Bose (40226) Headphones

Audiophiles don't regard $100 as expensive for a set of headphones, in fact that's not even mid-range. And a lot of audiophiles don't like the Bose sound either, so you'll see a lot of criticism of these in the rarefied atmosphere of audiophile reviews.

It's important to establish that the Bose earphones you have are the current model, and that they aren't fake. There are numbers of fakes around, especially on Ebay, and they're indistinguishable from the real thing except in sound quality. The current model has black and white striped wires, and the plug is set at an angle of about 40 degrees to the wire. About a hand span from the plug there is a small black lozenge which has the Bose logo on both sides. They have a little black plastic clip attached, for clipping the wire to your coat. And you'll sometimes need to; the total length of the wires is a good four feet, I reckon. If your headphones don't fit this description, they're an old model or they aren't Bose. Even if they do match, if you got them for $40 on Ebay they probably still aren't Bose. Oh, and the current model also has a large soft pouch, whereas the earlier model had a small hard plastic insert in a small case, which you wound the wires around.

The current model resolved most people's problems with the earpieces falling out of their ears, and they come with sets in three different sizes (which are expensive to replace, so take care of them!). I've never had a problem with these, but whether you'd want to be jogging while wearing them is another matter. The earpieces are not intended to fit in the ear, they sit comfortably just outside of your head and don't rely on an enclosed space for their bass like earbuds do, so they can be dislodged by violent movement.

You'll either love or hate the Bose sound. I can't stand the Bose Wave CD player, at all, but I love the earphones. They don't deliver the bass you get from $15 Skullcandy Ink'd earbuds, which you stuff down your ears until you can use your brain as a resonator. But they deliver a remarkable amount of it, even so, and definitely lift themselves into a higher class than cheaper 'phones by delivering the goods right across the frequency range. If I had to fault them, I'd say they still lack the presence, imaging and the extended response of a good audiophile set which you'd maybe fork out $300 - $500 for (and prices run into the thousands), so they are compromised a bit by their relatively average price.

We've become accustomed to very cheap, moderate to awful quality disposable earbuds and even otherwise solid manufacturers are capable of churning out some stinkers. Famous names no longer guarantee a great sound. And we're also encouraged to listen to compressed MP3s rather than lossless formats, so a poor set of headphones won't seem so bad. I think Bose have delivered a solid $100 sound for $100, and despite the debates over the "Bose sound" they've held their position at this price break.

You will get the best from these if you listen to better quality recordings. If you listen to music on your computer, create lossless FLAC files instead of lower quality, lossy MP3s. They'll show up poorer recordings for what they are, which is what you'd expect at this price, but on the other hand, they'll sound way better on your best recordings.

If you're in the same category as I was - spend $100 on a set of earpieces? You're joking! - then you should definitely make your way to a Bose store and listen to these. Don't buy on my recommendation, because you might not like the Bose sound. If you do hear them and do like them and do buy, then they will be a good investment and should last you a long time if you treat them well. I've had mine a couple of years or more and they're as solid as they were at the start, though I wouldn't let a dog, cat or child within a mile of them because that four feet of wire is way too tempting!

Gillette Fusion Manual Razor 5 Blade Shaving System 1 Ea.

Hands down the best wet razor I've ever used, I agree with all the compliments already posted here.

But the whole experience is seriously overpriced. So much so, you have to get an assistant to unlock the cartridge bay for you at the supermarket because the cartridge packs were the most shoplifted product there is.

The media report that the cost of a cartridge to the manufacturer is minimal, giving them a more than 4000% markup; there's an article about this here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191456/Sharp-practice-The-razor-heads-cost-just-5p-make-sell-2-43-each.html

I guess I could manage the $20 or so a month needed to maintain one of these. But honestly, do I really want to put so much of my money straight into some corporate fat cat's pocket?

District 9

I got a lot more out of this movie than anyone can now, because I hadn't seen any previews or reviews and knew nothing at all about the plot premise or indeed any other aspect of the movie than what was shown in the TV trailers. So I had no idea what was coming.

Unfortunately that's just about impossible to do now, and entirely impossible if you're reading this page, obviously. Which is a shame. When I read a new book for entertainment, I might look at a review to see if I think it's worth buying and worth giving up my time for. But I don't expect to be told the details of the plot and how it all works out in the end and I certainly don't go out of my way to find out. What's the point? It's not going to be great literature, I'm reading for fun, not study.

So I suspect that some viewers and subsequent reviewers went into this one with expectations and that spoiled the movie for them at least to some extent. It's a far better movie if you don't know what's coming at all.

And it is a good movie, no doubt about that, though as others have noted, the last part is more formulaic and thus a bit disappointing. But I don't think it's a great movie, sorry. It's memorable, for more than one reason, but it's not great. Movie makers can't really do science fiction that well any more, so anything at all memorable is an instant classic. If the competition were stiffer, this one would still be a standout. But great, in the sense that some of the sci-fi of the '50s was great? Not really.

Skullcandy INK'D Dark Gray

One of the best, if not the best, sets of earbuds at this price. I've had mine for years. Because they fit tightly into your ear the bass is very loud for earphones and although it doesn't mask the sound overall, you'll enjoy these most if a bassy sound is what you're after.

I own only two sets of headphones, these and a pair of Bose earbuds. they're at the bottom and top end, respectively, of what I can afford and I love them both, for different reasons.

I've found the more expensive Skullcandys weren't as good as the cheapest ones. You can't really go wrong spending $15 on these.