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Stephen Challis (Kent, England)
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Serenity [Blu-ray] [Region Free]
Serenity [Blu-ray] [Region Free]
Dvd ~ Nathan Fillion
Price: £8.06

4.0 out of 5 stars Finishes Firefly, 6 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
A great conclusion to the excellent Firefly series which was cancelled prematurely in the US, and never shown in the UK at all (but is, fortunately, available to buy on Amazon). Also stands alone - a good film in its own right.

I wonder ... was Firefly never shown here because the American accents are so thick that it need subtitles in many scenes?

Supergets® Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Black Top Flip PU Leather Case and Capacitive Touch Screen Stylus
Supergets® Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Black Top Flip PU Leather Case and Capacitive Touch Screen Stylus
Offered by MGT Group
Price: £7.99

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT LEATHER, 6 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
I returned this product because it is not leather. If you can afford to, get Samsung's own cover (£30). It replaces the back of the SGN2 and is so slim it adds no perceptable thickness to the phablet. It does not fasten however, so if you ever drop your Note 2 hope and pray that it does not land sunny-side down, or that the wind keeps the cover over the screen!

10 x AG6 Alkaline button cell batteries - G6 LR69 LR921 SR921W 370 371 type
10 x AG6 Alkaline button cell batteries - G6 LR69 LR921 SR921W 370 371 type
Offered by Phoenix Power Equipment Ltd
Price: £1.75

1.0 out of 5 stars Low power, 6 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
These batteries seem to last about a week in my watch before it starts losing time. I would not buy again.

Philips Sonicare HX6013/16 ProResults Standard Toothbrush Heads 3-Pack
Philips Sonicare HX6013/16 ProResults Standard Toothbrush Heads 3-Pack
Price: £13.14

5.0 out of 5 stars Bargain price, 6 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
These replacement heads seem more robust than that supplied with the motor unit. The original barely managed 3 months; I have used one of these for over four, but it could do with replacing now. And they are almost half the price that they are sold for in Debenhams.

Bosch PFS 105 E 350 Watt Fine-Spray System
Bosch PFS 105 E 350 Watt Fine-Spray System
Price: £126.95

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Colossal amount of preparation, 6 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
A great finish, but you have to mask absolutely everything in the room that you don't want painted. The mist of paint gets everywhere, so if you don't want everything you're not supposed to be painting covered in a fine speckle, cover them. As you can mask the walls but not the ceiling, spray the walls first, then mask them before painting the ceiling. The finish makes it worthwhile, but if you are painting walls, ceilng and woodwork a different colour (and therefore have to mask them) it's just as much effort to mask everything and then spray as it is to use a roller and not mask anything.

If any users disagree please comment and let me know where I am going wrong!

Wainwright: Milltown to Mountain
Wainwright: Milltown to Mountain
by W.R. Mitchell
Edition: Hardcover
Price: £16.14

2.0 out of 5 stars Misled, 3 Feb 2013
I seldom write book reviews but his book riled me so much that I felt I had to warn others.

`Wainwright - his life from Milltown to Mountain' might sound like a book devoted from cover to cover to the life of Alfred Wainwright, but you would be sadly mistaken. This book would undoubtedly contravene the Trade Descriptions Act were that statute still in force.

Despite the unequivocal and emphatic title, this book is not devoted to an examination of AW's life and work; in fact, at least half of the book is devoted to the memoirs of the author and his mates on their fell- and peak- wanderings. Their ramblings are peppered with references to the fact that they are treading in the footsteps of our hero (in an apparent attempt to justify the book's title) but anecdotes of the author's friendship with AW, and brief notes on Wainwright's childhood, are found only in the other half of the book.

Furthermore, compared with the more analytical and more easily-read BBC-commissioned work by Martin Wainwright (Wainwright: The Man Who Loved the Lakes), this book verges on sycophancy. It almost completely ignores the 30 years' abandonment that his first wife, Ruth, had to endure, in order that AW might devote himself entirely to his all-consuming hobby, concentrating instead on his happy and successful 20 year marriage to Betty.

If you want to see excellent photos of the fell-walker's idol, read about ramblings among the flora and fauna of our beautiful northern heritage, extend your vocabulary, expand your repertoire of unusual metaphors and read glowing references from a good friend of Alfred and Betty, buy this book. But don't expect a book all about AW.

With a title such as this, beneath which lies a large picture of AW, I think it is reasonable to expect a warts-and-all dissertation on this complex man. Why anyone would think that their own fell-walking experiences with his mates would be of any interest to people who had bought a book to learn about AW I will never know. Had it been called `Fell-wanderings by a friend of Wainwright' I would not have written this review. But then again, I wouldn't have bought the book ... which presumably explains the choice of this grossly misleading title.

ICF-S79W AM/FM/Weather Band Digital Tuner Shower Radio
ICF-S79W AM/FM/Weather Band Digital Tuner Shower Radio
Offered by Todays Deal
Price: £36.99

5.0 out of 5 stars Best shower radio, 29 July 2012
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
Fantastic. After years of using the hook-style shower radio (identical in appearance, but not in quality, to that currently marketed on Amazon by Menkind) that has survived many drops but delivers a quality of sound consistent with its low price, I decided to splash-out (sorry) on this Sony model, having read the reviews. I am delighted with it. It sits solidly on a shower shelf and sounds great.

Pure ONE Elite Series II Portable Stereo DAB/FM Radio - Black
Pure ONE Elite Series II Portable Stereo DAB/FM Radio - Black
Price: £75.70

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure One - Pure Joy, 1 Feb 2012
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
Pure v Roberts: I listened to several radios before choosing this. I found the Pure radios more mellow than the Roberts range which to my ears were slightly too harsh (this seems to be a feature of the Roberts sound; I found a Roberts radio more harsh 20 years ago when I compared it with a similarly priced Sony - I bought the Sony).

MP3 capability: During my pre-purchase testing I was disappointed to find that, like my little Pure Move radio, the Pure One Elite (not the Series II model) automatically switched to auxiliary input when a 3.5mm jack plug was inserted in the input socket, and that the volume of the auxiliary source was not controllable by the radio volume control. However, the fantastic sound was more than compensation for this, and I found that, even at maximum, the volume control on other radios did not make my mp3 input any louder than the Pure One Elite; it could only make it quieter.

Having bought the Pure One Elite Series II (on the grounds that it was £8 cheaper on Amazon than what I suppose we must now call the Pure One Elite Series I) I am delighted to find that it does not automatically switch to auxiliary input when the cable is plugged in (you can leave it plugged in and press the `source' button when you want to swap from radio to your mp3 player), and that the volume of the auxiliary source is controllable by the radio's own volume control (and may even amplify it).

I am puzzled why this modification is not trumpeted by Pure, but all credit to them for responding positively to the comments made by the reviewers of the Pure One Elite Series I.

Sound quality: It is difficult to put into words how impressed I am with this radio's sound. I like a mellow sound and the Pure One Evoke certainly delivers this, but I am grateful for the tone controls (accessible through the menu) which allow me to add a bit of treble.

Handle: I am not a fan of portable radios having handles - they seem to get in the way - but I must admit that it is a notable absence from this model as it is so chunky. As a six foot tall male I have quite large hands but do not find this radio comfortable to hold for more than few seconds. However, the size may contribute to the rich stereo sound so it's a compromise I am willing to make. I have a Pure Evoke 3, which I bought when they first came out, and believe the Pure One Elite has equivalent sound quality. As the Evoke 3 is nearly three times the price that is quite an achievement.

Battery life: I am using C batteries as the radio is constantly being moved about, so mains connection is not practical, and I can change them for another set of C batteries in a few seconds instead of waiting for the Charge-pack to charge up. The battery charge seems to be holding up well.

Display: I like the bright white display, which can be made to stay on all the time even when using batteries only.

Finally: Well done, Pure, for making such an excellent radio at such a reasonable price.

Update March 2013 - after a few weeks of periodically changing the 'C' size batteries, I decided to buy the dedicated Pure battery. A great decision. I use the radio for about an hour a day and the Pure battery goes for months between charges. I think I've charged it twice in the last year.

One little gripe: over the past few months a fault has developed: the digital radio signal momentarily drops out for about two seconds within about 10 minutes of switching the radio on. Irritating if you are concentrating on speech, but as it only happens once each time I switch on I haven't bothered to report it to Pure.

I am still extremely pleased with this radio and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is happy with a very mellow sound.

Redeeming Love
Redeeming Love
by Francine Rivers
Edition: Paperback
Price: £6.74

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A rivetting love story, better than any other, 5 Feb 2009
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Redeeming Love (Paperback)
Based on the biblical book of Hosea who married a woman of ill-repute and loved her despite all that she threw at him, Redeeming Love brings the story into the somewhat more up-to-date setting of the American settlers and makes the story even more accessible to modern readers than the original. I am a 50 something male and not given to reading love stories, but my wife insisted I read it and after it had lain on my bedside table for a year, decided I had better humour her and at least see how I got on with it. I was hooked within the first few paragraphs and burnt the midnight oil for several nights. It's not slushy, and the sexual content is implied rather than spelt out, but it is nonetheless powerful. The male lover in the story is portrayed as immeasurably patient and forbearing, but Rivers allows us to see the pain and anguish within as he fights his natural desires and exposes his intense frustrations. She has created a man with a strength of character that I wish I could emulate.

I can't think of anyone I wouldn't recommend this book too. In fact, Amazon prompted me to send in a review because I bought two for friends for Christmas.

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