Bluetooth Speaker with LED Lights by iDap Tech

Grab your own on Amazon or check out the bottom for a giveaway if you stop by soon enough!

Bluetooth speakers give you the freedom to take your music with you anywhere. Think of them as the modern boombox. This offering my iDap Tech is the perfect option for sharing music with everyone and adding a little flair in the process.

Build- In the box is your speaker, a set of instructions, and a multiuse cable. The speaker is about as big as you'd want anything that would be carried around in a hand. It is all plastic except for the speaker grille. Unlike a lot of plastics though this one doesn't look cheaper due to the soft-touch texture almost like rubber. Overall you get a minimalist design that has subtle design elements like the small bevels and the red corner that still allow it to not look boring. Up top you have 4 buttons that do all the control. These are a little counter-intuitive as the minus button points up when viewing from the front and the plus button points up. This hasn't created any issues for me as your eyes focus on the symbols first. It's not unreasonable to think the plus is instead pointing to the front to say "MOAR SOUND!". Besides those you have the mode button that also doubles as the lights control and the play/pause button. In the back you'll find a few things other bluetooth devices are missing. The full size USB port allows you to plug a flash drive in and play off of that as well as the microSD card slot. This means you don't always have to have another device around. You then get the on/off switch and microUSB port.

Function- Pairing was a breeze; I didn't even have to put in a code. From there I was playing music at good volumes for a medium size room. Nothing that would drown out conversation but enough to listen to easily. Sound quality is something bluetooth speakers have a problem with. I found this one to be capable so the size of speakers you're working with. It doesn't shake the room, that's what 12" subs are for, but I found it was able to reproduce a decent frequency. I recommend getting an equalizer app if you're sending music from your phone. It just means you can tailor the available sound to your tastes. Operation is pretty straight forward. The mode button cycles through the play modes and a long press can stop the lights. This can be handy if you want to play some music in a baby's room without too much stimulation as we do. Something that takes little getting used to is the volume buttons that double as the forward and back seek. You need to hold them to control volume so don't be surprised when the first few times you try you end up going to the next song. The added bonus besides the input options is the lights on the front. They add another dimension that can brighten up a room and is a perk other devices don't offer. When not playing music they will blink in various patterns but once you start playing they flash in step with the tunes. Lastly don't forget that cord that came with it. It allows you to charge the devices well as as provide an AUX in. Nice little thing to have.

This is a great little device to have for when you need something portable. All the little things thrown in set it apart from what you'd find other places and it manages to do it for a very comparable price. It's something that you can leave sitting in a main room of your house and the basic styling makes it fit in with anything. I'd recommend this one to my friends. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

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Pulse Oximeter by Volmate

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This is a basic pulse oximeter that doesn't let anything fancy get in the way of just working. For those that care, these devices work by shining a light through your finger and a sensor on the other side reads the brightness of the light. The changes in intensity let it know your pulse and the amount of certain light that is absorbed by your blood/finger lets it calculate the oxygen content.

Build- You get a small plastic device that you could probably sit on without causing any damage. It may seem a little bulky but remember it's replacing a machine that at a hospital may include the same size finger clip, a long lead, and a big monitor. This one has a large LED screen that is plenty bright and has easy to read numbers. The clip for your finger is all hard plastic so it may get uncomfortable if used for extended periods. I'd imagine most people wont keep it on that long anyway.

Function- It doesn't get any simpler. There is one button and no settings. Put your finger in it and press the single button. This ease of operation means anyone can make use of it no matter their age. Unlike some others the display cannot be rotated but it is int he most logical orientation. Again, no bells and whistles. It's really quite user friendly in a small package. I found it to be accurate with heart rate and expect oxygen saturation was too as calculating is is just a little math.

If you're looking for a no frills device that you wouldn't be sad if something happened to it this one is it. There is no reason it couldn't last as long as you need though. Give this one a try. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

ANCO wipers from Ezwipers.com

Have you ever noticed how when the rain stops and you forget to turn your wipers off and they start making a loud speak as they slide across the windshield? Yeah, that means you need new ones. Wiper blades wear out from use and being out in the sun. It means they don't clean as well so you'll see streaks; plus dirt and dust are just harder to get off.

EzWipers.com sent me a pair of wipers to try and to be honest, there's not much to say because they just carry top quality products. If you've ever see wipers for sale you'll recognize the names like Rain-x and ANCO. Of course these perform just as great as the ones you'll find anywhere else. The thing is most people don't even think about replacing the blades when needed. They just leave them and after a while think all blades leave streaks and make noise.

I know I sound a little ridiculous but sometimes lazy people like me just appreciate something simple.  The hardest part is just getting out and checking the blades for the size or searching around online to find which ones fit but guess what; I've never seen it easier that EZ-wipers. I went on the site, the big box in the middle auto completed the name of my car, and I was met with a range of prices. Add to cart and the checkout even accepts a range of payments including Paypal. The best part is the free shipping.

Do yourself a favor and get over to the site and have a clearer windshield now. There's really no excuse to get new wipers in the mail in the next 15 minutes. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

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Chatbooks Instagram Series

Get your own chatbooks here

Ever wish you could have hard-copies of your pictures but can't figure out what to do with them once they're printed? You can have photo-books printed from several places but it takes time to arrange your layout and the books can be pretty expensive. My wife and I recently tried the service Chatbooks offers and we're already thinking about getting some more. 

There are several options when creating books but we tried the Instagram subscription which has to be the easiest way ever to get your memories printed. Don't want to use Instagram? No problem, there is a custom book too. Setup is simple: Create an Instagram account and link it to a Chatbooks Instagram subscription. Every time you add a new picture to Instagram, it's automatically added to a new book and once you hit sixty pages your book is printed and mailed out to you. Don't worry though; if there are some pictures you shared that you don't really want in a book they provide a nice app to aid in building the perfect series. 

The books themselves are made of nice heavy paper and even a little heavier for the cover. The pages have a satin coating so are neither a boring/flat nor overly glossy. I of course can't prove this but the ink is purported to be high quality stuff that will resist fading for 200 years. Detail is decent and I mean that in a good way. It's not like looking at the original digital image but it's plenty clear and you aren't left wondering what you're looking at. Check out my pictures for examples.

Now that you're this far you're probably thinking "Sure it's easy and convenient, but it must be expensive". Its not though! Each book is $6. Less than 10 bucks for any photo-book is a good deal and this is almost half that. Less than a monthly Netflix subscription and you get to keep something hard and real. Get a coffee every morning? Skip it for 2 days and you can have one of these every month. 

There's really no argument against these when you just want an easy way to save memories. Easy and convenient, great value, and no time commitment for setting them up. If you're not sure if it's for you I'd recommend just trying one book and seeing if you'd like more. Unlike other subscriptions this one is completely dependent on the pictures you add so you don't even have to worry about forgetting to cancel anything. Still not convinced? How about a coupon for a free book? I'm giving one away each to two people who take the easy steps in the giveaway below.

I received and opportunity from Chatbooks to try their books free in exchange for providing an honest review.  

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Pulse Oximeter by Easy@Home

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Short version- This pulse oximeter works, is accurate, and is dead simple to use. You probably want to hear a little more though if you're considering one of these. I see no reason to even consider a different product when this one is as good as it is. I've tried a few different Easy@Home products and they still haven't disappointed. Side note: A fun game to play is to see how making yourself calmer can lower your hear rate. It could even be useful to those with anxiety problems to take their mind off the current problem. For those that care, these devices work by shining a light through your finger and a sensor on the other side reads the brightness of the light. The changes in intensity let it know your pulse and the amount of certain light that is absorbed by your blood/finger lets it calculate the oxygen content.

Build- You get a small plastic device that you could probably sit on without causing any damage. It may seem a little bulky but remember it's replacing a machine that at a hospital may include the same size finger clip, a long lead, and a big monitor. This has a small simple screen but big enough lettering that anyone with mildly good eyesight could read them. The display is also very bright with lots of contrast. In the clip you'll find soft rubber that keeps it from sliding off a finger and aids in comfort when wearing it for extended periods.

Function- I still haven't read the instructions for this. It's just too simple to bother. Put your finger in it and press the single button. This ease of operation means anyone can make use of it no matter their age. The single button also rotates the orientation of the display so you can read it on either hand in any orientation. It's really quite user friendly in a small package. I found it to be accurate with heart rate and expect oxygen saturation was too as calculating is is just a little math.

Easy@Home has a quality set of products and this one keeps up the reputation. It appears that this design may be used by a few other companies but that doesn't mean this one is any less useful. Give this one a try. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.