Wiggum's Reviews on RateItAll.com

1010 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Oregon in U.S. States:

I recently drove through Oregon and stopped at Crater Lake National Park. The state is beautiful, and while the bigger cities are as crowded and congested as many others on the West Coast, it's very easy to get away to wilderness areas. CLNP was beautiful and is definitely worth a visit if you're ever nearby.

1 comments

votes 7 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1024 days ago

Wiggum commented on a review of Cocoon in Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Superhero Movies:

Test.

1050 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Epson PictureMate in Printers (Ink Jet):

At first glance the PictureMate doesn’t look very impressive. It’s small – about the size of a slightly-compressed loaf of bread – and it’s not shaped like other photo printers. You may wonder if a printer that small can really produce good photographs. Some people are also turned away by the fact that it can’t make prints larger than 4x6. If you need bigger prints, the PictureMate isn’t a good choice for you. If, however, like most people you tend to print 4x6 most of the time, I’d highly recommend the PictureMate. Despite its small size, the picture quality is excellent. I’m picky about the way my pictures look and I prefer the quality of the PictureMate prints to the ones I get from my more expensive Canon Pixma iP8500. The PictureMate isn’t fast, and to get the best quality prints you need to click the ‘Enhance fine details’ check-box in the printing options window, but it has a lot going for it: the high-quality 4x6 prints, the space-saving size, the fact that it’s very portable, and the relatively low price tag (about $200). Speaking of price, Amazon sells 100-packs of premium Epson 4x6 photo paper for about $11. It also sells combo paper & ink packs (100 4x6 sheets along with enough ink to print them) for about $21. My experience has been that the ink in the combo packs covers more than 100 sheets, so each print ends up costing me less than 20 cents, which compares well with professional digital prints. As someone who wants the convenience and control you get from printing yourself at home, I don’t ever see myself using a store to print my photos anymore. I use the PictureMate for 4x6 and smaller, and I use the iP8500 on the few occasions I need to print larger than 4x6.

0 comments

votes 6 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1050 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Epson P-2000 in MP3 Players:

I'm rating the Epson P-2000 as an MP3 player, but I've never used it to play music. The real benefit to me of this multi-purpose device is its ability to store 40GB of digital photos on a long trip, when you can't empty your memory cards into your laptop. I went on a couple of long trips without my laptop this year and the P-2000 was the perfect way to store my digital photographs. I shoot in RAW format with a Canon 20D, so the files are large (about 8MBs each), and I take a lot of pictures, so without a portable storage device I'm limited to the shots that will fit on my Compact Flash cards. I thought about using a new video iPod to store photos, using the photo adaptor (which sells for about $30, I think), but I heard that downloading a full 1G CF card can burn through the entire battery - and, since you can't be charging the iPod while you're using the photo adaptor - the iPod sometimes runs out of energy before the download is complete, and all the images are apparently lost. The P-2000 was a perfect solution. Plenty of space for well over 3,000+ RAW files, a great LCD screen, and very good battery life. The software isn't as user-friendly as it should be, but other than that I'd recommend the P-2000 for any photographer who needs portable storage.

0 comments

votes 6 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1051 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Comcast in Cable Internet Access Providers:

I just signed up for the Comcast Triple Play, which combines high-speed Internet access, digital voice service, and digital cable for $100/month. It was installed about five days ago so I've had a chance to get familiar with each of the three services, and so far I'm pretty happy with it.

The big advantage of the digital voice service is the price - as part of the package, it's only $33/month for unlimited local and long distance, plus a bunch of features like voice mail, call waiting, etc. You can even check your voice mail over the Web, which might be useful. Given that no cable installation ever happens without problems, however, the cable guy somehow forgot to turn on my voicemail, and I'm still trying to get that worked out. The overall sound quality is OK, although theres a slight but noticeable hiss in the background.

The Internet access is OK, but it's not as fast as the DSL I had before, so I'm a little disappointed. More accurately I should say that it's fast but not quick, meaning that jumping from page to page is slower than I'd like, but once I'm downloading a big file it really moves.

And cable is cable, no surprises there. So overall I'm satisfied that I'm saving money by getting all three services together and that things are working OK, but there's still room for improvement.

0 comments

votes 6 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1054 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, Idaho, Montana) in National Parks (U.S.):

What a fascinating place this is. Sure it's crowded, but there's a reason it draws so many tourists. Nowhere else in the world can you see such a unique concentration of thermal events - geysers, hot springs, bubbling pools of colored mud... In the early 1800s, before settlers knew about Yellowstone, a fur trapper (John Colter, I think), was attacked by indians, and he escaped by running for two days straight through the area that now makes up this national park. When he finally stumbled across a U.S. outpost, he was naked, barely alive, and rambling about a place where steam shot up from the ground and mud boiled in the earth. The soldiers at the outpost thought Colter was nuts, so they called this "imaginary" place Colter's Hell. Turns out Colter was just describing an area so amazing it sounds completely crazy. I camped in Yellowstone for two nights and wished I could have stayed another week or two.

0 comments

votes 13 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1159 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado) in National Parks (U.S.):

I visited Mesa Verde National Park yesterday and really enjoyed it. The main attractions are the cliff dwellings built by the Anasazi around 1200-1300 AD, but the views from the top of the park are incredible as well. It's not the kind of park you could spend a full week at (like Yellowstone or Yosemite), but it's definitely worth a visit for a day or two.

0 comments

votes 3 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1172 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Dell Inspiron Series in Notebook Computers / Laptops:

I bought a Dell Inspiron 9200 about a year ago, and I've been very happy with it. But - given that I've had no problems - I haven't needed to call Dell's customer support, which can apparently be a hit-or-miss experience. The Inspiron 9200's wide screen is great, and I've been impressed with its overall performance.

0 comments

votes 2 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

1173 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in Xbox 360 Games:

It's embarrassing to admit, but despite the fact that I'm 35 years old I've spent well over 50 hours playing this game, and I'm not showing any signs of being burned out yet. I doubt I would have bought an Xbox360 if it weren't for this game (it's also available for the PC but requires a hardcore gaming machine to run it at a decent speed and detail level), but as it turned out I was able to find a 360 the day before Oblivion was released. As a fan of the previous Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind, I had really high expectations for Oblivion and I wasn't disappointed. The graphics really show off the 360s capabilities, the story and voice acting are well-done, the gameplay is a great blend of traditional RPG and action, and the open-ended nature of the game provides am amazing level of flexibility in the way you can play. You can focus on melee combat, ranged combat, spellcasting, or stealth, and each of those is a legitimate and fun way to go. If youre into RPGs, you probably already own this, but this is a strong enough game that it might even bring in a few non-RPG fans. Just be warned: it will consume many hours of your life...

0 comments

votes 4 Helpful / 1 Funny / 1 Agree / 0 Disagree

1173 days ago

Wiggum reviewed Zion National Park (Utah) in National Parks (U.S.):

Last year I went on a camping trip through the national parks of southern Utah, including Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. While each of those parks is unique and amazing, Zion stood out as my favorite. It's basically a valley with huge rock formations rising up on both sides - think Yosemite, only more colorful and with more interesting shapes. Due to the high number of visitors, they've closed most of the park to traffic, so it's served by a system of buses. While it's frustrating not to be able to drive through the entire park, it makes the park much more quiet and peaceful. If you go to Zion, don't miss the hike out to Angel's Landing. It's somewhat demanding - the inclines are steep, and at several points you have to hold on to chains to stable yourself on sheer rock faces - but it's the most fun hike I've taken in years, and the views are phenomenal.

0 comments