As many of my close friends are aware, I am a gadget nerd. I can pick out phone names out of a crowd as well as I can Nike sneakers. I follow many websites such as Techno Buffalo and Engadget and occasionally 9to5mac. I love technology and love having the newest thing. When the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse came out it tickled my interest with its beauty and brilliant engineering. The part that makes the back snap has over 100 pieces. Lets get onto the good stuff now.
I ordered this from Best Buy and tracked the package religiously. Every 5 minutes I checked, that's how excited I was to receive this. The box eventually came in and like a child at Christmas I opened it. The box is detailed in the video of course, but I was very impressed with the quality of the packaging. Everything from the way the front lid has a magnet and how there was a window to see the mouse and the way the batteries and receiver were tucked in the box seeped with quality. How about what you are reading this for now?
The mouse flexes in the back to create an arc(h). Covering the mechanics to make this possible is a nice matte faux suede like material that feels nice in the palm. The arc moves smoothly and then clicks when put into travel or use position. The clickers at the front of the mouse really do need the term "front" to describe them. The buttons are near impossible to click farther towards the middle of the mouse. This problem doesn't take long to get used to but should be noted for people with smaller hands.
The reason why the name of this mouse includes the word "touch" is because of the scroll wheel. There was not enough space to include a hardware scroll wheel so it features an iPod Classic like click wheel. The strip is just wide enough for your finger to glide over it. It also features small finger tricks. Double tapping the horizontal strip opens the link your mouse is hovering over in a new tab. This comes in handy if you don't want to navigate away from pages yet. Scrolling faster on the touch pad will intelligently move you down or up a page faster. Additionally, double tapping the very front of the touch area takes you a page's length up and double tapping the far back takes you a page's length down. These tricks when known make your browsing experience much more enjoying.
The mouse feels really good in hand because the arc creates a gap underneath that your fingers easily find and gives you more control. The thumb rests nicely on the side of the battery area. Overall, the mouse is designed very well and is made to last.
You can buy the Arc Touch Mouse from the Microsoft online store for $60. Thank you for reading.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Nike Classic Glove Announcement
I recently picked up the Nike GK classic glove for training. I start glove training next week so I will be posting pictures with hours of use on them to demonstrate the wear and tear over time, not days. I will do the same for my match gloves but that won't come around until September or so. You can find my review for the glove here: http://bit.ly/PbeEO3
CTA Digital Steering Wheel Case Review
Well this is a slightly different review. I got this as a gift from my grandparents. Huge shout out to them, they give me all sorts of stuff and make my life so amazing. This product was made by CTA Digital and can be bought at Amazon or a Frys near you.
Open the box and you are greeted by a large plastic mold. It contains the wheel and 4 different slots. Each slot is for a different device and thankfully I happen to own a few that fit. Wonder how that happened? Well anyways.... You receive one for iPhone 3G/ 3GS, one for iPod Touch 2nd/3rd gen, one iPod touch 4th gen, and finally one for the iPhone 4/4s. For $10 I am happy that they decided to include adapters for every Apple model in the past 3 years. Putting your iDevice in is as simple as snapping it into the adapter and then into the wheel. How easy was that? Takes about 5 seconds. It also just so happens that the iPhone 3GS adapter fits an iPod touch 4th gen with a case perfectly. While probably not intended that turned out perfect. I hate taking my iPod out of the case since I have scratchaphobia (Yeah, I just made that word). I have a Zagg InvisibleShield under my case. Maybe another post I can rant about that but for now lets get back on track. I really like the idea of the case and it is very helpful for beating that last level that you could never beat. It actually helps with stability. It takes a little bit of getting use to but becomes an essential tool once you get acclimated to it.
Buy it now from Amazon here for $10. Thanks for reading and as always, check out my YouTube at youtube.com/benzz4318 and stay tuned for more!
Open the box and you are greeted by a large plastic mold. It contains the wheel and 4 different slots. Each slot is for a different device and thankfully I happen to own a few that fit. Wonder how that happened? Well anyways.... You receive one for iPhone 3G/ 3GS, one for iPod Touch 2nd/3rd gen, one iPod touch 4th gen, and finally one for the iPhone 4/4s. For $10 I am happy that they decided to include adapters for every Apple model in the past 3 years. Putting your iDevice in is as simple as snapping it into the adapter and then into the wheel. How easy was that? Takes about 5 seconds. It also just so happens that the iPhone 3GS adapter fits an iPod touch 4th gen with a case perfectly. While probably not intended that turned out perfect. I hate taking my iPod out of the case since I have scratchaphobia (Yeah, I just made that word). I have a Zagg InvisibleShield under my case. Maybe another post I can rant about that but for now lets get back on track. I really like the idea of the case and it is very helpful for beating that last level that you could never beat. It actually helps with stability. It takes a little bit of getting use to but becomes an essential tool once you get acclimated to it.
Buy it now from Amazon here for $10. Thanks for reading and as always, check out my YouTube at youtube.com/benzz4318 and stay tuned for more!
Nike Dri-Fit Review
I recently embarked on a 7 hour long excursion to the Nike Store Dallas in the Northpark mall. My main mission was to get my pair of Flyknit trainers. However, I held a size 12 but 12 was too big and the only size 11.5 in the color I wanted was hiding in Nike Town NYC. Moving onto the main part of my story, I did not want to have driven an hour to get to the store and leave home with nothing! A guy was folding the shirt at the front desk while a Nike employee was calling Nike NYC to ship me a pair and the logo caught my eye. It was a US Soccer shirt! Not only am I a soccer nut, I like Nike obviously! It was perfect. My mom agreed to get me the shirt. I left that store proud that I at least got something.
Fast forward to today: I have clocked at least 6 hours of training with this shirt, and boy am I impressed. Besides that it looks great and supports a team I like, it performs extremely well. I am a bigger dude so I sweat a little (a lot). I left training with very little sweat on the shirt at all! Probably the only wet spots were from my water bottle leaking. The shirt kept me cool and dry amazingly. I must confess I am dropping my Charged Cotton shirts by Under Armour and using Nike Dri-Fit shirts for training now.
Rankings: Comfort 9/10, breathability 10/10, style 9/9, performance 10/10
Fast forward to today: I have clocked at least 6 hours of training with this shirt, and boy am I impressed. Besides that it looks great and supports a team I like, it performs extremely well. I am a bigger dude so I sweat a little (a lot). I left training with very little sweat on the shirt at all! Probably the only wet spots were from my water bottle leaking. The shirt kept me cool and dry amazingly. I must confess I am dropping my Charged Cotton shirts by Under Armour and using Nike Dri-Fit shirts for training now.
Rankings: Comfort 9/10, breathability 10/10, style 9/9, performance 10/10
Free Run+ 3 review
I have had this shoe for 6 months or so now and I though I'd finally get around to reviewing it. As always hit up my YouTube channel at: http://bit.ly/NnVLJE I picked this sneaker up at my local Sports Authority.
This shoe is incredibly light. At 9.3 oz for a size 10, it is the lightest Free run to date. Nike really redesigned this one to make it a true running shoe. I owned the Free run+ 2 and the 3s really feel like a supreme shoe. Its like driving a Lamborghini after owning a Prius for 10 years. It's that much of a difference. I mean build quality, feel, movement, and design really stepped up that much. The 2s felt stiffer and the whole cage overlay held your foot in, almost too well. The free run 3 really changed that in introducing new elements such as the dynamic support fingers and a completely redesigned midsole.
Now about the midsole. The feel of the midsole when you run is exactly how you imagine your foot moving but with a much more plush feeling. I enjoy every minute of wearing these shoes. The heel strike area is smaller but has a deeper, smaller cut. If you just look at the shoes from the bottom you can tell how long Nike designers took to make the shoe. Every cut is expertly placed to optimize the feel of the shoe. The sipes in the arch area are much closer and also are curved to match the movement of natural pronation. The increased arch support and flexibility is greatly welcomed and provides a much more natural feel. Towards the front where your toes lift off are wider cuts making it flex more. Every area on the midsole seems well though out.
Now the upper. I will admit I wasn't crazy about the star pattern on the upper. It has proved itself to be good and bad. I won't spoil the positive mood just yet so lets start with the good. It is incredibly breathable and I would find myself riding my bike and think "Who is blowing air at my feet?". Ok now to the bad. They get soo dirty! Since the star pattern is an overlay to the mesh, it has a smaller than 1 mm depth that can easily trap dirt. The only way to get them out is to press a wet towel onto every little star to suck them out. That is annoying. Moving on, the dynamic support is a welcomed new feature but does not necessarily do its job. I have played soccer in these shoes (school not competitive) not knowing the problems I would encounter. Not only do they lack grip in the bottom but since the upper is so thin and flexible you easily roll your ankle. I found myself falling anytime I did a simple trick or tried to change directions. To simplify that, these are no good for training! Do not expect to be able to run suicides and change direction good. They just are not good shoes for that.
Durability is a problem I have not encountered with my Nikes, but that's because I take pretty good care of them. However, as detailed in the video, the heel strike pad has torn on the inside. I am very disappointed and I did not expect that to be a problem with these shoes. By the time I outgrow these hopefully the Free Run+ 4 will be out!
Thanks so much for reading and be sure you visit my YouTube and maybe even subscribe? Thanks!
This shoe is incredibly light. At 9.3 oz for a size 10, it is the lightest Free run to date. Nike really redesigned this one to make it a true running shoe. I owned the Free run+ 2 and the 3s really feel like a supreme shoe. Its like driving a Lamborghini after owning a Prius for 10 years. It's that much of a difference. I mean build quality, feel, movement, and design really stepped up that much. The 2s felt stiffer and the whole cage overlay held your foot in, almost too well. The free run 3 really changed that in introducing new elements such as the dynamic support fingers and a completely redesigned midsole.
Now about the midsole. The feel of the midsole when you run is exactly how you imagine your foot moving but with a much more plush feeling. I enjoy every minute of wearing these shoes. The heel strike area is smaller but has a deeper, smaller cut. If you just look at the shoes from the bottom you can tell how long Nike designers took to make the shoe. Every cut is expertly placed to optimize the feel of the shoe. The sipes in the arch area are much closer and also are curved to match the movement of natural pronation. The increased arch support and flexibility is greatly welcomed and provides a much more natural feel. Towards the front where your toes lift off are wider cuts making it flex more. Every area on the midsole seems well though out.
Now the upper. I will admit I wasn't crazy about the star pattern on the upper. It has proved itself to be good and bad. I won't spoil the positive mood just yet so lets start with the good. It is incredibly breathable and I would find myself riding my bike and think "Who is blowing air at my feet?". Ok now to the bad. They get soo dirty! Since the star pattern is an overlay to the mesh, it has a smaller than 1 mm depth that can easily trap dirt. The only way to get them out is to press a wet towel onto every little star to suck them out. That is annoying. Moving on, the dynamic support is a welcomed new feature but does not necessarily do its job. I have played soccer in these shoes (school not competitive) not knowing the problems I would encounter. Not only do they lack grip in the bottom but since the upper is so thin and flexible you easily roll your ankle. I found myself falling anytime I did a simple trick or tried to change directions. To simplify that, these are no good for training! Do not expect to be able to run suicides and change direction good. They just are not good shoes for that.
Thanks so much for reading and be sure you visit my YouTube and maybe even subscribe? Thanks!
Flyknit Trainers
Hey guys! Just a heads up, I will have an unboxing and review of the Nike Flyknit Trainer up on my Youtube and eventually on this blog by next Wednesday. For now check out my channel at http://bit.ly/NnVLJE. Thanks
Review of the Nike GK classic
Link to YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/NnVLJE '
First soccer post! Expect more. Anywho, this is the Nike GK classic in the new green colorway for 2012/2013. There is not too much to this glove so don't expect a long review. So lets get started.
The Classic glove is an entry level gloves for amateurs or in my instance for training. It is most definitely not a match glove. soccer.com lists the durability and grip at 3/5. To a normal person you may think "well hey that's a glove thats 60% good". Nope. Basically this glove is the benchmark for cheap gloves. Really it is a 1/3. There are no gloves that are 2/5. None. With this in mind don't think that this glove is good for actual games. If you are a keeper on a budget, sure this is a glove for you! My match gloves, the Vapor Grip 3s are $120. They rank 4/5 for durability and 5/5 for grip. I will use these gloves only for practice. Practice fields in Texas are not the prettiest things, especially in the box. Comprised mostly of dirt and rocks, they will tear up your gloves, especially these. I saw reduced performance after 3 training sessions. Making game changing stops in practice is not nearly as essential because practice is practice. Midway through my last season with the blue colorway the thumb and palm area began to separate. This problem cannot be solved by simple stitching and requires buying a new pair if it bothers you. I highly recommend to get two pairs of gloves if you can. Again if you are a keeper on a budget, beg to get two of these! They will not last you.
Size and fit: These gloves do not feature many cuts for flexibility so they fit out of the packaging flat. No finger saves or anything. While this is expected of cheaper gloves, the plastic spines cost all but $.03 dollars to make. Your hand fits in nicely but when you flex your hand don't expect a glove like response. They kinda fold oddly when you put your hand in a punching position. The mesh that walls the inside next to your skin is soft but after sweating in them for 6-10 hours separate from the latex outer and become less comfortable. This quality is widely expected from an entry level glove.
Rankings: Value 8/10, fit 7/10, comfort 7/10, color 8/10, build quality 7/10. You can pick them up at most local sporting goods stores and of course online for $22. Thanks for reading and check out the video for more.
First soccer post! Expect more. Anywho, this is the Nike GK classic in the new green colorway for 2012/2013. There is not too much to this glove so don't expect a long review. So lets get started.
The Classic glove is an entry level gloves for amateurs or in my instance for training. It is most definitely not a match glove. soccer.com lists the durability and grip at 3/5. To a normal person you may think "well hey that's a glove thats 60% good". Nope. Basically this glove is the benchmark for cheap gloves. Really it is a 1/3. There are no gloves that are 2/5. None. With this in mind don't think that this glove is good for actual games. If you are a keeper on a budget, sure this is a glove for you! My match gloves, the Vapor Grip 3s are $120. They rank 4/5 for durability and 5/5 for grip. I will use these gloves only for practice. Practice fields in Texas are not the prettiest things, especially in the box. Comprised mostly of dirt and rocks, they will tear up your gloves, especially these. I saw reduced performance after 3 training sessions. Making game changing stops in practice is not nearly as essential because practice is practice. Midway through my last season with the blue colorway the thumb and palm area began to separate. This problem cannot be solved by simple stitching and requires buying a new pair if it bothers you. I highly recommend to get two pairs of gloves if you can. Again if you are a keeper on a budget, beg to get two of these! They will not last you.
Size and fit: These gloves do not feature many cuts for flexibility so they fit out of the packaging flat. No finger saves or anything. While this is expected of cheaper gloves, the plastic spines cost all but $.03 dollars to make. Your hand fits in nicely but when you flex your hand don't expect a glove like response. They kinda fold oddly when you put your hand in a punching position. The mesh that walls the inside next to your skin is soft but after sweating in them for 6-10 hours separate from the latex outer and become less comfortable. This quality is widely expected from an entry level glove.
Rankings: Value 8/10, fit 7/10, comfort 7/10, color 8/10, build quality 7/10. You can pick them up at most local sporting goods stores and of course online for $22. Thanks for reading and check out the video for more.
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