Review: Vitamix 5200 - Overpriced Blender

Over a year ago, my wife started bugging me about getting a Vitamix 5200 blender. She said someone she knew had one and couldn't stop raving about it. So, I indulged her and bought a Vitamix from cost a year ago last December.

If you have never heard of Vitamix, the machines are used by major chains such as Jamba Juice. They are supposedly commercial grade blenders. At the price they charge, they sure had better be!

My wife started using it like crazy to make smoothies and using it to prepare dinners. She went as far as putting chicken in it to make chicken enchiladas! There seemed to be no end to the uses for the machine. What struck us as the best thing about the blenders is that it could blend frozen strawberries and everything we threw at it, it chopped up without a problem.

Fast forward a year. Over the past year, we started using it less, but then in order for my wife to get all the nutrients into my son (he's a very picky eater), my wife started making him smoothies every morning. Now all 3 of us have smoothies every morning; banana, strawberry, rice drink (and some other good stuff).

The Vitamix makes it quite easy to blend the frozen strawberries and blend up the smoothie. One of the things I hated about blenders is how hard they are to clean. The instructions for the Vitamix say to rinse it out, fill it half way with water and put in 2 drops of liquid dishwasher soap. Then run it for 30 seconds at full speed. This works fabulously and cleanup is super easy.

So while this blender will set you back a bit of change, if you like to have fresh smoothies and hate fighting a blender that can't chop up frozen ingredients, then the Vitamix is a perfect choice.

Pros

• Chops frozen fruit without a problem.
• Super easy to clean.
• Durable.
• Versitle.

Cons

• Very expensive.
• Dry container isn't very useful for us.

Summary

The investment in the Vitamax has really started to pay off as it is helping get our son to eat his fruit and get his nutrients. In addition, it is making it easier for my wife and me to get more fruit in our diets. So much so that we're going through 5 pounds of frozen strawberries and 2 bunches of bananas a week! I'm quite pleased with the purchase and would do it over again.

On the surface the Vitamax looks like a very overpriced blender; however, it is a tool that I believe will stick around our kitchen for years to come.

Review: Logitech h800 Wireless Headset

In the past 6 months, I've started to spend a lot of time on the phone for work, so having a comfortable way to listen (mostly) to the calls has become quite important. I've tried various earbuds and a few Bluetooth headsets, but haven't quite been satisfied. Since I use the second line of my Ooma
for work, I have to use a Bluetooth headset (I used earbuds for my iPhone). The problem with this arrangement is that the headset has to have a physical mute button; this is a button that many manufacturers are leaving off their devices as they rely on the phone's mute capability. So my quest began in December to find a Bluetooth headset that had a mute button.

Somehow I stumbled across the Logitech h800 wireless headset. I purchased it locally in case I didn't like it. This headset looks bulky, but is quite comfortable and has been performing well when connected over Bluetooth to my Ooma and also when connected via the included dongle to my Mac for Skype calls.

I've setup many, many hours on the phone with the headset and have found the voice quality very good and the headset is comfortable. While the headset has been working quite well, there are a few disappointments with it. First off, it is cheaply made. For an $80 device, it is all plastic and the controls sometimes feel like they are going to break. Second off, it can't connect simultaneously to multiple Bluetooth devices. (You can pair it with multiple Bluetooth devices, but the first device that connects gets to use it.) I'd really like to be able to pair it to my iPhone as well as my Ooma. Third, it can't connect to Bluetooth and the Mac at the same time. I'd love to be able to wear them all day long and have it automatically switch between Bluetooth calls and Skype calls (as well as listening to music).

Pros

• Lightweight
• Comfortable
• Decent sound quality
• Allows pairing with multiple Bluetooth devices
• Works with the Mac
• Physical mute button

Cons

• Cheap construction
• No multipoint Bluetooth for connecting multiple devices at once
• Can't connect Bluetooth and to the desktop at the same time
• Expensive

Summary

For my purposes, the Logitech h800 wireless headset is a life saver. Using earbuds or other types of headsets just have not been comfortable for me. With the physical mute button, I can easily keep working and then tap it to chime in on calls. The voice quality has been more than acceptable and I have been quite pleased with the headset. If you work from home and are on a lot of calls, I'd definitely consider buying these. I've had them since December and they seem to be holding up. Time will tell how long they last.

Review: mysaver:diy

I've read about a number of mysaver (sorry, the website is all Flash) which aimed to make the iPhone/iPad cables more robust. I didn't know I needed the product until I looked at one of my cables started to split at the end where the cable entered the connector. While most projects take awhile after funding to make it to production and shipment, I was amazed at how quickly they got the product out the door.

My 3 DIY kits arrived yesterday, and after watching the instructional video, I put them together. They were easy to assemble and I think that they're going to work well as they make it easier to pull out the cable, but not strain the cord. The only problem I had is that the glue dots that were included were rubbery, so the aluminum cover started moving around and while the video said to use some silicone to secure it, I know that silicone is flexible and wouldn't do exactly what I wanted. I put a few drops of superglue on the connector and presto, I now have very solid connection.

Pros

• Solves a real need.
• Easy to "install".
• Looks neat.

Cons

• A little expensive.
• Required a modification to make it work.
• If installed on 2 USB cables, they both can't be plugged into a MacBook Pro as one blocks the second USB port.

Summary

I love the concept of extending the life of my iPhone/iPad cables as I use them all the time for my collection of devices (I always have 2 iPhones, 1 iPad, and 1 iPod Touch on my desk) that I use for development. While I just got this, I believe that this is going to be the solution to worn cables. Time, of course, will tell if this lives up to my expectations.

If you have worn iPod/iPhone cables and a few extra dollars, this is a unique solution that I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.

Review: Viewcon Active USB Extension

One of the features of my Ooma system is the ability to add a Bluetooth Adaptor
so that I can use a Bluetooth headset with it. I bought the Bluetooth adapter and started trying out headsets. Unfortunately my Ooma box is in one room and my office is in the next. Despite getting a 10 ft. USB cable, I couldn't get the Bluetooth adapter close enough to have a clear connection.

Not being deterred by this setback, I started poking around Amazon and found a Viewcon USB Active Extension. This is a USB to Cat5 adapter that can transmit a signal up to 150'. I was a bit skeptical at first as I knew that adding latency to the connection could degrade the signal. However, for $19 it was worth the risk. I chose this connector (there are a number of them) as it came with a power adapter which could come in handy to boost the signal.

Setup of this was quite simple. Since I already had Cat5 running from our TV room (where the Ooma is and is the center of my network) to my office, I just plugged the adapter into the Ooma, ran Cat5 to the wall and then Cat5 from the wall to the Bluetooth adapter. I did a few tests and was absolutely amazed that it worked without problems. Luckily the Bluetooth adapter was USB 1.1, so high speed transmission wasn't a problem.

If you need to run a USB device from a different room or a long distance, this adapter is a dream.

Pros

• Easy to setup.
• Inexpensive.

Cons

• None.

Summary

This device easily solved my problem at a reasonable price. There are lots of options out there and I just got lucky that on my first try, I got one that worked. The reviews for this and similar devices were very mixed, probably because people had much higher expectations; my needs were quite simple and this adapter met them.