Comments for Product Reviews

Comment on Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Third Season on Sale by B. Garfield

B. Garfield — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:11:13 +0000

Review by B. Garfield for Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete Third Season Rating: I applaud "Star Trek: Enterprise" for trying something bigger for its third season, but the results aren't terribly impressive. The year-long storyline of the Enterprise searching out the mysterious Xindi and exploring the deadly "Expanse" region of the galaxy was good stuff, but there are a number of times where it simply doesn't go far enough, or where an episode nearly derails the entire thing. It comes just to the edge of being quite good, but ultimately falls to the "OK" side of the fence.

The show is still plagued by many of the same problems it suffered from before, most noticeably that much of the cast is simply ignored. Instead of developing current cast members, new ones are introduced this season, only to be dropped or forgotten two episodes later. The show continually takes two steps forward, and then quickly takes one back.

That said, there is some wonderful visceral entertainment in this season. The writers and directors got a bit more bold, with larger, more impressive action sequences, and the special effects in this third season are second to none. The final stretch of episodes (save the ludicrous and awful season finale) are quite thrilling. If only the show had had the balls not to screw up the ending, this would easily be a Four-star season.

Even with the several large problems this season suffers from, the third season of "Star Trek: Enterprise" (along with the fourth season) is the best season of "Star Trek" since the late 1990s. That doesn't say much - it's still not nearly as good as it could or even should have been. But it's worth checking out.

Comment on BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint) on Sale by A. Schneider

A. Schneider — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:10:39 +0000

Review by A. Schneider for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint) Rating: I owned this phone for 4 months and loved it. It worked great and made managing my work emails and calendar much easier. However the phone became very hot one day and completely died. I took it back to the Sprint store and they tried a new battery and it would not work. They said that the phone is completely fried and I would have to get a new one. I am very disappointed with this phone.

Comment on Three LCD Screen Guards / Protectors for Motorola Droid A855 on Sale by E. Hodgson

E. Hodgson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:05:20 +0000

Review by E. Hodgson for Three LCD Screen Guards / Protectors for Motorola Droid A855 Rating: I did not like this screen protector at all and removed it from my phone minutes after installation. I bought 3 3 packs since it was such a low price. The protectors are too small for my Droid, they fit pretty much top to bottom and edge to edge, but the corners are cut way more than the corners on the Droid screen resulting in four unprotected corners and open spaces to collect debris. I might have left it on even with that problem, but the VERY mirrored surface made the screen difficult to read in any decently lit room and impossible to read in bright sunlight. It makes me wonder if I received the correct product at all since no one else has mentioned that it doesn't fit and the protector is extremely reflective, silvered, mirrored.

Comment on 30 Pack – All Natural 6 Inch Best Bully Sticks on Sale by Gibbyk

Gibbyk — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:04:40 +0000

Review by Gibbyk for 30 Pack - All Natural 6 Inch Best Bully Sticks Rating: We ordered these Bully Sticks on 2 separate occasions. Our yellow Lab loves them and the quality is pretty good. Our first shipment that we tried went off without a hitch, so when we started to run low, we ordered another batch. Unfortunately the second batch only had 23 bully sticks in the package. the package looked less full then our first which is why I counted it to make sure there were 30 pieces. I didn't count my first order unfortunately... Though my dog loves these, I will probably try another vendor that had better quality control of the pieces in their packages.

Comment on BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint) on Sale by Ziggy Ziggmuff

Ziggy Ziggmuff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:02:18 +0000

Review by Ziggy Ziggmuff for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint) Rating: Used to have a Pearl with numerous problems, finally had enough of it and decided to upgrade. Sprint has a deal going on right now where you get [...] for your old phone, and since I was over a year due, I got a $[...] rebate too. So my opinion may be a bit skewed as I got this phone for free. Gotta be honest I HATED Blackberry and didn't understand the attraction to the company when I had my Pearl as it was over-overwhelmingly disappointing since day 1.

Well I'm happy to say that I am probably a permanent fan of the BB thanks to this phone. 1st: Thank god BB got rid of the ball, as the sensor-tracker is 100 times better. My ball would go bad, get dirty, etc. This is probably the best tracker I've seen on any phone including the iPhone. I love the BB Messenger capabilities, love the qwerty pad, love the speed of the phone. I have yet to find one flaw regarding the mechanics of this phone. Have downloaded 2 apps thus far for free--Pandora Internet Radio and Google Maps which are must haves (don't even bother using the Maps app loaded on the phone, its terrible) and both have worked like a charm.

The only thing I miss is the flash for the camera, as it seems my Pearl took excellent photos compared to a lot of other phones. I haven't had great luck with this one so far, but like I said, its a very small issue compared to the other flaws that have gone away since my upgrade.

Not sure how this phone works on other networks, but Sprint is EXCELLENT. I was with AT&T for years and hated it, and I will never understand its popularity except for the fact its the only network with the never-ending praised, over-rated over-priced iPhone. Sprint may not be popular with the "hip" kids these days (but who cares) however I have nothing but good things to say about Sprint, as its coverage and its service are the best I've ever had.

If I had the dough, I might saddle up for the Bold, as it seems to be just like this phone but has a couple better features like a better operating system, a higher mega-pixel camera, better speakers for music, ability for a 32G card, and might last better in the long run. But again, the going price for that is $[...], and how can I complain or compare the 2 when I got mine for free? This Curve is probably the best phone deal of my life.

If you're a person who hasn't owned a Blackberry before and you're looking to get into it without breaking the bank, this IS the phone I recommend. I have friends who have BB's and like I said I've owned one previously too, and this is BY FAR the best one I've come upon for the price. These things will be unstoppable when they start supporting Flash, which will blow iPhone out of the water, so hopefully isn't too far off.

You will love this phone!

Comment on Cat’s Cradle on Sale by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:54:52 +0000

Review by for Cat's Cradle Rating: Cat's Cradle is by far the best Vonnegut novel that I have yet read. Blending his patented wry humor with acute social insight presented in an absurd fantasy world, Vonnegut has written an exceptional novel of love, lies, and the self destruction of mankind. The story centers around the narrator, Jonah, who is called by name once in the entire book. We are told in the beginning that he is writing a book on the events of the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. His research leads him to a correspondence with Newt Hoenikker, the midget son of Doctor Felix Hoenikker, father of the atomic bomb. After meeting with Newt, destiny leads our protagonist to the impoverished island republic of San Lorenzo, where among other adventures, he finds religion, falls in love, and becomes president. All of this by itself would make for a very entertaining book, but it is not in the story line that Vonnegut's genius lies. Cat's Cradle is rife with painfully accurate insights into the institutions that our society holds so dear, such as, religion, politics, and science. Vonnegut invents for the inhabitants of San Lorenzo a brand new religion based completely and admittedly on "foma", or lies. This wouldn't be so shocking, except for the fact that this "bokonism" seems to make perfect sense. Other Vonnegut ironies pervade the book and are too elaborate to go into. Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author of all time. Cat's Cradle is one of his funniest, most absurd, and frightening novels. This book truly causes one to stop and think about the things that one holds as unquestionably true. All of the incredible people, places, things, and ideas in Cat's Cradle are intricately woven into a perfect tapestry that sums up and spells out many of mankind's self-created problems in 191 pages. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Comment on 30 Pack – All Natural 6 Inch Best Bully Sticks on Sale by John Schawbe

John Schawbe — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:35:11 +0000

Review by John Schawbe for 30 Pack - All Natural 6 Inch Best Bully Sticks Rating: Shipping was quick and pricing significantly below what I was paying at the local pet supply stores. Items were packaged well and there was no overwhelming smell when opening the package. I have 2 dogs and both like these items very much. My issue is the smell while the dogs are chewing on the bully sticks. I have read on the Internet that some bully sticks do not stink when being consumed. The claim is that the bully sticks are prepared by draining them of fluids at some point in the processing. I've purchased these sticks at pet supply stores for between $2 and $4 each. These are no different. My personal expectations was there would be less smell, thus the 3 star rating. However, I need to emphasize that the product was delivered quickly which is important. I'm sure if my dogs could rate these they would give a 5 star rating. One of my dogs will finish off a stick in about 20 minutes while the other smaller dog may only be less than a fifth through the stick in 20 minutes. From this perspective they do keep the dog busy, and I'm supposing that it is accurate that these treats are much better for your dog than than the rawhide chews. My dogs love those too but get gassy eating them. I've read that dogs don't digest them very well.

I would definitely buy from this source again if I find out that it is a myth that some bully sticks don't stink while the dogs are chewing on them. I've not seen any statement to that effect on any packaging thus far so it very well may be a myth. I'm going to look around a little more for the elusive bully sticks that don't stink.

Comment on Twilight Board Game on Sale by Alunamai

Alunamai — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:32:55 +0000

Review by Alunamai for Twilight Board Game Rating: The instructions are confusing... The questions are way too easy... the challenges for the white daggers were stupid and definitely boring and have nothing to do with the books or movie.

I do not recommend this to anyone. If you want to play a Twilight game wait for Trivial Pursuit. At least then the questions will have some challenge and will include book and movie trivia!

One more thing about this game.... on the cards it will say, Plot Challenge - human... or plot challenge-vampire... Your supposed to do something different with each version... at least thats what I got out of the directions... although what you're supposed to do with them is completely beyond me... especially since its not clearly marked as to what you are to do with them.

Maybe if the directions were more clear and easier to understand, then maybe the ratings would be a little higher...

Comment on Three LCD Screen Guards / Protectors for Motorola Droid A855 on Sale by Aaron Alick

Aaron Alick — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:31:03 +0000

Review by Aaron Alick for Three LCD Screen Guards / Protectors for Motorola Droid A855 Rating: While I'll be the first to admit its pretty difficult to hold a company to a quality standard for a product that costs nearly nothing, I was still pretty annoyed when all three of the guards that came in the pack were extremely scratched and smudged to an unusable extent. For the price I expected them to perhaps not seal correctly, but I surely didn't expect someone to have scraped them across concrete with oily hands, before sending them off to me.

Comment on Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Third Season on Sale by saxman

saxman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Review by saxman for Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete Third Season Rating: First off let me say that I am a huge Trek fan. I loved TOS, and thought TNG was a bit too cerebral; not enough phaser fire and maneuvering for my taste. When DS9 came out they completely lost me until Voyager. Even though Voyager had some strange characters, for instance the clown fish Neelix, I really could not miss it. They ended it in the right way too. Then Enterprise. They picked my favorite actor to play Captain Archer, and the crew was OK too. Some of my favorite episodes came in the second season: Carbon Creek, DeadStop, Regeneration were among them. Unfortunately someone got nervous about the writing which was getting better with each episode and came up with that season long battle to save Earth from the Xindi in year three.
Year two featured my favorite Episode. It was called Deadstop. THe crippled Enterprise, far from home, needed help to be able to get back to warp drive over Warp 2. Like magic a "Repair Station" appears and conforms itself to fit the ship and account for the crews taste in food and enjoyment. All for the price of a little warp plasma? Archer senses this is too good too be true and he is right when his helmsman is killed in an "accident." You'll have to watch the story to see how it turns out.
-Enterprise- A show just not given enough time. In a day when reality rules apparently there is just not enough money to put quality Sci-Fi on network TV anymore. What a shame that Enterprise was cancelled. jetsax