Mustek Bluetooth Headphones

Manufacturer: Mustek, Inc

Manufacturer Part Number: MBT-SA120

Product Type: Headphone

Connectivity Technology: Wireless Bluetooth 33 ft

Design Type: Behind-the-neck Binaural

Additional Information:

Li-Polymer rechargeable battery for up to 6 hrs of playback
Data Transfer Rate: 723.2 Kbps
Transmit Range: 16.5-33 ft (5-10 Meters)Power Supply: 100-240 VAC +/- 10%

The freedom to move. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Bluetooth. It doesn't need wires so you dont have to think of how far the devices should be. As a bluetooth enthusiast I have the goal of networking all my devices using bluetooth. I searched the internet for a bluetooth headphone and this one caught my eye.

The Mustek MBT-120 is stylish in design and comfortable to use. Its for active people who don't want to be bothered by pulling out some wires just to have an extra allowance so the headset won't fall. As well as everyone who wants to listen to music without the need for them to put their music player in their pockets.

The package also comes with an adaptor, and it will fit to a 3.5 mm jack, the standard jack for almost all CD and MP3 players. So even if you dont have a bluetooth phone or stereo, you can still use it.

This particular headset can go for more than 10 ft. (the standard reach of bluetooth) to 33 ft from the source. Although when tested with a Nokia N95 phone on a direct connection (without the dongle), it can to only reach for about 20 ft.

On the left side of the headset you will see the PLAY button in the center, surrounded by the +VOLUME button, STOP button, and -VOLUME button. It works flawlessly.


It also has a built in mic so you wont miss a call while listening to your music phone.

Quality of it being both headphone and headset is quite impressive. Being wireless, the quality of sound is far beyond a regular headphone. And the mic is sensitive enough to capture your voice even if it is far from your mouth.

The package comes with a wall charger and a splitter so you can charge the headset and the adaptor at the same time. Charging time is less than an hour and the battery life is more than 10 hours when fully charged. An additional car charger would be nice though *sob*.




Conclussion:
At <$80 you can have a very nice bluetooth headset/headphone that works even if you dont have a bluetooth device. The value is almost comparable to a Bose wired headphone. The brand isn't that popular but it can catch up with major competitors like Sony, Motorola, and Nokia bluetooth headsets.

Toshiba Sattelite A135-S4527

Processor: Intel Pentuim Dual Core T2080 at 1.73 Ghz
Operating system: Windows Vista Premium (with a separate installation disk)
Hard disk: 120 GB @5400 rpm
Memory: 1GB (1024 MB) DDR2 SDRAM (1 Slot available for expansion)
Graphics: On Board Intel GMA 950
Features:

• 1 CD/DVD R/RW Super Multi format drive (supports dual layer DVD's)
  
• 15.4" WXGA display with TruBrite technology
• 802.11b/g Wireless LAN /wifi
• SD/xD/Memory stick card reader (MiniSD, MicroSD, MMC, RS-MMC [MMC MOBILE], etc will need an SD adapter
• 4 USB slots (1 on right side, 2 on the left, 1 on the back)
• Intergrated internal modem for wired internet connection
• a 3.5" jack for mic, another 3.5" jack for headphones
• 2 Stereo Speakers (above the keyboard)
• Dedicated multimedia keys (on the left side of the keyboard)
• i400 slot
• S-Video jack
• SVGA jack for a second monitor

I brought this laptop about four months ago... It was on sale for about $550 Dollars (Circuit City; about $800 for a regular price that time). My first Windows Vista laptop and since I still have doubts using vista, I thought I should just buy it and downgrade it to Windows XP; much better to install a Linux distro for a dual boot. Later on I realized this laptop have more than I expected.

Being a Dual Core laptop, I expected less for Vista to run smoothly since Intel already released the Core Duo 2 processor that time. And for just 1 GB memory, I thought i could only run programs with less memory requirements.

It took me less than 15 seconds to see the log-in screen, and less than 10 seconds to see the wallpaper and the startup menu. The longest time it took is when it loaded up all the startup items (the programs that displays the icon beside the time). It just took me about 2 minutes to load everything from boot-up (I also installed ObjectDock, Yahoo Messenger, and McAfee Security center that loads up during startup). Compared to Sony Vaio (the model that has the same specs) that took me more than 5 minutes for a complete bootup.

I can open Adobe Photoshop, an audio mixer software (which is known to gobble up a lot on memory), Windows Media Player, and Red Alert 3 (just for a test). At the same time I browse the net with my wifi open and I copy files from the DVD ROM.

First time I turned my laptop on, Vista did some post installation of hardware drivers, bundled software, and some Windows set-up like creating the Administrator password, etc. It just took me an hour to finish the "final touching" of the system. Installing directly from the CD will take you more than 3 hours to finish.

Using Windows vista wasn't that bad at all. All it needs is frequent updates and patch everytime its available. Although downloading will take up some memory.

Using the keyboard is great. Keys are more beveled than other laptops so it is a lot easier for me to press the right keys even if I'm not looking at the keyboard. The keys are designed for ease of use with less pressure (suitable for encoders of all levels).



Multimedia keys are on the left side of the keyboard. From the bottom it has a REWIND and FORWARD key (it actually looks like one button but you have to press either the left or right), the STOP key(single key), PLAY/PAUSE key (one button), and the WEB BROWSER and OPEN MEDIA PLAYER keys (it has the same characteristics as the REWIND/FORWARD key). I was a little upset, since I always connect my laptop to my car audio (Dell laptops put the multimedia keys in front). Everytime I need to press forward or rewind I always have to open the lid. Not recommended.

On top of the multimedia keys is the Power key. You can configure the Power key under Control Panel. You can choose to Hibernate, Sleep or Shutdown the laptop if you press the Power key. Same goes when you close the lid. By default, Windows will go to sleep mode when you close the lid and it will hibernate when you press the Power key.

Another good point for this laptop is the speaker. As a musician I always make sure of the proper positioning of speakers in order to hear the best quality of a sound. Toshiba laptops put their speakers above the keyboard. While others put the speakers below. I can hear the quality of the songs while typing since I will not cover the speakers with my palm when I'm typing.

It was kept open for 3 days straight one time. And the performance never degraded. So it should last more than the allocated 5 year life span of any laptop.


Conclussion:

This laptop is a five star among all midrange laptops with the same specs. Now that prices of laptops like these are going down, this is a recommended gadget for those who doesn't put a lot of budget on a fully featured PC.

Pros:

• Affordable considering the specs and the features
• Better sound quality
• Expandable Memory
• On/off switch on wifi, and a volume control (you dont have to do it inside Windows)
  

Cons:

• Multimedia keys are not accessible when the lid is closed.
• Battery life is shorter than its competitors (about 30 - 45 mins shorter)
• Lacks HDMI jack