Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Mine actually got quieter after a few weeks of use, which I didn’t expect. The first couple nights it was noticeable in a dead silent room, but now I barely register it unless I’m listening for it. Still, if you’re already noticing it and you’re a light sleeper, that’s probably not going to just disappear.
I left water sitting in mine for about three days once and the smell when I opened it was enough to make me gag. Not mold or anything fuzzy, just that gross stale water smell that sticks to the plastic. Took two rinses with warm water and a bit of dish soap to get rid of it. Since then I empty it at the end of whatever day I use it, no exceptions. The tank itself comes off without any fuss, one little tab and it slides right out, so emptying is maybe ten seconds of effort. Rinsing takes a bit longer because of the corners, but it is not a hassle. I get that people with light use can get away with leaving it, but after that smell I am not risking it again. For the price of these things I would rather spend the extra minute than deal with that funk drifting into my face while I am trying to work.
The high setting on mine has a more noticeable fan whoosh than the old ceramic thing I had, and I’m in a room about twice the size you mentioned. It’s not a hum, more like air being pushed, so the character of the sound is different even if the volume is similar. I’ve gotten used to it after a few weeks but I can still tell when it kicks on.
The point getting right at the staining is exactly why it feels harsh there, so the flat tip is worth trying even if it feels less precise. I’d give it a few days on the flat one and see if the tingly time shortens at all. If it’s still hanging around for an hour after that, that tells you more than guessing about pressure does.
An hour of tingling seems like a lot, but I don’t think it’s automatically pressure. I barely press with mine and still get a little zing along the gumline on soft mode, so it might just be the vibration itself. Are you using the pointed tip near the gums? I’d swap that for the flat one before assuming it’s your technique.
Mine’s been on top of a bookcase since spring and I mostly notice it when the battery starts dying, not the airflow. The oscillation does spread it around a bit more than a straight fan would up there, but it’s not some magical downward draft. If you want it on your face you’ll still be adjusting the angle constantly.
The button does the recording part fine, but the app is where you actually set things up. Mine records straight from the top button once it’s configured, so I only touch the phone at home. For bike use that’s all I need.
I went through a phase of fiddling with voice commands for texts and it drove me nuts. The car kept mishearing names and then it would read back some garbled mess I had to correct, so I ended up fiddling with the screen anyway, which is worse than just ignoring the thing. I gave up on that part and now I only use voice for calls. If a text needs a real answer, it waits until I park. My commute is about 25 minutes and nothing has ever been urgent enough to justify me poking at the phone.
What actually worked for me was changing where the phone lives, not what it does. For a while I had it in a mount near the dash and I kept glancing at it without even meaning to. Moved it into the center console, screen down, and the reaching is enough of a hassle that I mostly don’t bother. The glovebox would work too but mine is full of junk. I tried Do Not Disturb for a couple weeks and it was fine, though I kept forgetting to turn it off afterwards and missed stuff later in the day. The physical distance thing has stuck better for me than any setting.
One thing I noticed is the first week is annoying because you feel like you’re missing things. After that it just becomes normal. I still check the phone at red lights sometimes, which I know is not great, but at least I’m not doing it at 60.
I ended up going a different direction after reading all this, picked up a plain santoku with no hole at all. The whole thing just seemed like one more variable I didn’t need to deal with on a first knife. Maybe I’ll try one eventually but for now I’m happy with boring.
Mine’s done maybe 20 uses over a few months and the steam still scalds my hand if I’m not careful, so it’s definitely not just warm mist. Whether that translates to actual germ killing I couldn’t tell you, but it’s hot enough that I don’t worry about it much.
Mine barely made it past three weeks with daily scans, so whoever says months must be using it way less. I plug mine in every couple weeks now and stopped expecting anything close to what they advertise.
I went through a phase where I was convinced more data would magically make me healthier. Bought a fancier tracker with all the recovery scores and training readiness stuff. Used it religiously for maybe two months, then realized I was just staring at numbers and still doing the exact same workouts I did with my old cheap one.
The thing that actually changed my behavior was way dumber than any of those scores. My old tracker had a basic weekly step total. Seeing that number get close to a round figure made me take a walk on days I otherwise wouldn’t have. That’s it. Not recovery scores, not sleep stages, not any of the fancy stuff. Just a plain number I could beat.
What I noticed with the upgrade was that I spent more time interpreting the data than acting on it. Like I’d check my “readiness” in the morning and then basically do whatever I was already planning to do anyway. The extra info gave me something to think about but nothing to actually do differently.
So my honest take is that the useful data is usually the boring stuff you already understand. If a new metric requires you to google what it means or read a guide to interpret it, that’s a sign it’s not going to change your routine. The stuff that sticks is the stuff you intuitively know what to do with. For me that’s steps and maybe weight trend. Everything else was just entertainment I paid for.
Leaving it plugged in constantly is what I’d do instead. I’ve had mine on a smart plug for about five months now and the touchscreen and remote still work exactly the same as when I got it. Unplugging it every day just seems like extra wear on the cord for no real benefit.
Been using mine mostly for deer in the back field, and the owls show up fine too once you get the focus dialed. The IR glow is subtle enough that they don’t bolt immediately. Just don’t expect to ID a bird from way across a field, the zoom gets mushy past a certain point.
I’ve had mine for about four months now and the screen is honestly the weakest part of the whole thing when you’re outside. Not useless, but you have to work for it. I found that tilting it slightly away from the sun helps more than cranking brightness, which just drains the battery faster anyway. What bugs me more is the glare off the screen itself, it turns into a mirror at certain angles and I end up seeing my own face instead of what I’m filming. I mostly shoot early morning or evening now so it’s a non issue, but midday rides are a gamble. I still frame stuff by eye and check the footage later. Not ideal but it’s what I signed up for with a cheap action cam.
I’ve had mine for about four months on a secondary TV and the remote has been the least of my complaints. It’s light and plasticky but the buttons register every press, which is more than I can say for the roku remote I had before that kept needing a battery wiggle. The layout took me maybe a week to stop fumbling, mostly because the home button sits where my thumb expects back. Navigation itself doesn’t lag in any way I notice. Scrolling through a long app list is a bit choppy sometimes, but that’s the stick doing the work, not the remote.
The thing I’d actually flag is that the remote uses its own little dongle situation, so if that gets lost you’re stuck. Mine lives on a side table and hasn’t wandered off yet. For a bedroom setup it’s fine. I wouldn’t call it an upgrade over a roku remote in feel, but it’s not a downgrade either.
Half full is exactly when I notice the smell coming back sooner. Mine does fine when it’s topped up, but leave it low for a day and the inside starts getting that stale thing going. So no, I don’t buy that the level doesn’t matter.
I don’t wear glasses either and mine are fine, but the fit is the annoying part. They’re a bit bulkier than normal sunglasses, so they slide a little if I look down too fast. Still usable, just not as snug as I’d like.
Loose after a few hours sounds like the straps are just stretching with movement, not you doing it wrong. Mine never really did that though, so I’d say it’s more about how the brace sits on you than some universal thing. Maybe check the top strap stays put when you bend.
The screen is the whole reason the case isn’t tiny anymore. If you’re coming from one of those old pill-shaped cases you’ll notice it in your pocket right away. I’d rather have the battery readout than pretend it disappears, but a screen case was never going to feel like the old ones.
The draft is going to matter way more than which unit you pick, that part is just true. But since you already know the room is leaky and you’re not expecting miracles, I’d say go for it. I’ve had mine since last fall and the thing that surprised me is how little it actually runs once the room hits the temp I set. It’s not blasting constantly like I assumed it would. It cycles. My old space heater just sat there eating power nonstop, this one actually backs off.
The bigger annoyance for me was placement. I had it tucked in a corner at first because that’s where the outlet was and it felt like it was fighting itself. Moved it more into the open and it made a noticeable difference in how fast the room warmed up. Sounds dumb but it took me a couple weeks to bother trying it.
For a living room you actually sit in every evening, I think it’s fine. It’s not going to fix a room that’s bleeding heat out of every seam, nothing portable will, but if you just want the couch area comfortable while you watch TV, it does that. Mine’s been running most nights since November and I haven’t regretted it. Electric bill went up but not in a way that made me wince.
Mine had enough juice to run for maybe 15 minutes right out of the box, which was enough for me to decide I actually liked it. I still charge everything overnight before real use though, that’s just my habit with anything that has a battery.
Mine mostly just pushes the dust around into piles instead of getting rid of it. The leaves are fine but the fine dirt is a pain. I still use it though, beats sweeping the whole thing by hand.
The mounts are not the problem, the helmet is. Plastic shell on mine is too slick for any of that stuff, so it kept sliding no matter how hard I pressed. I gave up and just clip it to my backpack strap now.
I went with two of these instead of one, mostly because my yard has a dumb layout and the far end gets almost nothing after about 10am. Anyway, the one that gets morning sun only has been fine, but here’s the thing nobody seems to bring up: it depends a lot on what’s actually draining the battery. I had it set to one of the higher frequency modes for the first couple weeks and it was noticeably weaker by late evening. Switched to a lower setting and it stopped doing that entirely. Same spot, same amount of sun.
So it’s not just a sunlight question, it’s sunlight plus how hard you’re running the thing. If your morning spot is genuinely open and not fighting tree cover or a fence, I’d say it’s worth trying, but I’d start on a lower frequency and see how it holds up before assuming it’s a dud. Mine’s been out there since spring and I haven’t touched it.
As for moving it around, I did that at first and honestly it just made things worse because I kept resetting my sense of whether it was working. Left it in one place for a month and that’s when I could actually tell. So one spot is fine, just give it time before you judge it.