Best EcoVacs Deebot

Diane / / Tech

EcoVac have only been around since 2006. Looking at their website they have an extremely large range of robot vacuums and mops, too many to keep track of. Sometimes that’s a bad thing because it’s bound to compromise quality throughout the choices. They also have Winbots, Atmobots and in store Benebots.

Winbots: A robotic window cleaner? Yes please.

Atmobots: Can’t live without your air-purifier and not keen on moving it from room to room? Atmobot will move for you.

Benebots: You guessed it, Ecovac has in-store interactive robot sales help.

If you are looking for a new brand to try, EcoVac has 3 leading models on Amazon.com. All three will please the budget conscious and one of them will even mop your floors. All priced under $300. How do they compare and what are the reviews like?

All three feature

  • Smart motion
  • Won’t fall off stairs
  • Infrared anti-collision sensors and a bumper rail
  • Auto charging
  • Remote control movement if required
  • Recharge times between 3-5 hours
  • Can be scheduled to clean while you are out
  • None have virtual walls

Deebot M82

  • It’s white with 4 cleaning modes— Auto, Spot, Edge and single room
  • 150 minutes battery life
  • Barefloor and carpet
  • Relies on main brush and suction
  • No app or Wi-Fi
  • Bin compartment is 450 ml          
  • Needs a clear path to do its job but can navigate around obstacles like furniture

With 190 reviews on Amazon.com, this vacuum holds a 4 star rating. Issues concerning suction, getting stuck and problems with docking are among a small percentage.

Deebot N79

With over 2900 reviews on Amazon.com, this machine boasts 4.5 stars with 67% giving it 5 stars. Issues are listed as having some navigation problems, getting stuck, being light on suction and being a bit random with its cleaning pattern.

Deebot N78

  • It’s Black with 3 cleaning modes— Auto, Spot and Edge
  • 110 minutes battery life
  • Barefloor and carpet
  • Relies on suction guaranteeing no tangles with hair
  • No app           
  • Bin compartment is 500 ml
  • Optional mop attachment

The cheapest of the 3, this vacuum has over 1380 reviews and holds a 4 star rating. Reviewers concerns are with navigation, getting stuck on borders between rooms and the mop not being great.

6 Tips for Soundproofing Within Your Home

Diane / / Uncategorized

In a perfect world, we would live in peace and quiet. There would be no noise to irritate us and we would be able to work, play and rest in tranquility. Unfortunately, the world is far from ideal. Whether you are at home, work or in the car, we are assaulted
constantly by noise. Most of us reluctantly accept this as part of daily existence but there is certainly certain things that you can do to alleviate this situation. The most effective solution is soundproofing. It employs materials that absorb sound vibration and structures that reduce sound interference.

Achieving a quiet home or office takes quite some work but if you want to relax in a quiet place as you enjoy a good book, then it is a well worth effort. Here are 6 tips for soundproofing within your home

1. Install Acoustilay on floors

Installing acoustilay as an underlay for the floor finish is by far the easiest way to improve sound insulation performance of a timber floor.

2. Install maxiboards on walls and ceilings

High performance composite maxiboards are effective in reducing interference through walls and ceilings. To reduce transmission of noise from noisy neighbors through the walls, you should install Maxiboards of Maxi resilient. They offer maximum
acoustic performance while using minimum space.

Noise from above by be reduced by installing Maxiboard dropped ceiling.

3. Use mineral fibre

Mineral fibre is an effective sound absorber as well as an excellent thermal insulation material. However, it does not provide high sound insulation performance. For maximum sound absorption, you should include other absorption material in conjunction with
acoustic isolation such as resilient bars and heavy board materials such as maxideck and maxiboard.

4. Reduce movements

Creaking and squeaking floorboards cause big nuisance. There is no definite solution to this problem. It is just a case of ensuring that the timber joists are stiffed using noggins and plates and ensuring the timber floorboards are screwed perfectly. After
carrying out this, you can install acoustilay to reduce transmission of noise through the floors.

5. Control noise from the washing machine

Install Acoustilay insulation boards beneath noisy washing machines and other noisy appliances to reduce transmission of vibration. These boards are only slightly thick hence can be accommodated under most household appliances.

6. Consider secondary glazing

Just like water, sound exploits the paths with least resistance. Windows on the external walls present easy transmission paths for sound and can allow great deal of noise such as aeroplane and road traffic noise.

The most effective way to reduce this is by secondary glazing. This involves the addition of a slim, well sealed second window to an existing window.

 

 

 

Understanding How Penny Auction Sites Work

Diane / / Auction

Penny auction websites are a relatively new phenomenon popping up all over the internet. Deal seekers are drawn in and attracted by the chance of winning an auction on goods at a fraction of their value. In a penny auction, the price normally increases only a couple cents per bid placed. But before you begin bidding on an item in one of these auctions, you should have a thorough understanding of how penny auctions work and the risks involved.

Is it possible to win a penny auction on an item that is valued at $1000 for $30 or $40? The answer is “Yes.” As with any auction, either on-line or at some other venue, other bidders have the opportunity to place a higher bid causing you to either place another bid or give up. The thing to know while bidding in penny auctions is that every time you place a bid, penny auction sites charge anywhere from 50 cents to $1.00. So, to place a bid that is one cent higher than the current bid, it will cost you the auction site fee each time you place a bid, even though it may only be one cent higher than the current bid.

Let’s say you are taking part in a penny auction that charges 50 cents per bid, and the current bid for an item that is valued at $100 is $2.20 and you want to place a bid for $2.21. You will have to pay the 50 cent fee to place the bid. Once you place your bid, the auction is automatically extended 15 seconds, giving other bidders the opportunity to place a higher bid. If you win the bid with your $2.21 and only had to place a single bid, your overall price would be $2.21 (the bid), plus the 50 cent fee for placing your single bid for a total of $2.71, plus shipping and handling of course.

How are sellers/penny auction sites able to turn a profit if a $100 item sells for only a couple dollars? The answer is simple mathematics. Let’s say there are 100 participants bidding on this same $100 item. All 100 place their initial bid each increasing the bid by one cent. This would bring the current bid to $1.00. The auction site just made $50 in bid fees. One dollar for a $100 item is still very attractive, but let’s imagine that half of the bidders drop out. The 50 remaining bidders each place another bid, all 1 cent higher, bringing the current bid to $1.50. The penny auction sight just made another $25. Let’s say half of the remaining bidders drop out leaving 25 more bids each increasing by one cent. The current bid is $1.75, and the penny auction site just made another $12.50. So the bidding goes until there is a single high bidder who pays the winning bid plus the fees for placing each bid. The winner gets a great deal while the losers of the auction pay their bidding fees and walking away with nothing to show for their time and money. When all is said and done, the winner gets a great deal, and the auction site quickly makes double the retail value of the sold item.

 

Types Of Web Hosting

Diane / / Web Hosting

There are quite a few types of web hosting, and you will need to become familiar with them before you set out looking for your web host. The four main kinds of web hosting are free hosting, shared hosting, reseller hosting, and VPS hosting. Which type you decide to employ depends on what you plan on doing with your website, how many you will be operating, whether you want to make money offering your own web hosting, and what your monthly budget is.

Free web hosts typically require you use their domain name for your website, such as a subdomain (sitename.webhostname.com)  and this means it is the most popular option for younger amateurs and those on a shoestring budget. Free web hosts may allow you to use a domain name, but they might want you to place ads on your site, allowing them to earn revenue from your traffic. One benefit of a free host is that they already have a ranking in search engines, and you get to share in on that traffic. More people will find your site, making it a good start, but eventually, most people outgrow free hosts, in which case it is time to move on to a shared host.

Shared web hosts are typically hosts which allow many people to buy space and bandwidth from them, and they put many customers on the same server. So your site is there with dozens of other websites being hosted on the same server. This doesn’t present any problems for you unless your website gets too popular and starts using up all of the server bandwidth and resources, and then it is time to take a step up to reseller hosting or perhaps VPS.

Reseller hosting is similar to shared hosting, but there are far fewer customers sharing each server. Reseller packages with web hosts are typically much larger than regular shared hosting packages, which means you might have several gigabytes of space and bandwidth more than your shared plan. The most important feature of reseller packages though is your ability to resell part of your allotted space and bandwidth to others. Or, you could just use it to host all of your sites if you have hundreds of domains, for example. When you find that even a reseller is not enough room for your growth, you have entered the big time, and you now need VPS hosting. This means you are so busy with traffic that you need your very own server – no more sharing with other people.