I am just a normal person, but after spending a lot of time searching for product reviews online, I realized there aren't enough reviews from people who actually use products in their daily lives. I decided I would make reviews that I hope are helpful to others who are searching. Feel free to leave comments, but please make sure they are useful, and don't flame other people's comments. To see how I rate each product I will review, please see Rating Breakdown.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Transcend RDM2 USB Memory Card Reader

The Good: Compact, simple reader that takes a variety of memory cards.

The Bad: The SD slot can be a bit tricky.

Rating:
  • Overall Experience: 9
  • Features: 9
  • User-Friendliness: 9
  • Style: 8
  • Quality: 8
  • Value: 9
  • Total: 8.7

To see how I rate each category please click Rating Breakdown

In The Box:

Card Reader
USB cable
Instruction sheet and CD-Rom

Manufacturer's Website: Transcend







Overview: The Transcend RDM2 is a pretty basic USB memory card reader. The nice thing about it is being able to plug memory cards directly into your computer rather than searching for the cable to connect your camera, PDA, or whatever device happens to hold the memory. This model accepts the following types of memory cards: SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, Compact Flash I and II, CF Microdrives, a variety of MMC cards, Sony Memory Sticks, and xD. I mostly use the SD and microSD slots, but I have had a compact flash card in it also. It is a simple device that says it will transfer at 480 MB per second. I have a built in card reader on my computer, but found it was extremely small. In my own "non-scientific" tests, this card reader was about 4 times faster than the built in reader. I learned my lesson...I won't pay extra for the built in card reader next time. It's worth the extra speed to have the external reader. Although Transcend no longer lists this particular model on their website, there is a model called the RDM5, which is practically identical except for the case color.

Overall Experience: This has been very easy to use. It has only one main downfall. The first is that the SD slot seems to stick a little. It's not a huge problem, you just have to make sure you have the card lined up just right to get it to slide in easily. I have consistently seen fast transfer rates and I have never had it fail (unlike the very cheap no-name one that came in my camera bundle...it failed after one use).

Features: As far as features go, it would mostly be the speed, which as I said before is much faster than the built in reader in my computer. The other is the variety of memory cards it accepts. That's pretty standard on card readers. It would be pointless to buy a different device for every kind of card you may own. There are some card readers that are faster and accept a few more types of cards.

User-Friendliness: This Card reader has been very easy to use. It was as simple as plugging it in, inserting a card, and finding the correct drive on the My Computer screen (Windows users...don't know for Mac) That can be the difficult part since it will show 6 or 7 new drives representing the slots on the reader. I named the drives I used to make it easier. For example one drive is now called "SD Card."

Style: Overall I like the look of this card reader. The reason it loses points is I feel like it could be a little smaller, or at least put all of the slots on one side so I don't have to turn it to plug in different cards. This is probably a personal preference, but I would prefer if all of the slots pointed to the front.

Quality: The Transcend RDM2 loses quality points because of the sticky SD slot. There is no reason it should be difficult to slide my card in. My camera, phone, and PDA have no problem sliding cards into them. I don't know what causes the problem, but I'm sure it doesn't have to be that way. Perhaps not all of the readers do this, but in my opinion none of them should.

Value: This card reader is a good value. I purchased mine for $14 (which is MSRP) plus shipping. I considered some that were rated faster, but they were more than twice the price. This reader is plenty fast for transferring a couple gig of pictures or files, so I don't feel it would be worth it to pay twice as much for a faster one.

Final Thoughts: The RDM2 card reader is a good value. It's very simple and works correctly every time I use it. I wish it didn't have the problem with the SD card slot. It would have rated a little higher if the cards slid in without problems. For the money, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the same one again. As I said before, I would definitely pass on the built-in readers for my future computers. Although it's nice to avoid one more cable, the speed is far too slow.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Cabela's Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad

The Good: Very Easy to set up and quite comfortable for those who don't think camping requires rocks destroying their back all night.

The Bad: They may be too large for someone who is looking to hike to their camping spot.

Rating:
  • Overall Experience: 10
  • Features: 10
  • User-Friendliness: 10
  • Style: 8
  • Quality: 9
  • Value: 10
  • Total: 9.5

To see how I rate each category please click Rating Breakdown

In The Box:

Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad
Stuff Sack
Patch Kit

Manufacturer's Website: Cabela's








Overview: Self-inflating sleeping pads are designed to be a relatively compact way to create a comfortable sleeping surface for camping. They are easier to set up and more compact than air mattresses and they don't require a pump. They are larger than the basic foam sleeping pads used by more intense outdoorsmen. I own two of these pads, one for my wife and one for myself. Initially these pads required me to blow air into them to "break them in." It was quite easy and took less than ten minutes for both. After that they inflate automatically when the straps are removed and the valve is opened. It is a matter of a few minutes to have the pads ready to sleep on.

Overall Experience: About a year ago my wife and I swore off camping after having 2 air mattresses fail miserably at keeping us comfortable. They both deflated during the night leaving our butts grinding the rocks on the ground. It was a miserable experience that we pledged to never repeat. Now a year later we are back in the camping mindset, but decided that we needed a better mattress for camping. When we saw the self-inflating pads at Cabela's we immediately saw the advantages that they could have over an air mattress. Our biggest concern was whether something so thin could be sufficiently comfortable. Originally we were looking at name-brand pads that seemed comfortable when we tested them. Then my wife stumbled upon the Cabela's brand pads. I am glad she did. They are thicker, more comfortable, and less expensive. We ended up getting a much larger pad for the same price as the smaller name-brand pad. After taking them camping I couldn't be more pleased. The setup was incredibly easy...It almost hurt to see two sets of friends struggle with air mattresses...pumps need power after all. The comfort exceeded my expectations also. I didn't have an achy back or neck in the morning. I don't know if that diminishes the camping experience, but I appreciated feeling so nice. Putting them away is easy enough, but slightly easier if you have two people.

Features: There aren't many so-called features on something as simple as these, but I would consider the main feature to be the self-inflation. It worked seamlessly; no hitches whatsoever. Remove the straps, open the valve, and over the next few minutes the bag will unroll and inflate. Close the valve and you are ready to put your bag on it and sleep.

User-Friendliness: I guess the features section explained the user-friendliness as well. Really it takes almost no effort to use or pack these pads. They slide easily into the stuff sack, so there is no frustration like the mummy bag that seems like it will never get back into its sack.

Style: Style isn't terribly important for these pads. You won't show off the sweet lines to your friends. However I did deduct two points mostly because the name brand pads had nicer colors and textures. To me it doesn't matter much since it will be under my sleeping bag, out of sight, but some people might want something a little flashier.

Quality: The overall quality if these pads is excellent. The material seems to be durable and able to resist a reasonable amount of poking and scraping. The only reason it loses a point is because of the finish work around the edges. It looks like the edges were just cut and not treated. I don't know if this will be an issue, but I think it may fray slightly. It won't affect the pad in the long run because they are sewn further in from the edge, but I'd prefer if the edge had been folded and sewn to prevent frays.

Value: Comparing this pad to the more expensive pads, I think it is a great value. MSRP is between $39.99 and $59.99 depending on the size. I bought the large pads for $59.99 each. This is the same price as the regular size pads in the name-brand. The Cabela's large pad is five inches wider and a few inches longer. I could have got away with the regular size Cabela's pads, but they were out of stock and we were in a bit of a hurry to get them...otherwise they would have ordered them for us.

Final Thoughts: If you want to camp comfortably without the hassle of an air mattress you should definitely buy this pad. I've seen far too many air mattresses with leaks to ever consider one for myself. This is an excellent alternative. A side note about Cabela's: the Cabela's brand products I have purchased have always been excellent quality. They also excel at customer service. We are fortunate to have an actual store nearby and I have been consistently impressed each time I am there...plus the wildlife scenes in the store make a great day trip for the kids (and adults).