lexein

Pros:

Worked exactly as specified. Product matched photograph exactly.
Connectors have moderate-to-high contact force - a very good thing.
80-pin cable gave full speed on the fastest drives I own.
Good length - made installation and routing a snap.

Cons:

Middle connector is a low-profile type without strain relief - so these cables are best for permanent installation, not daily test-bench use.

Other Thoughts:

Arrived packed with bubblewrap - this was a nice touch, and kept the ribbon cable from being crushed at the folds during shipping.

Bottomline:

Worthy of purchase. No complaints.
I hope that DX keeps an inventory of these for a few years, for long-term IT support.

Pros:

Setup was straightforward because I've used many video capture devices (ISA, EISA, PCI, USB) over the years, and am accustomed to their installation quirks and weird factory settings.
Connectors were solid.
Sound is good if the mixer settings are paid proper attention. Sync was okay on faster machines (>1.5 GHz).

Cons:

A bit heavy for plugging into a desktop or laptop USB port - better to use a USB hub or the provided USB extension cable.
Runs hot - allow plenty of ventilation. Needs a fan or a metal heatsinking case. For that reason, don't recommend it for continuous use (surveillance or webcam).

Other Thoughts:

Typical USB capture device - some frame lag and pretty high processor usage on older cpus.

Bottomline:

A decent capture pod especially for the price (now half what I paid), quite suitable for occasional use. Fine for VHS capture.

Pros:

Compact, safe, and does not block adjacent outlets.
The "Edison" side (flat blades) are thick enough to provide good grip when plugged in.
Lets me use all those darn universal-power Euro-pinned adapters gathering dust in the closet!

Cons:

Felt flimsy at first, but firmed up once I plugged it in.

Other Thoughts:

It's a tall adapter, so it can't provide support for fat transformers. So I just laid the power strip on its side to accommodate this adapter and the large brick plugged into it.

Bottomline:

Wouldn't mind if this were cheaper - but I'm happy with it anyways.

Pros:

This is a better tip cleaner than the sponges I've used before - no water! The tip stays hot, so work goes faster and more evenly as a result.

Cons:

Doesn't come with a metal cup to anchor it. Definitely needs mechanical support to contain it. I used a glass ashtray.

Other Thoughts:

Another reviewer wrote "keep your pants on when soldering." I agree - it's important with this ball because it's springy and could fling a little ball of solder onto your lap.

Bottomline:

Two soldering "best practices" are to keep the tip clean and hot. This ball helps with both.

Pros:

+Good outer construction, good fit and finish.
+Comfortable and stable in my largish ears + no burrs or sharp edges.
Rubber cord strain reliefs stay put now (yay!).
+The cord is a good length for laptop and desktop computer (front jack)

Cons:

Sounds different than my Feb 2009 set:
- More peaks & dips in frequency response in bass, mid, and treble regions.
- More obvious coloration of "pink" and "white" noise vs electrostatic reference headphones.
- Still overloads too easily - no good for use on a busy street, bus or plane.
- The 3.5mm plug fits too tightly in several jacks I tried. I wish it were looser for "walk-away disconnect".

Other Thoughts:

Human hearing is highly adaptable. I was able to easily adapt to these earphones to use them comfortably for hours without earstrain.
The set I got needed
-4dB @ 60Hz,
-3dB @ 170Hz,
+2dB @ 14KHz,
+3dB @ 16KHz
I used my previous set so much I wore them out after 8 months: earwax, cable damage.
These are good stocking stuffers for not-too-picky listeners who need spares.

Bottomline:

Good value for $1.98. Liked the first set enough to order 2 more sets. The sound quality has changed, but I'd still recommend them for spares at home and office.

Pros:

Pretty comfortable. Volume in earphones and microphone output is good. Distortion is low. Mic works very well for VOIP (not too much bass). Short cord is excellent for laptops with front jacks.

Cons:

As with most headset+mic combinations, this one needs a foam windscreen. Short cord will be a problem for laptops or desktop machines with rear jacks. Cord could be beefier, but works well enough.

Other Thoughts:

DX should sell foam pads and windscreens. I bent the headset to fit my head using a heatgun.

Bottomline:

Good deal, especially for travelling.

Pros:

Lightweight enough not to damage USB ports, flexible, very bright, and cool to the touch. Works best when the head is aimed away from you, illuminating papers or books to the side. Or provides decent "color light" for a webcam. Rather annoyingly bright point source, though.

Cons:

The LEDs emit a lot of light to the side, which is not useful for laptop keyboards in dark control rooms (why I bought it). Puts glare on the screen or my eyeballs. The unit needs a snap-on shroud, and a snap on diffuser for that.

Bottomline:

Not great for laptop keyboards, but pretty good for papers and webcams. If DX sells the black version again, with a snap-on shroud, and a diffuser, I'll buy that.

Pros:

No mechanical problems. Connectors fit very well and don't slip. MIDI status LEDs bright enough to be usable, but not distracting. Lag is managable - I expect by adjusting priorities it can be minimized. Installs easily. I didn't have any device conflicts like the Logitech user, although I might have, since I planned at some point to install the QuickCam. So far, no crashes - no forced USB plug/unplugs; this is an improvement over my "old unstable" Mark of the Unicorn Fastlane 2x2.

Cons:

Inconsistent in-out lag after several USB plug/unplugs. Restart solved this with no lag issues as long as USB stays in. All my testing was on XP SP2 all updated.

Other Thoughts:

There has to be a catch. Maybe it will die after it gets hit with ESD, or corrodes due to too much solder flux residue. Doesn't matter - it works for now, and beats my other USB-MIDI converters hands down. I hope it will become available with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, and in a 2x2 configuration.

Bottomline:

Not a bad deal at the price I paid ($17.02). I would def buy another as I need them.

Pros:

Pleasantly comparable to original iPod earphones. Good appearance, decent build quality, good fit, good sensitivity, consistent frequency response, decent bass. Fine for office and home use.

Cons:

At this price, no serious deficiencies. The strain reliefs slide out of place (easily fixed). Distortion appears too soon, at only moderately high volumes. This makes them less attractive for use on public transit or walking around in noisy urban environments.

Other Thoughts:

These aren't identical to iPod 'phones, but it doesn't matter. The slight differences are easily adapted too, and not fatiguing.
My earphones typically fail after about a year due to corrosion of wires in the earpiece or mechanical wear at the "Y" junction. I won't mind at all if that happens to these.

Bottomline:

At this price, I never have to be without good-sounding spare earphones again. I definitely plan to buy these again.

Pros:

Good appearance: Nice form-fitting strain relief at earbuds and at plug. Good colors, matching iPod white and grey. Earseals are attached firmly. Efficiency is high.

Cons:

Strain reliefs slide down the cables too easily. Earseals don't "lock" into the ear canal, and tend to work themselves out of the ears unless your ear canals are exactly the right size. Although efficiency is high, distortion at loud volumes is too high for comfortable listening outdoors in the city. Frequency response is uneven: peaky in the midrange, and extremely sensitive to positioning in the ear canal. Bass response is not strong, but can be compensated for by EQ. Worse, the bass fades rapidly as the buds slip out of your ears. External sounds are attentuated only at high and low frequencies, leaving the midrange.

Other Thoughts:

I found using these earbuds for long periods to be fatiguing. I prefer the sku.11599 for all my listening - they stay in better, feel better and sound consistently better overall.

Bottomline:

I can mildly recommend these only for the price and appearance. Satisfactory as spares, but for 8 cents more, get sku.11599 instead.

Pros:

It was able to pair up with three phones I tried easily. Earphone sound quality was great. Microphone quality was equivalent to most on-cheek mics - not great in noisy environments, but fine in elevators, restaurants, movies (kidding). The range was about 8-14 feet based on the phone.
The pushbutton has a nice click, and the alert tone was a mellow boop.

Cons:

Pushbutton requires a firm press directly into the ear. For me, this was uncomfortable. The charging indication is not clear - I have to just guess that 4 hours charging is enough. No audible charge warning - the device just quit after 2 hours - didn't drop call, luckily.

Other Thoughts:

I was unable to pair this with my laptop's internal Bluetooth. The pairing was confirmed, but no playback or recording ever occurred.

Bottomline:

Worthwhile for phones, but unknown if this will work with laptops. Anyone?

Pros:

As others have said, it's compact, stealthy, reliable, can last a long time on a charge, good video quality, so-so audio depending on circumstances, and it even writes reasonably well.

Cons:

Extremely low bitrate ADPCM recording produces CELP-error burbling effects with some voices, and when there is any background noise. Man, do I wish there was a way to select a higher audio sample rate and width.

Other Thoughts:

Suggestions:
1. Tape over the pushbutton with black electrical tape or gaff tape to stop it from rattling.
2. Tape over the status LED with magic tape scribbled over with black permanent marker. The LED will be visible only to you, nobody else.
3. Don't move around while recording - a stable pen gives the best video and sound quality.
4. Don't clip the pen onto thick pockets - it will cover the mic and further muffle the sound.
5. I recommend clamping the pen under a clipboard clip, facing your subject. This helps the sound quality somewhat, by reducing reflected sound coming from behind the clipboard (google PZM).
6. The pen also works well clipped into the water-bottle pocket of a backpack - the mesh doesn't block sound.
7. Don't let other people twist the pen - the top cap is NOT GLUED to the USB mount, and can be twisted too easily, covering the lens. A drop of nail polish around the lip will fix this.

Bottomline:

A worthwhile purchase, and very useful, as long as some precautions are taken. Enjoy!

Pros:

Solid construction, quiet electronics, good fit and finish. Good sound level, so the mic works well for VOIP and teleconferencing. Some resistance to wind noise, but a small foam wind filter should be used when outdoors. It's short, so it won't put side force on a mic jack like larger gooseneck mics like 21462. It's touted as "noise-cancelling", and it picks up less harddisk and fan noise than a pure omnidirectional mic I tried.

Cons:

There's a small audible (recordable) squeek while changing the angle of the mic, so leave it alone while recording.
It picks up a more harddisk and fan noise than my noise cancelling headset mic.

Other Thoughts:

This is a fine rugged addition to any laptop travel bag.
I wish it had a cardioid pattern.

Bottomline:

If your laptop or netbook is missing a microphone, this is a good choice.

Pros:

Very small size, decent quality connectors, mild output hiss, moderate input hiss, mild output distortion, low input distortion, very good headphone volume, mic AGC.

Cons:

The input and output jacks may be too close together for oversized plugs.
Output noise floor (hiss) has a tonal component - its pitch depends on Wav and Master ("Speaker") mixer levels.
Input noise is moderate. Mic sensitivity is lower than expected, with either AGC setting. It's a fine line level input, however.
The red status LED(mine had no green LED) is very bright and blinks distractingly during operation (but is easily taped over).

Other Thoughts:

I look forward to trying several units simultaneously for multichannel, multizone mid-fi audio output. The built-in mic AGC may interfere with Skype's auto-level, so I always turn both off.

Bottomline:

A worthy travelbag addition for Skype on mic-less laptops.