One Minute Tech Reviews

Author Archives: Louie Tran

SteelSeries Apex 7 Gaming Keyboard

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I just picked one up and it’s not even primarily going to be used for gaming. I bought it because it was the most comfortable keyboard I have ever typed on, period. I don’t care for the gimmicky blinking lights (although they are cool) and I don’t care about the little bullsh\*t OLED thing that’s on there.

The build quality of the keyboard, the responsiveness and how amazing this keyboard is to type on just crushes anything Logitech and Microsoft has ever made. I’m replacing my 5 year Logitech K750 Solar as it was about time to retire that thing. I’ve been sending emails, typing up Word documents, and working on Excel spreadsheets all day and I am not getting as much fatigue on my hands and wrists as I did on my previous keyboard. I’ve used this on both my Mac and my PC and it is absolutely fantastic.

I guess I need to play some games on this now!


 

MSI GS65 Stealth 9SE 2019 Gaming Laptop First Impressions Review

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I was trying to decide between this, the Asus Zephyrus M, and the new Razer Blade 15 Advance. After going back and forth, I decided to try out the MSI GS65 and I think this trial phase is on its way to being permanent.

I am a long time Mac user and my current laptop is a MacBook Pro 13 2018 and I game on a PS4 and an Xbox One X. Wanted to get back to the PC Master Race and I wanted the flexibility to play at home, in between offices while I’m on the road as well as have a great dedicated PC that will run my Windows applications for work. I’ve been using Parallels for years, while it does work… it’s just not the same.

Out of the box, the GS65 has decent build quality with its aluminum casing compared to most PC laptops you see at Best Buy but this is nowhere near the level of quality of a Mac and even a Razer. The GS65 doesn’t feel as solid and I would have expected a little more after shelling out $2000 for this thing. I really appreciate the engineering of the Mac and Razer on how they were able to build something so thin, yet extremely solid. The build of the MSI screen was disappointingly flimsy and I feel that I could one day break this thing if I opened the screen the wrong way, especially with one hand.

Performance however is where this laptop really shines. I have thrown every game I had at High to Ultra settings and it handles them with ease. Crysis 3 (yeah it’s a 2013 game) was at Ultra and it looked amazing. Overwatch was at Ultra and the frame rates just flew and the same with Apex Legends. The GS65 also handled Shadow of Tombraider like a champ. I played through Tombraider on the Xbox One X and I had to sacrifice frame rates for quality and that just wasn’t the experience I wanted for such a visually stunning game. On the GS65, Tombraider was absolutely beautiful and it easily maintained a 60 fps frame rate without issues. Sure the fans were blowing but that is to be expected from a thin and light gaming laptop. Oh did I mention that this thing is only a little over 4lbs?

As a productivity device it’s fantastic. The majority of my work day revolves around Google Chrome and Microsoft Office and this thing handles it like a champ. I go from home to office, to other offices, and airport to airport. The weight makes this less a burden to carry. However, if you are planning to use this as only for work, it’s going to be overkill so you might want to look elsewhere.

Other things to note:

  • The speakers were loud but bass is weak.
  • Battery life at Battery Saver or Better Battery setting will get you through 4-6 hours for work applications such as MS Office
  • The trackpad is much better than last years, but it’s no MacBook or Razer
  • This has a generous amount of ports, 3 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Audio, Mini Display, Thunderbolt
  • Wish it had one more thunderbolt port instead of that mini display port
  • NO USB-C Charging
  • Inverted motherboard makes upgrading a pain, seriously MSI what were you thinking?
  • keyboard is a breath of fresh air coming from the stupid butterfly switches of the Mac.
  • 240hz screen is fantastic
  • Bluetooth range is weak if you use wireless headphones. Don’t expect to walk more than 12 feet away from your laptop
  • Undervolt. You don’t have to, but it will make your life a lot better. If you don’t know how watch YouTube videos on how to do it!
  • Benchmarks
    • Geek Bench
      •  CPU
        • Single Core: 5218
        • Multi Core: 24821
      • Open GL: 208027
    • Cinebench R20: 2467
    • 3DMark
      • Time Spy: 5658
      • Fire Strike: 13318
      • Sky Diver: 32217

Overall I think this is a better buy dollar for dollar if you want to compare similar specs to the Razer, you save about $400-$500. The performance alone on this for the size and weight is a huge selling point for this. My only ask is that they step up the build quality a few more notches on this will be an easy winner.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Purchase from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2Xo6j64


 

Powerbeats Pro First Impressions Coming from an AirPods and Beats X Owner

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I just received my PowerBeats Pro yesterday from Best Buy.

My first impressions is that they are pretty fantastic and I own AirPods as well as Beats X. They also fit very well too and I wear glasses most of the day. Having interchangeable ear tips is a total plus too. I’ve worked out with these yesterday and this morning and it’s almost impossible to get these to fall off my ears. They only way I see these falling off is if someone wears these while they are boxing lol. Other than that, I’m going to have a tough time transitioning back to my Beats X for working out.

As far as sound quality goes… they are definitely a step above the AirPods and I believe how they fit in my ears contributes to that as well. Bass is strong and if you like your eardrums taking a Beat-ing then you will definitely love these. Listen to Pop, rock, piano solos etc… they all sound great on the PBP. I sometimes watch YouTube videos or binge while I work out on the treadmill. Movie / speech dialogue, explosions, cars screeching and dragons roaring on videos are above satisfactory.

I’m having a tough time trying to see if there is a difference in sound quality between the PBP and the Beats X. Also for people who don’t want to spend the $250, the Beats X is a great value which you can find under $100, they fit well, you don’t have to worry about losing them if the buds happen to fall off your ears and they are pretty compact.

Making phone calls on the PBP is incredible. I’m walking through a sidewalk with cars zooming buy and the wind blowing, shopping center or crowded area and people can hear my as if I was indoors in a quiet office. With the AirPods, it does pick up some noise around you and oops… it falls off my ears while doing something as much as a slight jog.

I only have a few gripes with the PBP… The case takes quite a bit of space for an everyday carry bag and I wouldn’t mind the size so much if this thing at least have wireless charging. For a gym bag, obviously there would be no issue. You can forget about pocketing this thing if you are wearing anything besides cargo pants and gym shorts with big loose pockets. What does make up for the large case is that 9 hour rated battery life. If you are going out and about, you can buy a $5-$10 pouch on Amazon to carry this around in your pocket and leave the case at home or in your car.

My other issue is after about an hour an a half or longer, these are a strain on the ears. AirPods, while working on a desk, taking calls and walking around the office, I can wear these all day without any issues – except I have to pop them back in the case because battery life on AirPods are crappy.

I’m hanging on to these PowerBeats Pro for now. They are a great workout companion and I need more time to decide if this would replace my AirPods as an everyday carry. Before the PBP, I was pretty satisfied traveling with my Beats X as they were great for flights and I didn’t have to worry about losing them and they are great for the gym as well and cost less than half of the PBP price tag. If the PBP were $199 instead of $249 it would be a no-brainer for anyone. However, that $249 does give you a great true wireless experience and Apple’s H1 chip / pairing capabilities.


MonoPrice MP Soundstage 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review

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Bluetooth Speakers are the rage these days. You see them at the beach, you see people holding them in their hand and bumping a jam in the car, they’re in living rooms, in the park, holy crap you name it everyone you know has one. Walking around with a radio or cassette boom box just isn’t cool anymore. Bluetooth sound technology has grown over the past decade and we are at the point where high quality sound transmitted wirelessly is an expectation. These days you have portable speakers ranging from $10 all the way to high end gear in the thousands.
Everyone wants the best value for their money. Not everyone can spend $1000 for mind blowing sound, and we end up compromising cost for quality. Hell, before I had the Sound Stage 3, I had a Logitech UE Boom as my “home sound system” to stream music from my iPhone, which worked great. And you know what? For a lot of people that’s OK and great for people who like to bring their music around with them. However, if you were to spend just a little more you can get the Sound Stage 3 and sometimes for the same price. Let me tell you, this thing blew me away. I really didn’t know what to expect and was pretty set on my Bose 5 Sound Bar for my home music needs, but isn’t as practical as I like it to be.
The Mono Price Sound Stage 3 is compact enough to go on a book shelf, but powerful enough for a medium to large sized living room. It’s about the size of a shoe box but it comes packed with 120W of sound (1x80W and 2x20W) with RCA, 3.5 AUX, Optical S/PDIF, on top of the Bluetooth aptX connection.
You can also pair this with another SoundStage for a richer stereo experience. Setup was really easy. You can just plug into the outputs or quickly pair to your Bluetooth device. There’s also a simple remote that allows you to adjust the volume, bass, treble, and source which is always nice to have.
Most of us don’t care about all of the above… what we care about is how it sounds. In one word… fantastic. These sound way up there with the Sonos speakers that I’ve heard with great sound range, deep bass if you want it, and great clarity. I play a mix of alternative rock, reggae, latin pop, classical, R&B and hip hop and every genre sounded amazingly loud and clear. Even in the lower volume range was good too but these things get really loud even in a large size room.
I’m not saying this will replace your mega expensive sound system, but for those who want to spend less than $200 and have a classy looking system with excellent sound, the SoundStage 3 is an excellent value.


Microsoft Surface Go Review – Tablet, Laptop, Desktop – “The Nintendo Switch of PCs”

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I’ve always been a fan of the Microsoft Surface products since the first one rolled out years ago, but when I heard about the specs of the Surface Go, my first reaction was… why would anyone want this?!

 

Surface Go is basically a smaller Surface Pro with a seemingly underpowered CPU. A 10-inch ultraportable tablet/laptop did pique my curiosity so I picked one up and have used it for a month…

 

My main portable devices on the Go have usually been an iPad Pro and 12-inch MacBook combination. Sometimes taking the iPad Pro, although a very capable device in most of my tasks, feels limiting. And then taking the 12-inch MacBook by itself, feels overkill when I just need a tablet to watch my Netflix on. Believe me, I love both devices but carrying both can be a hassle, and sometimes carrying only one of them could be a bigger hassle.

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Microsoft Surface Go First Impressions – great tablet if you use Edge

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Yeah that’s me looking at Reddit lol. I’m day 3 on the 8/128 surface go and so far have used it mainly as a laptop vs a tablet. I’m looking to see if this can replace my MacBook 12inch and 9.7 inch iPad Pro.

So far it’s been pretty good as a laptop. Sure it was laggy during the first few hours during updates but it’s performed pretty well on all the software I use for work which is Office 365 and Chrome.

Today I’ve finally decided to just use this as a tablet laying on the couch. Chrome runs like garbage in tablet mode. However, Edge runs very well. As well as Safari in the iPad except with much more versatility since the Surface Go runs on a fully functional operating system.

Still wish the Go had better hardware though and i would definitely pay more for 16GB RAM and a better CPU on this form factor. Excited to see what Microsoft will announce in October.

Pick one up here: https://amzn.to/2wXrJrs


Monoprice Select Mini 3D Pro Printer Reivew

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I was always intimidated by 3D printing because in my mind, it sounded complicated, messy and too time consuming. All of my assumptions were WRONG. It was super easy, this took 5 minutes to setup and the printer did all of the work.

Right out of the box you get the 3D Printer, a memory card with the instructions on it along with a CAD file to print a lucky cat, and filament barely enough to create that lucky cat.

The build quality of the unit itself was pretty solid and well constructed. I’s about the size and weight of a blender and takes up about the same amount of space.

Setting up was really easy. However a printed quick start guide would have been nice and I did have to watch a few YouTube videos to make sure I was doing everything correctly.

Setting up the software was also easy. I just downloaded CURA for my Mac, added the MonoPrice printer and boom, I was set to go. Loading the filament didn’t take too much work and I was ready to print! All I had to do was pop in the memory card with the CAD file, preheated the filament and then hit print and it started.

The process of printing a 3D Lucky Cat took about 2.5 hours, which I did a time lapse on. After printing the cat, I was almost out of the the filament it came with so definitely pick some up if you intend to create more than that.

Again, this is my first 3D printer ever and the first time 3D printing anything so I can’t really compare it to anything else. But at the price point that this is at, and how easy it was!

You can pick one up here: https://amzn.to/2PJ6KS7


Super Quick Review and Thoughts of Shining Resonance Refrain on Nintendo Switch

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I beat this game in about 33 hours. Really cheesy typical anime and JRPG elements. Not that much character development except maybe for Yuma, Sonia and Kirika. Dialogue got pretty painful and sometimes dragged and I ended up skipping through a lot of the scenes (thankfully you can do that)!

Game play was fun at the beginning but man, battles started to get annoying and it was too easy even when you play in the more experienced modes. Just load your inventory up on ether, turn into the dragon and have everyone healing you and you will plow right through the game. Most challenging part though was when your party splits off for a brief period of time.

Game did have moments of lag and dips in frame rate on the Switch version, which I’m pretty sure the other versions don’t have.

I admit I enjoyed it and was brainless fun. Going to pick up Ys VIII next, but can’t decide if I should go Switch or PS4. Or I might got for Xenoblade Chronicles II.

Storyline: C
Gameplay: C
Graphics: B
Music: B
Overall: C+


The Best Quiet Allergy Smoke Pet Dander Air Purifier for Your Workspace

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I have a cat, live in Austin where it gets humid and the pollen is just horrible especially in the spring. And yes I am highly allergic to all of those things so I tried a bunch of allergy medication like Flonase, Allegra, etc. I’ve also tried different air filters and they are either really loud, ineffective, look like something out of the 70s or all of the above. Honestly, I don’t really care how it looks as long as it works.

I did my research and it came down to a few filters. One being the Honeywell HPA200 Air Purifier and the Oregon Scientific Air Purifier. Both are really good and they actually work. I however decided to go for the Oregon Scientific Air Purifier because it looked a lot sleeker, and most importantly the HEPA and Carbon Filters were cheaper to replace. Air quality in my house is a lot better, no one can really smell the cat, and my allergies have really improved. The unit also runs really quiet and doesn’t sound like a jet engine so it’s not annoying.

Pick one one here!


More Prime Deals! Vitamix and Roomba (Update: Deal Expired)

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Amazon Prime Day deals just keep coming and coming which about a day left to wrap up their huge annual sale. A few of the things that I personally picked up included the iRobot Roomba 671 Vacuum for $229.99 which is great for pet hair (I’m a cat owner) and I needed to replace my old 500 series Roomba that’s about 6 years old! The Roomba 671 features:

  • Works with Alexa for voice control (Alexa device sold separately)
  • Clean and schedule from anywhere with the iRobot HOME App; compatible with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant
  • Patented 3-Stage Cleaning System and Dual Multi-Surface Brushes pick up everything from small particles to large debris
  • Full suite of intelligent sensors guide the robot under and around furniture to help thoroughly clean your floors
  • Auto-Adjust Cleaning Head automatically adapts its height to effectively clean carpets and hard floors
  • Runs for up to 90 minutes before automatically docking and recharging


I also picked up a Vitamix Explorian Blender for $189, which is now sold out!

Keep checking Amazon for more Prime Deals!