Read: 16 mins. My first experience with an electric scooter was met with excitement, joy, freedom, and... sadness once I learned about California's prohibitive regulation that governs it. However, Joyor's X5S -- as a product and ride -- surprised me in a few ways, and two of my friends and a neighbor took notice. See why the four of us purchased one.
Read: 15 mins. When my wife and I had purchased our home, I wanted to wire the entire place with speakers for entertaining and relaxing. The cost of doing so took me by surprise, and when I discovered the Sonos wireless speakers, there were many reasons for why our family decided to go with that solution. Many years later, we got more invested into the Sonos ecosystem because of the excellent sound quality, convenience, and smart features offered by their products. Recently, the Sonos Arc was released, the company's newest and best-sounding TV soundbar yet. How does it compare to the Playbar, Beam, and Playbase? Read on to find out.
Read: 13 mins. Did you know that there are refrigerators/freezers available that can be powered by the 12V port/battery of a car? One that could be operated with a battery power station and supplemented with solar panels? In this review, I purchased one for extended road trips, camping, and a 3-day simulated power outage, but most importantly: to surprise our children with ice cream in the middle of nowhere. How much power did it use? Was food kept frozen? I was pleasantly surprised.
Read: 12 mins. Half a year ago, I chose the Beelink Gemini X55 Mini PC as a TV-connected, video conferencing system that would fit inside a drawer. The coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic a few months later had the family utilize it more for school, work, and video chats with friends and family, resulting in a noticeable drop in performance. Beelink recently released the Core i5-based U57 model that promised better speed for just $50 more. How did it compare?
Read: 19 mins. Goal Zero products are expensive. They are also the industry leader in portable power stations with a safety record to brag about. After having reviewed a handful of batteries, I finally took the plunge to look at the newly-released Yeti 500x. What I learned over the past five weeks surprised me.
Read: 10 mins. For this review, my son and I took the CORE 9 Instant Cabin Tent out to the backyard for three days and two nights after he was disappointed our Sequoia National Park camping trip had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a perfect opportunity for some father-son bonding, to test out our new tent, put some of my other gear to use, and to get some sense of normalcy back into our lives.