Melitta MEMB1 Mill & Brew Coffeemaker
Customer Review: Very good coffee maker
I did a lot of research prior to this purchase. I currently work for Gevalia and my father is a big coffee drinker, so I wanted to make sure to get a grinder/brewer that he would enjoy. This unit is very sleek and professional looking. The cups we’ve had have been very good and the Melitta name is well respected. We’ve had this coffee maker for probably close to two years now and haven’t had any problems. Two knocks on it that I guess I could give is that like most coffee makers, the area to pour the water is kind of in a strange location in the back and a tad hard to pour into. The other thing is, also like most coffee makers, that measuring the right amount of beans/grinds to use to make cups can remind you that you are a chemist. My dad had to make a little chart to remind him exactly how many scoops make what type cups.
Customer Review: Not hot
Want to reiterate that the coffee maker does not keep coffee hot. I must always put in the microwave. Also, reminder that you only put enough beans in the grider for 1 carafe — unlike others that store beans and grind what it needs.
Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation)
Music and entertainment, your way. That’s what the Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player is designed to deliver. The Zune easily connects you with your music, videos, and pictures wherever and whenever you want, and unlike the iPod, it even has a built-in FM tuner so you can keep up with local news and sports. Your Zune gives you the power to wirelessly share full-length tracks, playlists, pictures and podcasts with your other Zune-wielding friends. And when you receive songs that you just can’t get out of your head, you can easily tag the songs and buy them the next time you sync up. Whether you’re listening to music, radio, or rocking out to the latest music videos on the bright, roomy screen, the Zune allows you to tailor your entertainment, right in the palm of your hand.
The Zune easily connects you with your music, videos, and pictures wherever and whenever you want. |
Share full-length tracks of your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures, and even audio podcasts with other Zune users.
Shown with Zune dock and remote, sold separately. |
Store up to 20,000 songs, 25,000 pictures, or 250 hours of video. |
Get all your favorite music at the Zune Marketplace. |
Simple, Innovative Controls
The Zune is a breeze to use with new, intuitive touch controls. Don’t subject yourself to cumbersome, slow scrolling. The innovative new Zune pad makes browsing your music, video and picture collections fun and effortless. You’ll fly through your favorites and get to just what you’re looking for in no time flat. This powerhouse device stores up to 20,000 songs, 25,000 pictures, or 250 hours of video. (Please note that music estimates are based on 128 kbps WMA files, with length of 4 minutes each; pictures transferred to Zune will be optimized for Zune screen size; and video estimates are based on 500 kbps WMV files with 128 kbps WMA audio tracks.)
That’s a lot of entertainment, and you’ll appreciate it even more with the Zune’s awesome screen. The big, beautiful, 3.2-inch color screen provides uncompromising portable video viewing. This Zune also comes equipped with premium earphones. Designed to block out external noise, these earphones provide superior sound and bass response, and leave your ears with nothing but your favorite tunes. Your favorite music, videos, and pictures have never looked and sounded better.
The Zune Community and Marketplace
We’re all exhausted by the cables and wires that tangle up our lives. Luckily, the Zune is one device that doesn’t require another cord. You can easily connect to your home wireless network and sync your Zune with your PC collection of digital goodies. You can also sync using the dock, AC adapter, or speaker dock accessory (not included). This attractive, powerful device does much more than connect you to just your collection. The Zune is all about sharing and community. At the Zune Online Community you’ll discover, share, and leave your musical mark. Create a Zune card and Zune profile page to reflect your musical identity. From the Zune Online Community you can invite friends, share song recommendations, post comments, and browse member pages to unearth new tunes and connect to others who share your musical tastes.
When you’re ready to purchase music and load your device with new tunes, turn to the Zune Marketplace. With over three million songs, DRM-free MP3s, music vidoes, audio/video podcasts, and more content added every day, you’ll certainly get your fill. The store is always open and just a mouse click away. You can also choose between the download or subscription packages–buy individual songs and albums, or snag a Zune Pass subscription with all you can eat access to discover and explore the nooks and cranies of artists and genres.
Zune-to-Zune Sharing
Once your Zune is loaded with good stuff, you’ll be ready to embrace wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing. Share full-length tracks of your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures, and even audio podcasts. You can listen to the full track of any song you receive up to three times. And you can even pass along songs that are shared with you to other friends. If you find a song you really love, you can easily add it to your wishlist and buy it later when you sync to your PC. When it comes to syncing and importing your music, the Zune makes it easy. Zune software can automatically import your existing music, pictures and videos from iTunes and Windows Media Player in a variety of formats, including your existing playlists and song ratings.
FM Radio, TV Shows, and More
The Zune will also automatically import TV shows or movies recorded using a PC running Windows Media Center in Windows Vista. Record all your favorites, sync to your Zune, and hit the road with your favorite TV shows right in your pocket. The Zune also features a built-in FM radio tuner so you can listen to local FM stations or tune in programming while you’re at the gym. Advanced tuning capabilities allow you to see the name of the song currently playing on select frequencies. Another awesome feature is the Zune’s compatibility with the Xbox 360. Plug your Zune into your Xbox 360 to customize the soundtrack in supported games. You can also stream music, pictures and vidoes from the Zune software on your PC to your Xbox 360 console using a wireless connection. Whether you’re staying in or going out, travelling or working, the Zune can be right there with you, providing loads of entertainment direct from your pocket.
What’s in the Box
Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player, premium headphones, sync cable, and three sizes of ear sleeves.
List Price: $249.00
Amazon Price: $239.99
Customer Review: Simply the best MP3 player yet
First of all, I bet anyone reading this is considering an iPod. Well I have owned 4 iPods. I can tell you none of them were as wonderful as my Zune 80 GB. The only iPod that is even remotely close to this is the iPod classic 80 and 160, and in both cases the Zune has a far better screen. The iPod touch has a rather nice screen but it’s more expensive and has a limited 16 GBs of storage, just a mere 20% of the capacity of the Zune80. And there is one more thing… With Zune you have a choice to subscribe to all the music you want for a small monthly fee, which means you can download ANYTHING from the Zune Marketplace and actually use this storage to explore and discover new music without going broke. But if you are one of those people who must own every song, then you can choose to buy them one by one or album by albun same as you do with iTunes. So with Zune, you have a choice. With iPod you don’t have a choice. So bigger screen, more storage, and choices. It’s a winner! Alex Alexzander
Customer Review: Love the Hardware, Hate the Software
I really can’t understand why I can’t sync this machine directly from WMP11. The Zune Desktop is just plain hideous. Had I known how truly awful it was going to be I wouldn’t have bought the player. It’s slow. It’s buggy: if you edit MP3 tags, the program actually reverts them to the wrong characteristics if it doesn’t agree with what it thinks the tag should be! The Zune desktop is clearly aimed at morons who want to just plug the thing in without actually maintaining their collections. It might be OK for a 4GB flash-toy, but I got 60 GB of WMA’s on this player and editing, deleting, moving, renaming or doing anything sensible is out of the question with this software. In a word, it’s ****. Hardware: sounds great, the interface is clean, battery life is excellent. I’d give the hardware 5 stars. Now let’s get a sync feature that works with WMP or some third party app so I can actually use it.
LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Learning Game System
With the Leapster L-Max Handheld takes your child’s learning to the max! Improve your child’s learning by letting them play fun games. You can connect it to your TV for expanded play — the dual-screen action allows your child to interact with the handheld screen and see the learning unfold on the TV screen. Action-packed games combined with education — it’s everything your child needs. For preschool through 4th grade.
List Price: $79.88
Amazon Price: $67.49
Customer Review: Great Product!
I was worried that this would be too advanced for my daughter - she is almost three - but she loves it and totally gets how to use the pen and the directional arrows. We bought the Dora Wildlife Rescue game and I can already tell that she is recognizing letters and numbers a lot better than before. There are still a lot more challenges that she can work toward, so I can see her using this for a long time to come. We have not even tried to attach it to the TV…it seemed like a good feature to have, but I’m not sure how much we will use it (we’ve only had it one month). If I were to make the purchase again, I would probably just go for the hand held game unit. Also, the preloaded games are really limited and did not hold her attention for very long. It is worth it to invest in a good game.
Customer Review: i really want another one!
we love the leapster at our house! my 3.5 and 5.5 year old squabble over it often, that’s why i’d love to have another one! the batteries seem to need replacing often, but honestly, my kids play it a lot, it’s expected. the screen has held up well, my only gripe is with the stylus. i think our cat has been chewing on the connection point to the unit, so that’s our own problem, but i wish the styluses on all leapfrog products were easier/cheaper to swap out (this is also a gripe on our leappad bus!). the games is the other gripe, l-max games are about $30 per game. regular leapster games are about $24 per game but the l-max can run any leapster games (not just l-max). i haven’t tried any games that are not l-max though, so i’m not sure how graphics, etc would be. we’re very happy with this purchase, if i could find another one as cheap as i found our current one, i’d buy it for my 3 year old. he’s learning A LOT thanks to leapster!
A single zip-tie attaches the crank magnet to the crank, although I had to use a large (3/4″) shim on my FSA crank (which has a curved profile and a hollow back) to place the crank magnet in the proper position for the sensor to “see” it. The spoke magnet clamp has both a round hole and a square hole; make sure you use the right hole for your spoke profile! I mounted mine on a spoke directly opposite the tire valve, just to help keep the wheel in balance. The sensor unit must be positioned along the chain stay such that it can “see” both the crank magnet as it passes by the cadence sensor (the round part on the side of the sensor unit), and the spoke magnet as it passes the speed sensor (the part that looks like a lever in the picture). Testing is accomplished by pressing a small button on the sensor unit, which prompts it to flash a red LED, then a green one to indicate that testing is started. As pointed out by another reviewer, the LEDs are hard to see in bright ambient light; I’d recommend testing in a garage if possible. Hi-intensity LEDs would have solved this problem, although I suspect these LEDs were chosen for their low power consumption, so maybe it’s a smart design decision after all. Once the test button is pressed, the next 60 revolutions of the crank should cause the red LED to flash when the crank magnet passes the sensor, while the spoke magnet passing the sensor should generate a green LED flash. If you saw the red/green flash when the button was pressed, but don’t see a flash as each magnet passes the sensor, chances are one or both magnets are not properly aligned with the sensor (there are alignment lines on the sensor and both magnets), or the magnets are passing too far from the sensor (this is the problem I encountered and solved with a shim). When you’re sure everything is in the right places, snug the zip-ties and cut them flush. Then set up a screen (typically the Biking screen) on your 305 to display Cadence in one of the data fields, and go ride! 
