review

ecobee4 with Amazon Alexa Voice Service — Today is the official launch of the ecobee4 smart thermostat: the latest in what’s now a long(ish) line of WiFi thermostats from the eponymous Toronto-based ecobee Inc. Whenever ecobee releases an even “smarter” version of their smart thermostat, you can pretty much guarantee I’m gonna be all over that product […]

ecobee4 Smart Thermostat Review

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged Alexa Amazon Amazon Alexa Apple ecobee ecobee 4 ecobee 4 review ecobee4 ecobee4 review home automation HomeKit IFTTT product review review SmartThings thermostat voice control on May 15, 2017 by Steve Jenkins (updated 2741 days ago)

AC Infinity S3 fan — If you’re like most homeowners, you probably keep your receiver, amplifier, router, network switch, or any other electronic equipment inside a cabinet… which means you have a heat problem. Heat is the enemy of electronics, and circulating air through and around anything electronic is vital to its performance and longevity. This is the cabinet […]

Review: AC Infinity Airplate Cabinet Fan

This entry was posted in DIY Product Reviews Technology and tagged AC Infinity cabinet fan computer fan cooling fan equipment cabinet product review review usb USB fan on July 11, 2016 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3051 days ago)

SCOTTeVEST Enforcer internal features — A few years ago, a friend of mine who is a fellow fan of “tacti-cool” gear emailed me a link to the then-new Brad Thor Alpha Jacket by SCOTTeVEST. I couldn’t whip out my wallet fast enough. Founded in Chicago in 2000, SCOTTeVEST is now headquartered in Ketcham, Idaho and specializes […]

Review: SCOTTeVEST Enforcer vs Alpha Jacket

This entry was posted in Guns Product Reviews and tagged Alpha Brad Thor Enforcer guns jacket review SCOTTeVEST SeV tactical jacket tactical vest vest on March 15, 2016 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3169 days ago)

WOSS Titan Suspension Trainer Kit — Like most other people who’ve visited a commercial gym in the past couple of years, I’ve seen those bright yellow TRX suspension trainer setups, like this: Initially, I wondered if they were simply the latest fitness gimmick, or whether there was something to them. I played around with them a bit, but never […]

WOSS Titan Review: Affordable TRX Suspension Trainer Alternative

This entry was posted in Fitness Product Reviews and tagged AttacK fitness fitness products Hurricane product review review suspension trainer suspension training Titan Tough Mudder TRX TRX bands TRX straps TRX training workout WOSS WOSS suspension trainer on January 30, 2016 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3215 days ago)

Lux GEO WiFi Thermost — Thermostats have come a long way since the days of the gold-colored round Honeywell dial thermostats at your grandma’s house. Ecobee launched the first “smart” thermostat in 2007, but others like Google’s Nest and Honeywell’s Lyric weren’t far behind. But now even those manufacturers are shipping 2nd or 3rd generation hardware… meaning that […]

Review: Lux GEO WiFi Thermostat

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged air conditioning ecobee Honeywell HVAC Lux Lux GEO Nest review smart thermostat thermostat WiFi WiFi thermostat on December 10, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3253 days ago)

After an unseasonably warm and dry Seattle summer this year, fall finally arrived. And with it, an abnormal amount of houseflies. In talking with my neighbors, I realized I wasn’t alone. I don’t know exactly why a warmer summer and later fall result in more houseflies (I’m sure there’s a […]

Review: Aspectek Electronic Indoor Fly Killer/Zapper

This entry was posted in Product Reviews and tagged bug killer bug zapper electronic flies fly fly trap fly zapper fruit flies insect mosquito review UV zapper on October 31, 2015 by Steve Jenkins

Becker Micarta Knife Scales — I love my KA-BAR / Becker knives. They look good, they feel good, but most importantly they work good (OK, I know it’s technically “work well,” but that would have thrown off the pattern). But if I have any complaint at all about these excellent knives, it’s the black plastic […]

Review: KA-BAR Becker Micarta Scales / Handles for BK Series ...

This entry was posted in Knives Product Reviews and tagged Becker Becker Necker BK10 BK2 BK3 BK4 BK5 BK7 BK9 G10 handles KA-BAR kabar Micarta product review review scales Upgrade on July 17, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3411 days ago)

Last year, when the ecobee3 smart thermostat was announced, I published a preview, then a “first look” and unboxing video, followed soon after by the very first review of the ecobee3. I followed those up with an ecobee3 installation guide for new users, along with an ecobee Smart to ecobee3 upgrade guide for owners migrating […]

Review: ecobee3 HomeKit-enabled Thermostat

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation iPhone Product Reviews Technology and tagged Apple automation ecobee ecobee3 Home Kit HomeKit HomeKit-enabled HomeKit-Enabled ecobee3 iOS iPad iPhone Nest product review review Siri smart home smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on July 15, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3412 days ago)

GunVault SpeedVault SV500 — The first responsibility of gun ownership is safety. Providing a good balance between quickly accessing your firearm when needed vs. keeping it out of the hands of those who shouldn’t touch it what GunVault Inc, makers of “personal sized” gun safes, are offering with their SpeedVault SV500 and SpeedVault SVB500. The SpeedVault’s design […]

GunVault SpeedVault SV500 Review

This entry was posted in Fitness Product Reviews and tagged biometric desk safe gun safe Gun Vault GunVault nightstand safe product review review safe Speed Vault SpeedVault SV500 SVB500 on June 23, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3318 days ago)

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I write lots of product reviews for “geeky” tech stuff (like smart thermostats, automatic toilet flushers, surge protectors, etc.). But when I get a chance to review some tech that also involves one of my other interests (karate in this case), I’m all over it. As a part-time karate instructor at Fairwood Martial Arts, one […]

Product Review: StrikeMeter by Martial Arts Instruments

This entry was posted in Fitness Karate Product Reviews Technology and tagged impact force Karate kick martial arts measure force meter product review punch review StrikeMeter tae kwon do on May 30, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3460 days ago)

This unique knife from Benchmade is designed for rapid deployment and “creating” space” in a self-defense situation. It’s small, light, and very easy to conceal.

Benchmade SOCP Skeletonized Dagger

This entry was posted in Knives Product Reviews Videos and tagged Benchmade dagger Greg Thompson knife review SOCP video on April 4, 2015 by Steve Jenkins

Not all Glocks are guns. Here’s a brief review of a couple of Glocks you may not have even known existed: the Glock 81 Survival Knife and Glock Entrenching Tool!

Review: Glock Survival Knife and Entrenching Tool

This entry was posted in Guns Product Reviews Videos and tagged e-tool entrenching tool Glock knife review saw shovel on April 4, 2015 by Steve Jenkins

My initial review of the KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit was positive… except for the part where the unit started to magically flush the toilet all by itself in the middle of the night. I called it the “phantom flush.” If you recall from my review, KOHLER promised to send me […]

Product Update: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit Parts Upgrade

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged automatic flush Kohler phantom flush plumbing review toilet touchless toilet flush kit on March 29, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3522 days ago)

standard MeteoBridge hardware configuration — I’ve been a weather geek (or as weather geeks would write it: “Wx geek”) since 2001, when I bought an Oregon Scientific WMR968 weather station. Within a couple of years, I’d connected my weather station’s console via a serial cable to a dedicated computer in my basement running Windows 95 and Ambient’s Virtual Weather Station (VWS) software, which […]

Product Review & How-To: Using MeteoBridge to Connect your Weather ...

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged Belfryboy data-logger Davis MeteoBridge MeteoBridge review product review review upload weather station Weather Underground on February 3, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3308 days ago)

My original ecobee3 review is now two months old, so I decided a “here’s how things are going two months later” post might be in order. Over the past two months, I’ve received numerous questions (both in my blog comments and over in the ecobee discussion forum at SmartHomeHub.net), and I’ve also […]

ecobee3 Review Followup: Two Month Update

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged ecobee ecobee vs Nest ecobee3 Home IQ Nest review update on November 27, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3593 days ago)

Remember when you were a little kid, and your mother would take you to the supermarket, and as you approached the glass doors you’d wave your hand at them… causing them to open… with… The Force? It was almost like magic! Sure, deep down you probably knew there was some kind […]

Product Review: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged automatic flush Kohler plumbing review toilet touchless toilet flush kit on November 26, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3522 days ago)

You probably haven’t stopped and really thought about exactly how many devices you have in your home that plug into a power outlet. So do it now. Go ahead. I’ll wait…. Now, think about how many of those devices have some sort of electronic or digital component. It’s probably way […]

What’s the “Best” Whole-House Surge Protection?

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged 51120-1 CHSPT2ULTRA compare comparison Cutler Hammer Eaton Leviton lightning product review review Schneider Electric SDSB1175C Square D surge suppressor SurgeBreaker Plus SYC-120/240-T2 Syscom whole-house surge protector on October 16, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3681 days ago)

The new ecobee3 — In 2009, Toronto-based ecobee released the very first “smart” thermostat and called it, not surprisingly, the “ecobee Smart” (see my original review of the Smart from 2010). Since then, they’ve followed up with the ecobee Si (which I call the Smart’s “little brother”), along with a handful of firmware and mobile app updates for […]

ecobee 3 Review

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged compare ecobee ecobee 3 ecobee 3 review ecobee3 Lyric Nest product review review vs on September 19, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3642 days ago)

Among hard-core geeks, the speed of your Internet connection is a source of pride. Back in 1996 when I moved to the Seattle area, I paid a couple thousand dollars a month for a frame-relay full T1 connection to my house, giving me a 1.4 Megabits per second (Mbps) connection. […]

Review: Google Fiber Provo Install

This entry was posted in Product Reviews Technology and tagged gigabit Google Fiber Google Network Box Install provo review on March 2, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3914 days ago)

When is the last time you rocked out this hard in the shower? — The kind folks over at Kohler’s bath products division (about whom I’ve had nice things to say in the past) were generous enough to recently send me one of their new Moxie wireless speaker shower heads for evaluation and review. Kohler states that Moxie allows you to “Shower out Loud” by […]

Review: Kohler Moxie Wireless Speaker Shower Head

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged Bluetooth Kohler Kohler Moxie review Moxie product review review shower shower speaker speaker wireless speaker on January 12, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3792 days ago)

The difference between saying you have a “home theater setup” vs. simply having a TV hanging on your wall is, of course, having the audio played back on something other than your TV’s built-in speakers. And for the budget and space conscious, Vizio has recently launched a family of “sound […]

Product Review: Vizio 42″ 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with ...

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged Bluetooth Bluetooth audio review S4251W-B4 sound bar soundbar speakers Vizio on November 11, 2013 by Steve Jenkins

The Harmony Ultimate handheld remote communicates via RF to the Harmony Hub, which blasts IR to all your devices — Universal remotes have come a long way… and I’ve been along for the ride for pretty much the entire journey. I owned an old-skool “All In One” remote that controlled my cable box, VCR, and TV. I owned a variety of Phillips Pronto and Marantz RC5000 controllers, which required me […]

Product Review: Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged Harmony Harmony Hub Harmony Touch Harmony Ultimate Logitech MyHarmony product review review Ultimate on August 26, 2013 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4090 days ago)

Blackhawk 410610CBK Double Mag Case — Since I own a few different Blackhawk SERPA CQC retention holders (in carbon fiber finish, natch), I decided to pick up the matching Blackhawk 410610CBK Double Stack Double Mag Case. Up to now, I’ve been using a Safariland leather double-mag case, but the snaps are a bit difficult to manage so I […]

Review: Blackhawk 410610CBK Double Stack Double Mag Case

This entry was posted in Guns Product Reviews and tagged Blackhawk carbon fiber double mag double magazine double stack Glock mag case mag holder magazine holder review SERPA on January 11, 2013 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4329 days ago)

Winland Electronics WaterBug Sensor — I’ve already written plenty of posts about my experiences with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat. To say I’m a fan would be putting it mildly. But today, I became an even bigger fan after extending the functionality of my Ecobee Smart Thermostat by connecting a water sensor to it. My basement […]

DIY: Connecting a WaterBug Water Sensor to an Ecobee Smart ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged alarm dry contact ecobee how to product review review smart thermostat water sensor WaterBug WB-200 Winland Electronics on January 10, 2013 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4329 days ago)