seem to be 2 GB or larger.

* DON'T PLAN ON BUYING MANY DOWNLOADABLE GAMES - see above. Half a dozen downloaded games would fill up your 16 GB memory card with little room for anything else. I would buy games on physical media whenever possible.

You can get it on here (Amazon Shop)

Grayson Andrew Vickery (Arlington, VA, US) says :
The PSVITA in a nutshell

The Vita overall is an exceptional piece of gaming hardware.

PROS:
-OLED is clear, vivid, and best of all pretty resistant to finger prints.
-PSN is responsive and easy to use.
-Dual analog stick 100% functional (unlike the nub).
-Rear touch pad is innovative and very responsive.
-Front touch works as well as any apple device I've ever owned.

CONS:
-Battery life (5-6 hours with brightness down).
-No PS1 classic support as of 02-23-2012(there are plans to add support down the road per SONY).

I believe that the Vita is where Sony finally got it right, this is the first handheld from them that I love almost as much as I did my GBA.

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