Review of Sennheiser Binaural Headset with Xl Ear Cap (CC 550)

I recently purchased this headset for use at work.I am on the phone most of the day and was looking for a really high quality headset.I also work at home and have a server rack in my home office, so the ultra noise cancelling was something I was interested in.This headset definately performs.The sound quality is fantastic, as well as what the person on the other end hears.

The only thing to watch out for is that this headset comes with a Sennheiser quick disconnect plug, so in order to plug this into anything you will need another cable in addition.I got both the modular plug for Avaya phone and a 2.5mm adapter.

One of my favorite things about the headset is the comfort.It is very light and yet still feels quite durable.The adjustments work well, especially the mic boom.I have never used a headset with a boom so easily adjustable.

Overall, this headset beats any I have used for an office telephone, and is a good choice if you work in a noisy environment.I have used a plethora of Plantronics headsets, and they cannot come close to this performance.



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Review of ArmA II

The previous reviewer sounds like a bit of a disgruntled BIS fanboy, which is a shame.I avoided the original ArmA because it just didn't quite "feel" right in terms of controls, but this one is a keeper.Certainly not for everybody - it is extremely unforgiving (one shot kills); there are certainly performance issues, though I have resolved all of them through patient tweaking; the radio system still sounds robotic and generally awful; the AI still has some annoying advantages, such as being able to see through cover like grass, while you cannot; and so forth.

Despite these problems, I keep coming back to ArmA II.There really is nothing quite like it, well, anywhere.Playing a co-op mission with your friends is totally engrossing.The sound effects are generally excellent, the ability to move your head independently of your body is incredibly immersive, the graphics are very nice, the sheer scope of the game is tremendous.

As long as you know what you are getting into - a very hardcore and unforgiving milsim with some rough edges - I recommend this game.If you are used to, and want more of, the Call of Duty series, you should probably stick with that type of game.



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Review of Darkest Of Days

The game isn't horrible, but simply a huge let down. If you browse gaming websites or magazines you've no doubt been hearing about this for a few months. It seemed like an awesome idea;you travel through time fighting some of the 'darkest' battles in history, using not only historic weaponry but futuristic tech as well. Basically, there are a few major issues that I took with the game. First, the graphics look quite dated, despite utilizing new Nvidia PhysX technology. But after seeing the sheer number of 3d characters on screen (as high as 300 according to claims, but I would guess I saw around 50-150) you can understand the use of 'dated' graphics. And, honestly that wouldn't be an issue, I love the idea of having that many characters on screen because in theory it would add to the feeling that you are these battles. But, in my experience I never felt like I was in one of these bloody historic battles. Which brings me to my second point...the AI. The game seemed to really skimp in this department. Just running and gunning you may not notice it, but there are times when you can 'sneak' up behind an enemy line...but what happened when I did that was I saw many poorly rendered soldiers just standing there. They weren't shooting the opposing force (which was right in front of them) and they weren't shooting me! In fact they weren't doing anything and if I would shoot one (seemingly helping my side) another soldier would come out of nowhere and instantly fall into place, exactly where the last soldier was. This fact made the game feel like my efforts weren't worth anything and useless. I think the horrible AI could have been overlooked, along with the graphics if soldiers didn't instantly replace the soldiers you killed. Another example of the same issue is when I was sniping soldiers on a ridge. Each soldier I shot was replaced in less than 1 second, by another soldier, and in the exact spot. So, I could leave my crosshair in the place and keep shooting soldiers as bodies piled up. It seems like when you kill a soldier the replacement should take a little longer to come in, or should not fall into the exact same place. Another issue I had was the huge 'open-world' complete with historic maps. That feature seemed worthless most of the time as the game places fences, etc in your way so that you have to stay on a certain path.

All in all, the game is decently fun but don't expect much. The idea is cool but there are much better FPS' out there.



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Review of Xbox 360 Air Cooler

Very strong and has a separate power supply so it will not mess up your 360 and will not void the warranty.
A bit loud but it's worth it.



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Review of PS2/PS3/PC Ferrari GT Experience 3-in-1 Wheel

I recently purchased a PS3 and downloaded a bunch of racing demos.I fell in love with racing games even though I did not care much for them before.I decided to purchase Need for Speed Pro Street.This racing wheel works perfectly with that game, and my experience with racing games is even more heightened now.I've been so hooked on them, and cannot wait until Gran Turismo 5 comes out.

If you own a PS3 and looking to buy a racing game, possibly Gran Turismo 5 when it comes out, this racing wheel will work perfectly with the PS3.It has all the buttons on the six axis with the exception of the left stick and right stick.The gas pedal is R2 and brake pedal is L2.The two gray levers behind the wheel are R1 and L1.There are also two extra buttons, R3 and L3, which I have not used in racing games.The beauty is that you can re-assign all of these buttons to which ever you like, and you can set the sensitivity of the wheel.

For $50, this racing wheel is well worth it.It does the job correctly and does not put a hole in your wallet like those logitech wheels.If you are into racing games, I highly recommend this.It will definitely enhance your racing experience.



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Review of Dsi AC Adapter - Black

There are not many AC adapters for the DSi which support a 240V power supply. Even this one I had to wait for a while to get. This adapter can be used to charge the Nintendo DSi by connecting to the USB port of any computer which makes it a very useful feature.
Another nice feature I found about this adapter is that when connected to the power socket and either the DSi is not plugged in or the DSi has been fully recharged, the adapter makes a small sound (kind of an alert) which indicated that some attention is required.
It also works finely with a 110V power supply.
On the overall this is a very good replacement power adapter for your Nintendo DSi.



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Review of Logitech Xbox 360 Wireless Guitar Controller

I love Rock Band (RB) and play it with my friends often. We're very happy with MadCatz wireless 2-strum bass, but haven't found a nice upgrade replacement for the guitar. With an entry price of $200 and no chance to test it out in a store (and no reviews), I took a chance & pulled the trigger on this beaut.

First, it's a gorgeous, balanced and a substantial piece of equipment.I was wary not to dent the walls or my friends while walking around with it.The strum bar is perfect! (no noise, quick spring-back)I also love the hidden and easy location of hitting the back button with your strum hand (something RB guitars have never done well), as well as the hidden start button below the whammy bar.It's not full-size, but is substantially larger than the regular plastic guitars that come with Guitar Hero (GH).In fact, I fell in love with everything about this guitar... except the actual fret buttons.

The fret buttons are the exact same size as those that come on standard GH guitars, but they're further up, so your fingers are at more of an angle to hit them. The wood fret board is much wider/larger than the plastic versions, so it's also much harder to reach around to connect with the actual buttons. This is where RB buttons are much easer to hit, though I personally prefer the protruding GH buttons in general, for this piece, they don't work. In fact, several times, without removing my finger from the buttons, it would not register a chord depending on which part of the button was being pressed. Instead of my scores getting better over time, they were always lower. It may be something others can learn to adapt to, but it was a deal-breaker for me (after 7 hours experience) and I have to send it back. My friends had the same problem - we all loved the look, feel, strum & design of this guitar, but the fret buttons failed us.

So, what could have been so wonderful (a 5-star love affair), is being sent back (down to 3-stars). I'll patiently wait for the next upgrade installment (deep purple color, please!) and continue to play on my multitude of puny plastic toy guitars until then.


[For background as we all have personal preferences, my current favorite controller is the GH-3 guitar (got it with Aerosmith). The RB standard controllers are good for bass, but their strum bar & back button locations don't compare. I played GH 5 & RB Beatles while testing this controller.]




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Review of Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2

For several years I have bought, owned, played and loved the Dynasty Warriors franchise. I love it's simplistic jump into the madness style of gaming, which can understandably get boring to some. Taking out legions of enemies with a massive sword never gets tiring. On the other hand I have also been a fan of Anime for years and the various Gundam Saga's are at the very top of my favorite's list. So this game should generally be a wet dream for me as it is a mix of two, shouldn't it?!?

Sadly it is not. But don't get me wrong this game is fun, it has the standard Dynasty Warriors style where you take on armies of enemy Gundam's all on your own with minimal help from NPC (non player characters) allies. The greatest and most thankful change is this game has a grand total of 62 playable Gundam's compared to the first games 19 playable Gundam's. Each Gundam has different attributes and weapons meaning a different fighting experience 62 times.

The all new Mission Mode has you searching for various items to upgrade your Gundam's or helping other Gundam's out to improve your relationship in game, or destroy them in order to create new rivalries. The Official Mode is just like in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam meaning it follows an engaging story line that tosses you into the front lines of galactic war fare. There is a Versus Mode but I haven't used it much seems pretty standard friend vs friends stuff. There is also a gallery with ALOT of information and amazing imagery for the games Gundam's.

The stages take place within the Universal Century timeline, covering the stories of Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ and Char's Counterattack although they primarily follow an all original plot. Battles take place on various different planets and in space. Also the voice acting is top notch with some very good rendition's of the original characters from the Anime's.

All that said the game got boring very quickly. For a few hours I thought I was in heaven but then I realized the AI for the enemies is just weak. There is no real challenge here, even the bosses are push overs on the highest difficulty. Most of the enemies (and their are hundreds on screen at once) just stand around while a select few attack, this is rather boring, I would rather they all came at me furiously wanting to destroy me. This alone kills the experience and is honestly a real shame cause this game could have been amazing had the AI been more responsive.

The controls are kind of weak as well, they are very simplistic and easy to use it just seem's way to easy even for a Dynasty Warriors game. Hit one button once and you can take out anywhere from fifty to one hundred enemies with one attack.. Just a bit over kill in my opinion. Also I did notice that some of the larger (and yes their are some massive) Gundam's are far less detailed then their smaller counterparts.

All in all a great game, if you rent it. Fan's of Gundam will be impressed with the extremely varied selection of Gundam's and the close ties to the stories of the original animes. Dynasty Warrior fans however stick to the original series, it has far better AI compared to this game. Overall I was truly hoping this would be THE Gundam game to own as it's various cinematic videos before launch made it seem. However with this style of game the AI is EVERYTHING and the lack there of completely destroys the atmosphere. Truly a shame and hopefully the programmers will fix this massive issue if we get a third installment, otherwise this series has official been a failure of epic proportions.

With my review I include a video that showcases some in-game fighting and shows you just how lax the AI truly is. I will also upload a few Screenshots taken from around the web. I truly hope that my review helped you in your decision on whether or not this game is worth the full price. If so please click 'yes' below and thank you for reading. Below is the full list of playable Gundam's taken from Wikipedia.

-Mobile Suit Gundam

* RX-78-2 Gundam (Amuro Ray)
* MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char Aznable, Lunamaria Hawke)
* MS-06S Zaku II
* MS-06V Zaku Tank
* MS-14S Gelgoog Commander Type (Char Aznable, Johnny Ridden)
* MSN-02 Zeong (Char Aznable, Lahlah Sune)
* YMS-15 Gyan (M'Quve)
* RX-77-2 Guncannon (Kai Shiden, Hayato Kobayashi, Sleggar Law)
* MS-07B Gouf (Ramba Ral)
* MS-07H Gouf Flight Type
* MS-09 Dom (Black Tri Stars)
* RB-79 Ball
* MSM-07S Z'gok Commander type (Char Aznable)
* RGM-79 GM
* RGM-79G GM Command

-Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

* MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam (Kamille Bidan, Judau Ashta, Roux Louka)
* MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki (Quattro Bajeena, Beecha Oleg)
* RX-178 Gundam Mark II (AEUG Colors) (Kamille Bidan, Emma Sheen, Elle Viano)
* RX-178 Gundam Mark II (Titans Colors) (Jerid Messa, Kacrikan Cacooler, Kamille Bidan, Emma Sheen)
* RX-160 Byalant (Jerid Messa)
* PMX-003 The O (Paptimus Scirocco)
* AMX-004 Qubeley (Haman Karn, Lahlah Sune)
* RX-139 Hambrabi (Yazan Gable, Ramsus Hasr, Dunkel Cooper)
* PMX-001 Palace Athene (Reccoa Londe)
* PMX-002 Bolinoak Sammahn (Sarah Zabiarov)
* NRX-055 Baund Doc (Rosamia Badam, Jerid Messa)
* RMS-099 Rick Dias (Quattro Bajeena, Apolly Bay, Emma Sheen, Amuro Ray)
* GM II
* MSA-03Nemo
* RMS-106 Hi-Zack (Jerid Messa, Kacrikan Cacooler, Sarah Zabiarov)
* RMS-108 Marasai (Jerid Messa, Kakrikan Cacooler)
* RMS-154 Barzam
* AMX-103 Gaza C (Haman Karn)

-Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

* MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam (Judau Ashta)
* AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mark II (Black) (Elpeo Puru)
* AMX-004-3 Qubeley Mark II (Red) (Puru Two)
* AMX-107 Bawoo (Glemy Toto)
* AMX-107 Mass Production Bawoo
* AMX-004G Mass Production Qubeley
* AMX-106 Gaza D

-Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

* RX-93 Nu Gundam (Amuro Ray)
* MSN-04 Sazabi (Char Aznable)
* MSN-03 Jagd Doga (Gyunei Guss Colors) (Gyunei Guss)
* MSN-03 Jagd Doga (Quess Paraya Colors) (Quess Paraya)
* RGZ-91 Re-GZ (Chan Agi, Amuro Ray)
* RGM-89 Jegan (Hathaway Noa, Chan Agi)
* MSN-02 Geara Doga
* MSN-02 Geara Goga (Rezin Schnyder colors) (Rezin Schnyder)

-Mobile Suit Gundam F91

* F91 Gundam Formula 91 (Seabook Arno)

-Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

* LM314V21 Victory 2 Gundam (Uso Evin)
* ZMT-S33S Gottrlatan (Katejina Loos)

-Mobile Fighter G Gundam

* GF13-017NJII God Gundam (Domon Kasshu)
* GF13-001NHII Master Gundam (Master Asia)

-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

* XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero (Heero Yuy)
* OZ-13MS Gundam Epyon (Milliardo Peacecraft)

-Turn A Gundam

* SYSTEM-99 Gundam (Loran Cehack)
* CONCEPT-X 6-1-2 Turn X (Gym Ghingham)

-Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

* ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam (Kira Yamato)
* ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice Gundam (Athrun Zala, Lacus Clyne)
* ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam (Shinn Asuka)

-Other Suits

* Musha Gundam (Gym Ghingham)
* Musha Gundam Mark II (Katejina Loos)


Again thanks for reading.



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Review of Xbox 360 Air Cooler

I got this bad boy a couple of days ago and it works well for me.My elite is loud and thought this would quiet it down but i was wrong so i know have the fans running from inside the 360 and the 3 fans this cooler comes with.

The only thing you have to know is that its a manual fan cooler and you need to turn ON the fans and if you don't, then it just blocks the airflow to the 360 and cause it to overheat.The switch is below the power adapter on the right so you know where to reach to flip the switch.

The good thing is that it does not block anything else that would associate with the 360 like the power cable, wireless adapter and HDMI cable



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Review of 1701 A. D.: Gold Edition

I am so glad that the Germans are in love with this type of game, otherwise we in the US would be totally deprived of some of the most engrossing, rewarding, and FUN gameplay I have ever experienced.I have not stayed up until 5 am playing a game in 8 years, and indeed I was wondering if I was even the type of gamer who could get into a game that much anymore.I was wrong.For a person like me, who's not interested in the combat aspect of most strategy games, and who is much more interested in turtling a base to their exact preference, this game is a boon.



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Review of Nintendo Wii Fit Balance Board Premium Anti-Skid Green Silicone Skin Sleeve (Balance Board NOT Included)

I don't like the footprints with the big bumps sticking up on this mat, it is not comfortable if you are shoe-less and even with shoes it seems to get in the way.



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Review of The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack

I've been playing Sims 2 on the PC since it was introduced and own all 3 upgrades. Now, I've bought everything available for the Mac to play when I travel. Frankly, I wouldn't want to play Sims 2 without Nightlife.

Dating is the most important capability Nightlife brings to the game. I find it tedious to build and maintain relationships with the base game. Dating lets you monitor both sides of a social relationship, and also tends to focus the participating sims on each other. This makes it easier to build strong relationships and to fulfill high-value wants and earn aspiration points. If you have lots of aspiration points, you don't have to resort to cheats to maintain needs or to keep sims from aging before you want them to. The first thing you'll want to do for any sim you play is to give them at least one strong dating relationship so they can top off their aspirations when they need to. Let's face it, it's easier to face going to work when you had a little hot romance the previous night.

The essential dating tool is a car. Now you can go out or drive to work in your own car. Picking up your date in a hot car immediately improves the date score. But the real reason for owning a car is that if two sims are seeking initimate reactions and a car is on the lot, chances are they'll want both WooHoo and WooHoo in Car, which nets you double rewards for a single interaction. If you have a car, a little time on a date can quickly make the sims' aspirations go platinum while building up lots of aspiration rewards that let you buy Energizers, Elixer of Love dispensers, and Thinking Caps. With those, you can make your sims accomplish almost anything you want.

Chemistry is a new Nightlife feature that can be a lot of fun. By defining Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs for sims, chemistry simulates what we all feel, greater attraction for some people, less for others. NPCs have their own Turn-On's and Turn-Offs, but can specify them for sims you play and change them when you want. When you let sims function autonomously, chemistry works with memories and other attributes to make their interactions more complex. When you control the sims, it's easier or more difficult to establish friendships and romances, depending on the chemistry they sims feel for each other.

New with Nightlife is the ReNuYuSenso Orb, which lets you change sims' Aspirations as well as their Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs. With the Orb, a sim can start out with a Family aspiration and change to a Knowledge aspiration when the kids are in school. In other words, your sims deepest desires can change as they mature. I use the Orb a lot.

Nightlife includes Downtown, which provides a many more destinations the sims can travel to, including restaurants, clubs, and bowling alleys. Sims 2, even with University, is a bit dull in terms of social destinations. You'll find dating a lot more interesting in Nightlife. You can also send sims on friendly outings. Outings are more challenging than dates since you're managing interactions between more than two sims, but they enable your sims to meet strangers and start building relationships with large numbers of people. When your sim is invited out on an outing, they'll arrive at a destination with several friends, some of which are likelyk to be strangers. If your sim is on a career path that requires lots of friends, outings can make it much easier to get the friendships started. (I still miss some of the things you could do in Sims 1 parks, such as sailing boats. In Sims 2, parks are pretty dull places by comparison.)

In summary, the emphasis of Nightlife is on sim's social lives. Relationships are richer and the range of social interactions is much more extensive. I'd hate to play The Sims 2 without Nightlife.



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Review of X-Plane v 9.0

I have purchased every Microsoft Flight Simulator since FS '98, and have found each one to have it's own unique quality. So when Flight Simulator X came out, I was eager to see it's contribution to my ever increasing world of flight simulation. While I enjoyed it, it was not as promised. The DX10 feature was the biggest let down, as even on max settings it looked nothing like what we were promised. Oh, it looked okay as flight sims go, but it lacked the real punch I expected from a Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The flight physics are still adequate, set to maximum realism it can be fun, even. However, I still felt something was lacking. So, in a fit of boredom, I purchased X Plane 9. $[...]? "Well", I thought, "we'll see what we can get out of a flight sim that costs a third less than FSX standard."

I installed the program on my PC. It took about 30 minutes to install the primary program, and about 10 minutes to install the North America/Europe scenery disc. That's right, scenery on separate DVDs, and it's all worth it.

I started up the program and configured my graphics settings. Just for a hoot, I set them all to maximum settings. 4X Anti-aliasing, Ansitropic filtering, 1680x1050x32 resolution, turned on the rain and weather effects, and started it up. It loaded in about 20 seconds, which was 3x faster than FSX, and the opening shot was enough to catch my breath. It was superb. I'm not talking just nice resolution, the realism was astounding. Everything looked and moved like I was actually flying through a real world environment. So I flew around for a while, and the handling feels better. It responds more like an aircraft would whether it be rainy, sunny, windy, what have you, the plane behaved accordingly. FSX had done this also, but it was only mediocre compared to the flight physics this program was employing.

I wasn't won over yet. I wanted to see if I set FSX to the exact same specs, how it would respond.

Firstly, FSX doesn't have the same detailed customization as X-Plane 9. You have about half those settings. However, what I came to see was whether FSX could produce a visually stunning image as X-Plane 9. I set everything up, maxed out, as best as I could. There weren't as many visual options either for FSX as there were for X-Plane.

After I mimicked the settings for FSX as I had for X-Plane, I started up the simulation.

I was disappointed. FSX didn't do too bad, but when I tried to take off, I was rewarded with frame skips and stuttering. FSX couldn't reproduce the visuals and physics without cutting it's own performance. This was supposed to be the power of DirectX 10? Pfft. At max settings in X-Plane, I had seamless flying, with rain and thunder, lightning, drops splattering the windshield and shearing up the side, off the wings, too. Unlike FSX where you just see gray colored lines and a reflective runway as if it were wet.

I will state one thing, however: If you like using your keyboard, you can in X-Plane, it's just a little tougher to use. X-Plane does mouseflight (which is neat once you get the hang of it) and Joystick control, which I highly recommend. You will find a more satisfying experience that way.

I am now an X-Plane fan, and unless Microsoft can give me their performance, physics and detail, I'm not sure if I'll even be interested in their next release. Who knows. In the meantime, I'll be flying X air. ;)

~Pastor J



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Review of Wow Pen Joy Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse Red By Ergoguys

I bought this mouse hoping it would ease the pain in my pinky from my "normal" mouse.It did, but it transferred the pain to my thumb and the bone at the base of my palm.All in all, I consider it another tool in my arsenal against repetitive stress pain, but it wasn't the cure I was hoping for.



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Review of Xbox 360 3-In-1 Power Kit

I'm new 2 da hard core gaming world so I feel dumb when I say that I really didn't know this produt exsisted at first. now that I have it it is awesome and saves batteries. I love it!



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