HoverCam Review (T3)

The HoverCam T3 is a slim office camera that takes videos, scans documents, and even displays live video on screen for presentations or classes.

What makes the HoverCam different than other office cameras is that it towers almost 2ft tall to get a full picture of your document, but collapses down to just over a foot for easy storage. Overall, the T3 is a slim 6 inches in diameter and 15 inches around the base.

Another cool physical feature on the HoverCam T3 is the built-in light. The 5 1/2 inch long, 6 LED light is located just behind the actual camera and is perfect for getting a better picture, especially when you scan. The only down side of the light is that it only has one setting, which is pretty bright. It’s not a huge deal though because the T3 adjusts to different lighting, so one light setting isn’t a real big problem.

The actual picture quality itself is pretty good. When you’re taking a video it’s a bit grainy, but you can adjust the settings and resolution to make it better. The built-in light really helps with video quality also.

In the picture below, I scanned a sample document in standard 12-size Times New Roman font with the HoverCam T3. In the picture I also had the light on (click the image to see it full size):

If you take a little more time, you can get it more centered than I did. Also the HoverCam software has features to get the lighting right, center it, etc..

The HoverCam software that the T3 comes with is pretty cool. Besides the basic centering, lighting settings, and that sort of stuff, there’s this “Annotate” button where you can draw stuff on the screen. The Annotate feature is especially great for presentations or classes (among other things) because you can illustrate and circle things for a audience (the HoverCam could most likely be easily hooked up to display a live feed from the camera on a TV or projector with a few necessary cables).

Here’s the same picture as before with a couple Annotates scribbled on there (and I centered it a whole lot better):

Those little scribbles are just the tip of the iceberg, too. Besides scribbles and arrows, they have ovals, rectangles, text (I put “ANNOTATE!” text in the picture above), straight lines, about a hundred different colors, and more. And, like I said, you can do this on live videos, too, not just still pictures.

A couple other features include Effects (which, depending on what effects you use, can make pictures black and white, emboss, sharpen the picture and more), and for presentations/classes you can zoom in and out to get a closer look at what you’re presenting. Also, the HoverCam T3 comes with a scaling mat that goes under the HoverCam so you can center your document with precision.

To wrap up, the HoverCam T3 is a very versatile camera that isn’t just for taking pictures, it could work for a wide range of users. Using it is fool proof, but is very effective. It is pricey at $200 (although, it’s on the cheaper side when you factor in competitors selling cameras for $700+), but is well worth it if you want a serious camera. Overall, I very much approve.

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Hovercam Review (Kudos 3)

The Hovercam is a unique and stylishly modern office camera. I personally have the Kudos 3, but the whole line of Hovercam camcorders, ranging from the slim and tidy “T” series to the modern workhorse “Kudos” series, are all easy on the eyes.

The Hovercam isn’t only a pretty paper-weight, either. Depending on which model you have, you can take videos, scan documents, take snap-shots, share with friends, and edit videos with “annotations”. And, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

What makes Hovercam different than any other webcam or video camera is it’s raised position, fold out design, and dual cameras. The dual cameras (featured on the Kudos series) can take both video of straight down, and face-shots, which allows you to use it as almost a webcam.

It’s perfect for someone wanting to scan documents without the hassle of a printer, someone with a cluttered desk looking for a small compact camera, or even for someone looking for a hands-free way to be able to manipulate something and still get a good shot.

The Hovercam is also great for teachers, or anyone looking to do something on a large scale projector. Due to its down-image perspective, it is ideal for presentations, too.

The Hovercam set up, it’s very easy to use… you could even say “a caveman could do it”. You can start filming within seconds.

The Hovercam isn’t lacking the features, either. Its also smart. To name just a few key features: Scan a document and simply drag it right into a email, easily make mini-booklets by stacking images, powerfully zoom in and out of pictures, and much more.

The only thing you need to spend a little time fooling around with is the Annotations. What Annotations allows you to do is, make arrows, circles, text, etc. right on top of the video, which is a really cool feature.

For a full detail of everything the Hovercam does, I made a actual video using the Hovercam Kudos 3. The following video was, as I’ve said, taped using the actual Hovercam itself:

The Kudos series also features a second “face-shot” camera that I didn’t show in the video, but it’s mounted on the post that the down-image camera collapses into. Also not shown in the video is all the key features such as scanning, emailing, zooming, etc. The video was just the extreme tip of the iceberg.

As far as the picture quality goes, I’m pretty impressed by it. The video above was slow, but that was because the resolution was very high. If you have it on a lower res, it’s much better. Another cool thing is that in low light situations, the Kudos 3 features a light. This is very helpful for those who work late at night or early in the morning.

The kind of people I would recommend this to is anyone even close to the following:
Teachers
Lecturers
Shoppers (to easily scan receipts and organize them on the spot)
Office workers (again, easily scan documents without all the hassle)
Students
Cooks (store recipes safely and hassle free)
Reviewers (show-off products, hands free to manipulate things)
Sales People (simply and easily use annotations to glorify and showcase key features in your products)
Anyone in animation/film
Editorial/Walk-throughs (video tape how-to videos)
Webcam users (Hovercams vast community network allows you to conect with family and friends, just like a webcam)
Someone looking for a modest, elegant video camera
Web designers (scan in pictures to use on the computer)
Grandparents (they can very simply scan in pictures of grandchildern, etc.)
Scrapbook People (scan and copy images for multiple pictures)
The list just goes on and on! I honestly recommend it to anyone.

So, in a wrap, I approve of the Hovercam Kudos 3. As for the rest of the Hovercam models, I’m sure they’re just as good. I would recommend it to the middle-class pencil pusher, or anyone else who is into video cameras. While the Hovercam is a little big and requires a USB cable connection which is a bit of a hassle, it really does let you be able to have both hands free to film. So, if you’re a very serious animation/artist/reviewer that demands the best, I’d recommend something else. But, if you’re just looking for a good quality, sure shot, then I highly recommend this.

And, also, (exclusive from Very True Review), save 5% off any Hovercam by entering the promo code “VERYTRUE” at (www.thehovercam), at the checkout! As I said, this is a free exclusive offer from Very True Review; and made possible by the wonderful people at Hovercam.

Points2Shop: Is it a Scam?

Points2Shop claims to pay you points to turn into cash or redeem on Amazon for filling out surveys. Easy enough. But, is this a case of what seems to be to good to believe, is to good to believe?

Sort of. Points2Shop works great for about a week or so. But once you start racking up some points; 1000, 1100, 1200, etc. (100 points = one dollar), Points2Shop will put your account on hold and freeze all of your orders, and in some cases reset your points to 250. They’ll prompt you to sent in a “Ticket” which is a complaint. It takes about 3 days for them to respond to your ticket. And once they respond, almost every time, they’ll make you just through a ton of hoops. They’ll ask for proof of who you are like your Drivers License. Once you provide them with that, they’ll want you to upload a photo onto Photo Bucket of yourself that they can see. After that they might re-activate your account, but they’ll want you to re-order anything you might have ordered and want you to pay for it. Example: if you bought a 100 point item prior to having your account held, they’ll ask the USPS to not deliver the item to you, and ask you to pay for that item again in order to get it. So on a 100 point item you would spend 200 to get it delivered. And if you had many items, you could go bankrupt re-paying for them all.

Also, in order to complete survey to earn points, you must jump through all kinds of hoops with the survey owners. They ask for your gender, race, how much your yearly income is, email address, phone number, and home address to name a few (in some “surveys” they ask for your Social ID number!). Basically it’s more than a survey, you might only be asked 5 questions, but you have to spill all your info to even qualify for a survey, and half the time you don’t qualify anyway, and then you just singed all your info away to the devil for nothing.

So, basically, while you can get some free stuff of Points2Shop, you have to virtually invite them into your home and tell them everything your mother always told you to never tell anyone.  The reality is, there is no easy way to make money, if your even looking into Points2Shop know that you jump through hundreds of hoops to get anything, and even when you do comply with all their hoops it’s still very slow to make any money; you could literally  make more in one day flipping Big Macs at McDonalds than you could in a month at Points2Shop. All-in-all it’s really a nightmare to earn 3 dollars. I would highly recommend that you don’t even waste your time with P2S and do something else like build tree houses or cut grass if you’re that desperate for money. But, the million dollar question; is P2S a scam? I would say not even to bother with it, it is a scam, but it’s really for you to decide.

Fruit Filled Mini-Wheats? Mini-Wheats Touch of Fruit in the Middle Review

We’ve seen chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, cinnamon, and just about every other flavor of Mini-Wheats, but fruit filled? Just last month, the debut of Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats “With A Touch of Fruit in the Middle” went off with a bang. The marketing campaign’s been relentless for these tiny fruit-filled wheats, invading commercials everywhere.

I’m skeptical of any thing in the middle of something, and even more so when they use “touch”. Usually it’s a tiny little spec of filling that a mouse can’t pick out.

But, all odds against it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a good amount of “fruit” in there. Was it actual fruit in there? Probably not, probably some mix of corn and sugar, but who cares, we eat that junk all the time anyway.

Real fruit aside, while there is a nice chewy kernel inside each little Mini-Wheat, it’s really up to you if you like it or not. On the one hand, it’s chewy, which some people won’t like. But, on the other hand, it’s a good change up from the regular old breakfast cereal. When you bite into it, it’s a little chewy and sticky, but as you eat more, it tastes almost like a pop-tart or something sweet/chewy like that. My personal opinion is that I like it a lot, and that it’s different, and it’s something I could definitely see myself eating.

Looking for Airsoft Reviews?

Hi, guys.

A couple of days ago we opened up a airsoft website full of reviews, tips, and much more. Even take a crash-course on airsoft!

http://www.airsofterunited.wordpress.com

I’ll be posting regularly on both that and this site.

I always try to get you true reviews, and I’ll keep striving to do so,

Quinn Reilly

Lego Rebel Trooper Battle Pack (8083) Review

The Rebel Trooper Battle Pack, item #8083, is the rebel side of the Lego battle on Hoth. It goes along with the separate pack of Snow Troopers (model 8084) to fight against.

The pack comes with 79 pieces, including the Minifigure’s parts. Included is four Minifigures, guns, and a battle tank for one of the Minifigures to drive.

The battle tank thing has two shoot able rockets on either side, a storage compartment for a gun to go in, and a turret.

Overall this is a great product. And a good deal to, for only eleven bucks.

Nutri-Grain Bar Review

I don’t know if I was really inspired to pass on the bean burrito at lunch after eating a Raspberry Nutri-Grain bar earlier in the morning, like on the commercial. But I do however like it’s taste.

They’re only 100-200 calories per bar (depending what flavor you get) and they make a pretty yummy snack. Taste wise, the crust part is nice and crumby and rich with a tiny pinch of noticeable salt. The filling is good to, although the crust takes over most of the taste. It’s a whole lot better than Fit and Active grain bars.

I’d recommend this instead of a candy bar, or whenever you’re hungry and you start searching around for candy or something. I even eat one or two instead of breakfast when I have a football game that day so I can make weigh-in.

So here’s my review stats on Nutri-Grain bars:

Nerf Vulcan Dart Gun Review

The Vulcan is Nerf’s first fully auto gun. I jumped on it the day it came out. With fifty bucks of allowance money I marched into Wal-Mart and got it.

It was a pretty good decision. Now it’s like thirty-nine dollars, which is a much more reasonable price.

The semi-auto mode is good, fast, and reliable. Probably one of the better semi-auto guns around.

The fully-auto feature is great but jams A LOT. It’s still worth it, though.

In this video I demonstrate the basics:

Okay, so here’s my overall stats:

iPhone 4 Review

The iPhone 4 is the hottest new phone around. The internet is semi-fast (I’ve got 3G not 4).

It’s got a ton of apps, fishing apps, sunrise/sunset apps, ping-pong apps, weather apps, shooting apps, battle bears app and much, much more.

It’ll cost you a pretty penny, but it’s worth it.

The iPhone 4 is consistent with all the others, though, same layout, same options, so if you have one of the older versions and are looking to upgrade, then the iPhone 4 is a good choice.

In addition to the millions of apps, the iPhone 4 can play Netflix, and episodes from hundreds of series like The Simpsons. And you can put MP3 songs that are on your computer right on your iPhone, just drag and drop.

So, here’s my review stats on the all new iPhone 4:

Nerf Longshot Dart Gun Review and Operations Video

Although the Nerf Longshot claims to be a sniper rifle, it’s very inaccurate. I like to take the front part and scope off, and use it as a rifle.

I think it might be one of the fastest semi-auto Nerf guns out there. Holding up to eight darts per magazine, it has pretty decent capacity.

The scope is a cool accessory, but it doesn’t have much use, since it’s so very inaccurate. But, what you can do is test. Go to the distance that you’ll be shooting, then fire, measure how much drop the dart had, and aim that much higher than where you want to hit.

Okay, now for my video. I go over the basics here like shooting, accessory, breaking it down, etc. (By the way, my voice sounds really weird in the video… I don’t know why)

Alright, so that’s really all there is to it.

Here’s my review stats: