Ultra Cool Gadgets

The first generation Slingbox was a big step forward for so-called “place shifting” technology, a device that allowed you to view incoming TV signals on any TV computer in your home, or on any Internet-connected PC around the world. Sling Media is now introducing the successors to this groundbreaking product. Now there are three Slingboxes to choose from, each with features that make it easier than ever to bring your TV and other media with you wherever you roam. Choose from the Slingbox Tuner, AV, and Pro models depending on your entertainment needs.
The Slingbox Pro ensures that you can watch all of your favorite home theater entertainment anywhere you go, with the ability to watch and control up to three standard definition and one high definition video (via component connection) devices. Using an Internet connected computer or compatible mobile phone (with purchase of SlingPlayer Mobile software), you can watch and control your home TV, DVR, basic cable, digital cable box, or satellite receiver anywhere around your home or around the globe. With a Slingbox Pro you will never be separated from your favorite TV shows, sports broadcasts, breaking news stories, digital video recordings, or video on demand. The Slingbox Pro also includes the free Slingbox Finder service to locate a Slingbox from any network location, in or out of the home.

Technical Details:
- Redirects the TV signal to the computer of your choice–providing high quality video, no matter the distance
- SlingStream technology delivers up to a 400 percent video quality improvement over the original Slingbox
- Connects to digital cable box, DVR, satellite receiver, DVD players, video/security camera, or any NTSC component HD, S-video, or composite video source
- Includes free Slingbox Finder service to locate a Slingbox from any network location
- Watch and control your home TV, DVR, basic cable, digital cable box, or satellite receiver anywhere around your home or around the globe

Customer feedback:

1. Installation was quick and painless, but what about the real question: How’s the streaming video quality? Well, on my home PC, which obviously has an advantage since it’s on the same network as the Slingbox, I can get great streaming video. But that’s no real challenge.
So I went over to a friend’s house, where there’s a kinda miserable DSL connection, installed the Slingbox player, and fired it up…And guess what? After about 30 seconds, where the slingbox player was adjusting the compression/resolution in order to provide stutter free playback, the picture was rock solid. Better than anything I’ve EVER experienced with video from any web server. And it stayed rock solid. W-O-W! I’m sold. This product is for real. What a great product.

2. The MAC OS X client works like a charm, despite being in Beta. On a Core Duo MacBook Pro, the OS X client is quicker than the WinXP client running on similar Core Duo Dell hardware (E1705). Very nice. Being able to customize the button interface and swap interfaces between Mac and PC (to suit what cable channels you commonly watch) is a nice touch as well.
Lacking any Pocket PC hardware, I can’t tell you how well the handheld client runs (are you listening Sling? My Blackberry feels left out!) although the friend that recommended this product to me has connected to my Sling over the internet with his handheld HP. I’m done here. Nice product, some extra features like 802.11 would be nice, not having to spend an extra 50 bucks on a proprietary HD cable would be nicer still. Despite that, I’m a happy camper.

Revel in astounding HD clarity with the BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc player. The most noticeable additions to this year’s model are the Ethernet port that lets you download firmware updates directly to the player, and — with one of those firmware updates — access web contetent encoded to Blu-ray discs via BD-Live, compatibility with the Bonus View feature of select Blu-ray movies, and a USB port that allows you to add more storage to access the growing number of special features that will be available given the immense storage capacity of Blu-ray discs themeselves. This player also outputs a Full 1080/24p True Cinema picture, and upscales your existing DVD collection to 1080p when using an HDMI connection. Dolby TrueHD capability delivers lossless sound that is true to the original studio master. Bringing it all together is the new icon based Xcross Media Bar, which provides simple navigation of the player’s menu system.

Key Features:
- True 1080p Output
- Dolby TrueHD compatible
- Ethernet connection for BD-Live Compatibility and firmware updates
- USB Port Allows More Storage for Access to More Special Features, Like Bonus View
- Higher Bit Rates mean less video compression
- Emmy-Award Winning Xross Media Bar Interface
- Bravia Sync for Easy Connectivity

Customer feedback:

1. The Sony player was a pleasant surprise. The start up time was very respectable, and was comparable to the Panasonic DMP-BD30K. After setting up the player I proceeded to run the same tests that I ran on the Panasonic. I had read online that people were impressed with the BDP-S350’s upconvertion abilities, but having owned multiple Oppo DVD players (in my opinion, some of the best out there) I was skeptical. I put in a SD DVD and could immediately see the improvement over the Panasonic. Although the image is a little softer compared to my obsolete Toshiba HD-A20 HD-DVD player, and my other Oppo DVD players, it was still excellent. It made the Panasonic’s upscaling abilities seem unrefined and outdated. Next, I then jumped into the players setup menu and changed the players output resolution. What really amazed me was that when I exited the menu the player began playing my disc where I had left off. Finally, I tried powering the BDP-S350 down while in the middle of a DVD. When I powered the player back on it remembered where I had left off and began to play the disc. The Sony BDP-S350 seems the winner in my opinion due to its superior upconversion and disc playback memory.

2. My previous Blu-ray player was a Sony until late last year when I purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD30 which had all the latest profile upgrades. The biggest problem with the Sony was its slow loading time. With the BDP-S350, this has all changed for the better. Load time have vastly improved and it is a Profile 2.0 player. Picture quality is stunning, but most Blu-ray players display this picture.
One of the best features of this player is its size. Sony has been able to reduce the size of the player to just over a 2″ height and only 8-3/4″ deep. Sony’s previous model was nearly 15″ deep and just over 3″ high. Finally Sony adds a remaining time function to the display. Previous models only had a elapsed and total time display, so you had to do the remaining time in your head. Most Sony DVD players always had this function, but this is a first for their Blu-ray players.

TiVo HD XL - You’re ultimate HD cable experience. Discover a whole new universe of entertainment - in crystal-clear THX sound and picture-optimized for digital cable. It’s all the digital entertainment you want, whenever you want it! With the Emmy Award-Winning TiVo service, plus movies, music, and videos from the internet, TiVo HD XL makes the most of broadcast and broadband.

Technical Details
- More recording space, up to 150 hours of HD shows
- THX Certified for exceptional sound and video quality
- Pause live TV, plus rewind, slo-mo, and instant replay any channel, any time
- 1 Box. All Entertainment.
- Download your favorite movies and TV shows from the web, stream music, watch YouTube on TiVo, and more!

Customer feedback:

a. First off this is the fourth DVR I’ve used (fifth if you count the Tivo Series 2 I bought my parents years ago). My first was a 160-hour ReplayTV (no longer available), and I loved it. As you’d guess when you have 160 hours to play with you have a lot of options. I was first afraid I’d become a TV addict, recording and watching far more TV than I ever did before - and in the first month or so that was basically true. Over time, however, you find your habits change - I eventually grew tired of recording every show ever broadcast, and instead used the capacity to only record my favorite shows, but with multiple episodes. That is, if you have a ton of room you don’t have to watch ‘ER’ every Thursday at 10 - you can read a book instead until you’re tired, then just hit the sack. Only when you’re in the mood will you fire the DVR up, and you’ll find multiple episodes of your favorite shows to watch. I actually found I was watching less TV, or at least TV on fewer evenings, with the large capacity DVR - I’d broken the habit of sitting down in front of the boob tube at 8 to be fed by the networks (and waiting through their commercials).
Well when the HDTV switch came around and I started using the DVR from my cable company and it’s 15 hours of High Def capacity, I went from DVR bliss to recording-management he$$. I could not record much at all, and so instead I seemed to spend all my time massaging my recordings (recording repeats at a later time to free up space now) or, what was worse, finding myself trapped between watching a show when I wasn’t in the mood or finding it gone the next day. Also, obviously, I couldn’t record near as much a variety as before.

b. 1. Tons of memory. Since I’m only recording SD programming (for now) just to give you an idea, I can record 500+ hours of high quality SD video as compared with the series 2 that held about 20.
2. HD 1080i/surround sound capability. The feature is there when I need it, I can hook it up to over the air antenna for local HD broadcasting if I so desired (just got it so I haven’t set that up yet)
3. Dual channel recording. This was the major limiting feature of the series 2, only one channel before and it was whichever channel the TiVo was set to at the time. Now you have two, and if you hook it up right you can watch 3 programs simultaneously (2 on TiVo, one ‘live’ through TV)
4. The cable card feature that allows your TiVo to act as a cable box for your cable company (provided you actually have a cable company who has the cable cards). I talked with the people at TiVo and they said EVERY cable company is bound by an agreement to support TiVo, however I couldn’t get either of my cable companies to admit that or even acknowledge whether they had cable cards I could use.
5. Everything else that makes TiVo wonderful is also here.
To me this was worth every penny. If you have a cable provider who’s not willing to jack you around and actually let you use the cable card feature for your HD programming, don’t let anyone talk you into those “better than TiVo” DVRs. You’ll miss out on the, “I wonder what my TiVo recorded for me today…” and the “bloop bloop” …commercial skipping.. “bloop” with the perfect auto-backup that takes human reaction time into account.

The Slingbox SOLO allows you to watch and control your favorite TV source from anywhere in the world on your laptop or mobile phone. So now nothing can come between you and your DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver, or DVD player. The Slingbox SOLO not only allows you to watch your home television anywhere, but it also allows you to watch any cable subscriptions, special programming, or sports packages you may have–at no extra cost. If it’s on your home TV, it’s on your computer and phone–with no monthly fees. With the Slingbox SOLO, you can watch all your favorites wherever you see fit.

Features:

- Watch your HDTV anywhere on your laptop or mobile phone.
- No monthly fees.
- Watch and control a high-definition or standard definition A/V device, such as a DVR, cable set top box, satellite receiver or DVD player.
- Full set of pass-through connections for easy integration with virtually any A/V device.
- On screen remote control. Every feature that’s available on your TV remote control is accessible through the included SlingPlayer software for your Windows or Mac laptop. This means you can view your electronic program guide (EPG), change the channels, queue a recording on your DVR, or even watch pay-per-view movies.
- Clip+Sling ready. Use your Slingbox to clip segments of your favorite TV programs and share them with friends and family online.
- Mobile phone compatibility. SlingPlayer Mobile software lets you watch and control your TV and all of its programming on compatible Windows Mobile, Symbian or Palm mobile phones. Separate download required.
- Crisp video streaming. SlingStream is the innovative streaming technology that ensures you receive the clearest picture possible at any given location.
- Supports over 5,000 A/V devices.
- Broadband internet connection w/router required.
- Supports Windows XP/Vista, Mac and Windows Mobile, Symbian or Palm OS-based mobile devices.

Customer feedback:

1. I have spent the last couple hours playing with the new Slingbox Solo. In comparison to the Slingbox pro I like this new model better. It is about 1/2 the size and does not need an extra dongle for HD video. The software to setup the device is very easy and very fast. Video quality on a home network is superb. Internet is not bad but depends on how much upstream bandwidth you have available.
The only gripe I have with it is the unit does not come with any component cables. This however is a small gripe. Overall this device is well worth the money if you like watching TV. Hopefully slingmedia will come out with an iPhone client soon.

2. The technology works! Using a Sprint Air card I was able to keep tuned into my TV while driving in the country. This is probably the worst case scenario for remote reception. I was only getting about 100K download speed with occasional dropouts. No other streamer that I have tested would work under these conditions.
I was running 320-240 res under these conditions. With faster more stable connection you can run higher. At home on my home network I run 640×480 resolution with a maximum stream rate of 6000Kbps with Near CD quality Audio. It works! It works! It Works!!

Add high-quality entertainment to your home theater without adding clutter. Receive your premium digital cable channels in their full native HD format with CableCARD decoders (available from your cable provider). The TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder is also compatible with analog cable and over-the-air digital HD (ATSC). Provides an all-digital connection to your high-end display: HDMI for video, SP/DIF for audio.
It’s not home theater without THX®-certification. The TiVo Series3 HD box maintains all of the sharpness and detail found in the original broadcast-both in sound and picture-so you get the complete high-definition experience as it was intended. Record up to 300 hours of standard recording time or up to 32 in High Definition with this THX-certified digital video recorder that delivers high-quality, high-definition programming and allows you to record up to 2 live shows at once. Schedule recordings anywhere from tivo.com and the advanced TiVo broadband features, including digital photos, Internet radio, podcasts. The backlit programmable remote control is easy to configure to your TV.
- CableCARD technology to access your HD digital cable channels
- Supports digital cable, analog cable, and ATSC terrestrial over-the-air digital
- Full 1080i output over component or HDMI
- Extremely quiet box

Product details:

- The world’s first THX-certified DVR, delivers the highest-quality home theater AV experience
- 300 hour recording capacity, twice as much as most cable alternatives; 25-35 hours of HD
- Easily connect to your home network with built-in Ethernet and USB ports
- Record 2 live digital cable channels at once, while watching a pre-recorded show
TiVo service subscription required

Customer feedback:

1. When we purchased an HDTV earlier this year, we resigned ourselves to using the DVR provided by Comcast, our cable company. We knew we needed DVR functionality, and we weren’t content to watch only standard definition TV on our new set. So we bit the bullet and replaced our TiVo Series 2 with the Comcast-supplied DVR. I’m not going to review the Comcast DVR in depth here, but it’s safe to say that I’m overjoyed to be able to go back to a TiVo device for our main TV.
I’ve been using the TiVo Series 3 for only about three days, so these are initial impressions. Overall, it’s a huge improvement over the cable company DVR. It has the same awesome TiVo interface we knew and loved from our previous TiVos, but it’s been spruced up a bit for HD. It looks nice. The picture quality is excellent, and the TiVo Series 3 has a great variety of options for what video modes it sends to the TV.
I had absolutely no trouble getting the two Cable Cards working. I plugged them both in to the box at the appropriate point in Guided Setup, called Comcast to have them activated, and then finished Guided Setup. They’ve worked perfectly from the beginning, tuning both SD and HD channels, both premium and non-premium.

2. TiVo did a spectacular job with the hardware. The recorder can hold ~35 hours of HDTV or ~300 hours of non-HD programming, which is significantly more than cable company-provided DVRs. The Series3 can record two shows at once — either OTA (connect an antenna to receive the networks) or cable via CableCards, and if you have a recent HDTV, the TiVo can output all the recording via HDMI (a pure digital connection between the TiVo and your HDTV). It also contains a host of less major upgrades (back lit remote, an OLED display, etc) that improve upon the famous TiVo experience.
I should point out that, at the time of writing, the Series3 is missing functionality that is available on older TiVos, such as ability to export shows to your PC, iPod, etc (TivoToGo), and the ability to view shows recorded on the Series3 on other TiVos in your house (Multi-room viewing). If these are important to you, you may want to delay your purchase until this functionality is added (currently, there is no guarantee they will be available). I rated the item as “4 stars” because of the missing functionality.

Redefine your audio listening experience with the Creative GigaWorks T40. This new class of performance desktop speakers features a three-driver design for audiophile-like audio that injects new life to your desktop music-listening experience. Like the GigaWorks T20 the Creative GigaWorks T40 features the same hallmark of quality the GigaWorks series of speakers is well-known for–guaranteeing you a rich and defined performance. The GigaWorks T40 features Midrange-Tweeter-Midrange (MTM) driver configuration that improves the overall audio balance with deeper and richer bass effects, giving you music that sounds fuller, warmer in tone and closer to the original audio.
With quality components, such as the dual woven glass fiber cone driver, the cloth dome tweeters, BasXPort technology and the convenient control and entertainment extension, the GigaWorks T40 truly delivers its promise of acoustic audio quality with a style that complements any setup.

Technical Details:
Product Type - Speaker
Localization - Eng/Fr
System Components - 2.0 Speaker System
- Dual woven glass fiber cone
- Cloth dome tweeter

Customer feedback:

1. My curiosity got the better of me with these and I had to try them out. With the Creative GigaWorks T40 Premium 2.0 Speaker System they are really forcing consumers into some tough decisions, and that’s a good thing. The bottom line is that this update makes the T40s the best speakers in a 2.0 Bookshelf body type. Just like Creative’s GigaWorks T20 2.0, these speakers are very efficient, getting clear and impressive sound out of a set that has moderate power ratings. They are also well designed and pleasing to the eye, with slightly taller bodies in the same sleek style of the T20s.

Pros
+ Expanded design adds clarity and range with an added mid-woofer pair
+ Nice looks in a sleek form factor
+ High quality ports and cables allow for nice connection options
+ Extra cable
+ Nice adapter for RCA inputs (TV, receiver, etc.)
+ Decent low-end range and base with fantastic mid-range and high end sound
+ Nice more sturdy housing with good controls
+ Great sound output for limited power consumption and in a small 2.0 footprint

Cons:
- Bass XPorts on top will collect dust
- Cost is higher than the smaller T20s or Klipsch Promedias
- Price puts this set closer to 2.1 sets and some low end 5.1 sets

2. I’ll admit that I was drawn to these speakers by their striking appearance. They are very attractive speakers and also seem very well built, as if Creative had spared no expense on the casing and yellow woven drivers. So that said, how good are these speakers? First off, when watching movies or television on my laptop, these are fantastic. They sound like surround sound and are very clear and very loud. I don’t know how Creative got such great results from such a meager power rating (28 watts) but they did. These would be great for a living room if you wanted to attach them to a television. For music, you get similar clarity and volume. The bass is also very impressive and my friends did not believe me that there was not a subwoofer in there somewhere. That said, I noticed something that annoyed me when listening to music: the music sounded hollow somehow. It’s a small complaint to an otherwise great set of speakers, but it is still annoying. For audiophiles, this will probably be an important issue so I would recommend my previous speakers (Philips MMS321 2.0, $65 on Amazon) as a better alternative. They are not quite as loud but the sound quality is comparable. The Philips also have more watts (40) and are considerably less expensive.

The newly released Mastech MS8268 is an auto/manual ranging digital multimeter. It is packed with many nice features such as sound and light warning for the jacks and back-lit LCD Screen. This meter powers on three AAA batteries. Accessories include test leads & user Manual.

Technical Details:
- AC/DC 1000V/10A 200KHz 200uF 40Mohm Relative Measurement hFE Diode Check Continuity
- LED / Sound Warning when incorrect banana jacks are used relative to function switch setting
- Auto and Manual Ranging with Relative measurement (all ranges except frequency)
- All range fused (resettable) with 1 Year Warranty
- Auto power off (could be disabled) & Blue LED Back-lit LCD displa

Customer feedback:

1. In general, this is a great device for this cost range. It has all features required for daily usage. Description of multimeter can be found in internet. Here are some specific features:
- In any range two terminals to be used are illuminated with red LEDs (see foto). LED is swithed off when lead is pushed into terminal. If lead is pushed into wrong terminal for this range then correct terminal blinks and beeps.
- Automatic range; manual range selection with button.
- Wide set of ranges, including 400.0 mV and 400.0 uA
- Relative measurements and display hold. White backlight (5 seconds)
- Resettable fuse for current ranges (non-resettable for 10A range)
- Display data refresh: 3 per second.

Imperfection:
- Frequency measurement accuracy is low: 2%
- In accordance with manual, package must contain “Special Multi-Function socket” (required for hFE measurement). There was no such device in my package.

2. I’ve been getting back into electronics and I needed a more modern meter that has capacitance and frequency measuring abilities in addition to the usual Voltage, Amperage, Resistance, etc. I haven’t shopped for a meter in about 15 years, so after reading up a bit I found this one to have all the features I needed and it was very inexpensive. The quality is good, comparing favorably with some other VOM’s I have lying around. It included an adapter for measuring transistor hFE which was not mentioned in the description and is a nice bonus. The only negative is that the continuity test buzzer is pretty quiet and might be hard to hear in some environments. Overall, I’m extremely pleased with this meter.

Ten outlets work together, autoswitching your devices on/off automatically, to save you money on your electric bills. 2875 joules of surge protection keep your equipment safe from even the harshest power spikes. Conveniently-spaced outlets and a 45-degree, angled space saver plug make the Smart Strip a friendly addition to your electronic systems.

Technical Details:
- Superior EMI/RFI filtering
- Up to 60db line noise reduction
- 84,000Amp, three-way protection
- 4 way wall mountable
- 2875 joules three-way protection

Customer feedback:

1. Works perfectly! I’m sure I’ll start seeing savings right away since I have plethora of equipment. Setup is simple, just plug the TV i it into the controlling outlet and then the DVD player, xbox, etc… into the switching outlets. Now when I power off/on the TV everything shuts off/on with it. The nice thing about the power strip is that it has a couple of always-on outlets for recording devices - so they don’t lose the date and time. This is a well thought out and simple product.

2. If you want something to help you save a few buck on your energy bill while also prolonging the life of Equipment, this is the tool for you. I had an idea what this SmartStrip could do but i really wanted to see it for myself. This guy is as simple as it sounds and just as convient. You have 1 outlet that you plug your switching device in. The switching device is the device that when you turn on or off turns everything else on or off. You also have 2 Always ON outlets (for DVR boxes or Broadband Modem, etc). And 4 “Controlled” outlets, 1 of which is an extra wide one. Now, the 1 outlet for the switching device is an Always ON outlet.
There is a little knob on the side for helping you tweek the switching setting that power off everything else when you put the main device into a low power state or off. Because some things draw power even when turned off so you may need to tweek it.
I bought this to try it out at work. If you want something to definitely help at home or at the office, this is perfect. At work, i had my Laptop at the switching port. I plugged the Monitor, the Speakers, the Desk Lamp, my cell chargers, any and all accessories into the controlled ports. I tweeked the knob on the side so that when I put my laptop into Standby, that it will also shut off everything else as well. To tweek it, you must put the computer into Standby mode and adjusted the knob until all the devices turn off. This is great because the moment i shutdown the computer at night, it turns everything off and i don’t have to forget about turning anything off. All that littles of electricity its saving is great.

Electric bills can be murder. But now you can cut down on costs and find out which machines are actually worth keeping plugged in. Simply connect your appliances to the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor and it will assess how efficient they really are. The unit’s large LCD display counts consumption by the kilowatt-hour, the same as your local utility. You can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, or year while also checking the quality of your power by monitoring voltage, line frequency, and power factor. Now you’ll know if it’s time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is saving you money. Don’t be another casualty. With the amazing Kill-a-Watt, you’ll have wasteful devices pushing up daisies.

Technical Details:
- Electricity usage monitor connects to appliances and assesses efficiency
- Large LCD display counts consumption by the kilowatt-hour
- Calculates electricity expenses by the day, week, month, or year
- Displays volts, amps, and wattage within 0.2 percent accuracy
- Compatible with inverters; designed for use with AC 115-volt appliances

Customer feedback:

1. I absolutely love this thing. Having recently moved out on my own, and generally just enjoying statistics in general, I bought this to monitor my electric costs after two high electric bills in a row. The various results I found were quite surprising.
My air purifier, which I bought here on Amazon, uses 85 watts all the time… 85 * 24 hrs * 30 days / 1000 watts = 61.2kWhr * $0.20 = $12.24 a month. Well, that’s quite a costly monthly addition I never thought of. And that’s just the begining.
My Vornado fan uses 45w… my air conditioner, on high 6 (out of 12) spikes up to 1200 watts. Jeez. My computer, at idle with external drives, uses about 250w. When doing extremely intensive things, like encoding a video, 310w. My light behind my computer desk, with five, 10-watt bulbs, doesn’t actually use 50-watts total. No, it uses 50-watts for the bulbs, PLUS 30-watts apparently just for the light unit to function.
You too will find out all these things you never knew, and possibly save money by cutting out, or replacing energy guzzlers.

2. Two years ago, my electricity consumption jumped about 40% and I ignored the problem until this fall’s rate increases. I wanted to find out what I bought back in 2003 that’s still eating power today. Enter the P4400 Kill-A-Watt unit, which is the only low-cost product of its type on the market today. I tried but failed to find its specifications online. So I bought a couple of these things to try them out. Here are the details on what it can do.
* How big is the display: 4 digits.
* What are the front-panel button capabilities: volts, amps, watts, volt-amps, power-factor, frequency (hz), KWH, timer (since reset).
* Does it lose its data in a power failure: yes.
* You have to plug the unit into a nonswitched wall outlet, it can’t measure overhead lighting or large appliances.
* It will report the amount of time (hours:min up to 99:59, then hours for about a year) since last reset but won’t tell you how much of that time the attached device was powered on.

Weller’s soldering station for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers. Includes a 40 watt soldering iron that is lightweight with a cushioned foam grip. Soldering iron also has a replaceable heating element. In addition, the unit comes with a soldering station that includes a safety guard iron holder, sponge tip cleaning pad, on/off switch with “power-on” indicator light, and variable power control from 5 to 40 watts.

Technical Details:
- On/Off switch with “power-on” indicator light.
- Variable power control produces 5-40 watts.
- Quality lightweight pencil iron with cushioned foam grip with replaceable heating element.
- ST3 iron-plated copper tip.

Customer feedback:

1. Many years ago when I got this iron, it was only $30, and I see it has almost doubled in price, but STILL FAR BELOW the cost of the other Weller soldering iron stations! And there is really no other reason to get the other ones, when one of the elements goes bad on the other ones, you have to pay more than the price of this whole station just to replace the element! This one doesn’t have any element, you just replace the tip, which you can get at any Radio Shack for a dollar or two tops. And I still have not needed to replace the tip on this one after years of use, since I keep the tip nice and tinned.
This heats up nice and fast, is always reliable, just as good as any of the BLUE ones that cost three and four times the cost that the same company sells, and has never let me down. Get it now, before they raise the price any more! Once you get it, it should last a lifetime.

2. I purchased this needing to do a very delicate (several hour long) solder job, and I needed more than just the little handheld I keep around the house. I used to work professionally in the electronics repair business, but had long since gotten rid of my tools.
This is a very well built soldering station that really holds up. If you are a beginner or professional, you will appreciate the ease of use and nice soldering this station allows you to do. The temperature control makes it great for a multitude of projects. In short, don’t be fooled by the low price. This station will perform as well as any $100.00+ unit out there.