Review Bunker is a review blog where the goal is simply to review everything. Below are the latest reviews. In the About section you can read more about this blog and it's author. Comments are always appreciated, so if you've got something to say, please feel free!
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Archive Page 5 of 14
A Relic of the Dark Ages in Computer Hardware
Back when I actually played PC games regularly, a large monitor was one of the most desired pieces of hardware for a good gaming system, and the only way to not spend a load of money in the acquisition of a huge monitor was to buy a monstrous CRT. Of course, the downside of a CRT is the desk space it takes up, especially when you have a 21″ screen - but at the time it was worth trading desk real estate for screen real estate. It was the crown jewel of my geek kingdom. It was so heavy that anyone lifting it had a 56% chance of giving themselves a hernia. It graced my desktop for many years, dwarfing everything. My keyboard barely fit.
Unfortunately for my old 21″ IBM monitor, things change, and the old relic has been banished to the storage shed. It’s been replaced with an affordable, sleek, thin, and widescreen LCD from Acer. Advances in LCD technology paired with a drop in pricing made the switch irresistible.
The Acer AL2016WBbd 20″ Widescreen LCD
My new widescreen LCD is much more modern, and was a reasonably cheap replacement for the old behemoth. Costing me only $189.99, I feel that I’ve purchased a high quality, advanced piece of hardware for a very reasonable price. It fits on my desk perfectly (a nice change) and it modernizes my entire computer setup by 10 years.
Out of the box this LCD is very bright (almost too bright) and came with no dead pixels. I am used to the 1600 x 1200 screen resolution found on my IBM CRT, and I am a bit surprised by how different the 1680 x 1050 resolution is on this new Acer LCD. The missing 200 pixels of height makes such a difference in how I experience the desktop and other software I use. I am going through the process of teaching myself to use the width that a widescreen monitor provides.
The viewing angle of the AL2016WBbd 20″ LCD isn’t amazing, but it’s decent enough for most needs - I could see possible loss of quality if this were being run as a dual-monitor setup, where the user isn’t directly in front of the screen. I love the fact that the edging around the screen is thin, and the entire base is small and non-intrusive. The base has a nice rubbery surface on the bottom which keeps it in place, no sliding around which could be a potential issue as it is so light. The tilt range is pretty decent. Like many LCD monitors, it could use a height adjustment. The brightness, color, and contrast are all an improvement over what I am used to, and seem to perform well from highest to lowest setting. The clarity is outstanding. Basically, you get a lot of screen for a great price - it definitely seems bigger than expected once it’s setup. Although this Acer 20″ isn’t considered high-end, it has been great for all of my needs.
Acer AL2016WBbd 20″ Widescreen LCD Monitor: 
4.5/5
4.5/5
Now I just need to upgrade the rest of my 6 year old desktop system, and get rid of my old CRT. Anyone out there want to purchase a used 21″ IBM CRT for $25?… anyone?
Have you considered upgrading your old CRT to LCD? Already have an Acer AL2016WBbd? Tell me what you think of it!
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Tonight we decided to check out a newer restaurant near our house here in Fort Collins called Maya Cove. The Maya Cove website (which could definitely use a facelift) describes the restaurant as contemporary Caribbean/American cuisine in a relaxing Island atmosphere - I would say that this is a quite accurate description of the place, except that it also features a bar. The menu is diverse, with a range of sandwiches to steaks and pastas, most with a slight tropical spin. The atmosphere is very laid back, with a selection of wooden barstool-height tables and relaxed patio furniture to sit in, as well as tropical decorations and signs on the walls. The atmosphere was almost too relaxed, seeming more like a bar and grill than a sit-down restaurant. The food on the other hand was delicious and diverse, and definitely gave Maya Cove back some of it’s true restaurant credit. The Island atmosphere is successfully implemented, but some of the decor seemed a bit cheap.
To start out, we shared an artichoke dip appetizer ($8), which was pretty tasty. The dip came with freshly-fried tortilla chips that were very crunchy, as well as fresh vegetables. The dip didn’t stand out as anything unique, but tasted good. We ran out of chips well before the dip was gone, unfortunately. Crystal ordered a french dip sandwich ($8) for her entree, which was served with french fries and a pickle wedge. She enjoyed the french dip, citing it’s quality meat, and she particularly liked the french fries. I ordered a Buffalo Shrimp Po’Boy sandwich ($10), which contained 4 buffalo-sauce-dipped tiger shrimp of pretty decent size on a sandwich with lettuce, ranch, and tomatoes. The tomatoes were fresh and juicy, as were the shrimp. The sandwich as a whole was delicious, but very messy to eat (shrimp kept flying out of my sandwich, and my hands were nearly constantly covered in either buffalo sauce or ranch dressing). I had never had shrimp on a sandwich before this Maya Cove offering, and I was pleasantly surprised at the result. They also serve fish tacos, something I haven’t been brave enough to try in the past, but might have to return to Maya Cove for in the future. My sandwich was also served with french fries and a pickle wedge. We unfortunately didn’t sample any of the tropical drinks being offered on the drink menu this time around. We also didn’t have any desert, as they didn’t seem to offer any.
Our service was great, which wasn’t a surprise, as there were very few customers around. The bar area had a few patrons, hanging out to watch hockey and basketball, but our server, Chris, had enough time to check on us multiple times, as well as tend the bar, and keep everyone happy. He seemed to really enjoy hanging out at the restaurant, and knew many of the coming and going customers by name. I definitely enjoyed the friendly and relaxed atmosphere created by the staff and other customers - maybe a true extension of Caribbean ambiance?
Overall, we were a bit surprised by the atmosphere of Maya Cove, but we enjoyed the relaxed feel, as well as the food. The pricing wasn’t cheap, but couldn’t be considered expensive either, and I was happy with the variety of choices on the menu. The great service and friendly staff definitely made us feel welcome. I recommend Maya Cove Restaurant to anyone looking for a unique dining experience in Fort Collins.
Maya Cove Restaurant (Fort Collins, CO): 
4/5
4/5
Have you eaten at Maya Cove? What do you think about their menu choices on their website?
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Blog #1
tenForty
http://tenforty.blogspot.com/
First Impressions: Without reading the text, I was able to pin this as a travel blog, that’s definitely good. I didn’t pick up on the missionary vibe that does come through in the text, but I am not sure if that is necessary for a first impression. Scrolling down the post history, I am already feeling the clutter in the sidebar. I certainly sense a color theme working here, which does well for a cohesive blog experience.
Aesthetics: The header is a bit amateur, but it definitely gives the right message. I like the variety of pictures in the header and posts, they add a lot to the content and feel of the blog. I definitely like the “about” box in the sidebar. I’m not sure that the shoutbox adds too much to the blog feel, shouldn’t comments take care of this community need? I like the “I have been to” box. I am not sure that I like all of the table of contents stuff, but I guess it’s a more unique way to set up a blog archive. There are a lot of extra buttons and banners that are probably unnecessary here as well.
Content: Travels blogs are inherently interesting, so I likely can’t say a whole lot about how to improve your content. Continue in your travels, and you definitely have a guaranteed unique blog topic, when you combine the religious aspect into the mix. I like what I see for sure, and I encourage you to continue.
Overall: I like it, and I see a bright future for you. Maybe fix a few quirks in navigation, and a more professional look, and you will be doing wonderfully.
Blog #2
Life in Black and White
http://meghamathur.blogspot.com/
First Impressions: There is a lot going on above the fold. I am a bit overwhelmed at first glance. The picture of the miserable man definitely draws my attention. This is a very simple template, possibly too simple to showcase the content.
Aesthetics: The sidebar certainly has way more clutter than is necessary. I highly doubt that the google translator is the most important feature that new visitors should find - maybe replace this with a search box? I would recommend removing most if not all of the badges and awards, and if possible move them to a new “awards and badges” page or something. I would love to see the “About Me” higher up in the sidebar, or linked as a separate page. I am not sure what the significance is of all of the photos, but they definitely clutter up things as well.
I would recommend a new header which actually fills the top of the blog theme. I would also recommend a new theme, if possible, the current is too plain for the content.
Content: With headings like “Meaning of Life” and “Shades of Life” I am not sure that I am qualified to review the content of this blog, but it seems well written either way. I am always glad to see a blog that isn’t focused on marketing and advertising these days, and the content here seems nicely varied and involved enough to entertain. The fact that you have been blogging for close to a year also makes me confident that you know what’s best for your content, so I’ll leave it at that.
Overall: Not bad - definitely needs a facelift, and would benefit greatly from a move to wordpress, although the post history is tough to move over, or leave behind - maybe make the best of it by getting a good theme and a matching header. Some sidebar spring cleaning is certainly in order. Keep up the good writing.
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My good friend Andy from Station Atomica! has once again written an awesome guest review for Review Bunker - make sure to stop by his blog to check out more from Andy, after the review. If you are interested in writing a guest review for Review Bunker, please visit the contribute page.
The Canker Sore Diaries
Here’s a news flash: Canker Sores Hurt and I Would Rather Not Have Them. However, the universe is a cruel, spiteful place and has seen fit to endow me with an almost super-heroic ability to develop and maintain canker sores the way the X-Men’s Wolverine heals wounds. As soon as one disappears, another starts up in an endless struggle to make me cry like a pansy when I go to a Mexican restaurant.
For those familiar with canker sores, you have my sympathies. For those not, try to imagine a tiny gremlin (like in the movies but smaller) who lives in the back of your throat. This gremlin will lay fairly dormant all day until you have the audacity to try to eat. As long as you can eat food without having it actually touch your mouth you should be fine, but woe unto he who actually attempts to chew his food. Now in this scenario, the gremlin will pull out the cutest of tiny shotguns and start to open fire on your lips, gums, and the insides of your cheeks. This is what canker sores are like.
Now if this was a canker sore review I would stop here and say that canker sores get 0/5 stars. But this is a toothpaste review, so why the hell am I blathering on about canker sores? Well, Squigle Enamel Saver (the toothpaste) claims to be specially formulated to reduce canker sore formation.
Squigle Enamel Saver Toothpaste Review
Squigle Enamel Saver bills itself as “mouth friendly,” meaning that it contains no harsh abrasives, detergents, or other unsavory substances that correlate to canker sore formation. After over a year of constant use I am ready to present my (highly unscientific and totally anecdotal) findings to the public: Squigle Enamel Saver Toothpaste kicks ass!
A little over a year ago, my battle with canker sores was nearing defeat. I estimate that I had at least one canker sore about 50% of the time, and that is ridiculous. Out of sheer desperation I researched canker sores online for a cause and possible treatments. Surprisingly there doesn’t seem to be many straight answers to these problems. Canker sore research is virgin turf it seems, but what little information there was pointed toward several causes, many out of my control or unavoidable. The exception was the ingredients in my toothpaste. This is where Squigle Enamel Saver comes in.
At first blush, the product comes off as one designed for hippies to use after a snack of granola and bamboo fronds. Phrases like, “Free of artificial preservatives,” and “No animal testing” adorn the electric blue packaging. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and despite misgivings I also feel when in the homeopathic section of my local Whole Foods I decided to order a tube (for the low, low price of $7.25 plus shipping).
More than a year has passed, and the change has been dramatic. My canker sore count has nosedived, and in fact I have only had two or three small episodes in the last year. I don’t care if it is unreasonably priced, this stuff has my vote for mayor, governor, and president if a dental product could hold office. For me, Squigle Enamel Saver Toothpaste worked extremely well.
As for the other concerns one has when selecting toothpaste, Squigle Enamel Saver stacks up quite nicely. What I mean to say is that it cleans my teeth well and doesn’t taste like a trucker’s armpit drippings. It also touts something called Xylitol all over the place too, which as near as I can figure out has decent plaque and cavity fighting ability due to being a sugar alcohol or some crap. Kinda like fake sugar that bacteria go nuts over but die because they don’t get the energy they need from it.
Squigle Enamel Saver might be expensive and have ugly packaging, but it gets the job done and has improved my quality of life about as much as a tube of toothpaste could ever hope to. My only gripe is having to order it online, as that is the only way to get a hold of the stuff. Recommended.
Thanks again, Andy for the review. Look for more guest reviews from Andy in the future!
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Last May Crystal and I went on a Caribbean cruise - one of our stops on the cruise was Belize City, Belize. Long before our cruise departed I spent some time researching good excursions to do at each destination, and for our day in Belize we decided to trust our time to the guys at Cave-Tubing.com. Many people are hesitant to trust any non-cruise-ship excursion dealers, but I read only praise for their professionalism and tubing experience from other cruisers, so we decided to book with them.
We arrived in Belize early in the morning, and had to take a smaller boat to the shore. I received email directions from Cave-Tubing.com before the cruise, and we had a relatively easy time finding our way to the meeting place, where we were taken to a bus. The only difficult part about finding our way to the bus was avoiding all of the other cave tubing outfits waiting at the dock, trying to persuade us to join them instead of our reservation. Because the river we would be tubing on was about 45 minutes away I was prepared for some site-seeing out of the windows, but it turned out that our tour leader, Richard, would keep us entertained most of the trip. He was a funny guy, and he included a bit of tour-guide style commentary about the passing surroundings as we went, as well as information about our upcoming tubing adventure. It was enjoyable to hear him talk during our ride, even though he did talk the entire time. We were served a sample of local cashew wine, and given our headlamps and life vests, while we put on sunscreen.
The bus parked in a rest area, and we were given about 10 minutes to use the facilities and get our tubes from the staff before we started hiking through the rain forest. The hiking path was well worn, and it took us about 30 minutes to reach the point where we entered the river. The rain forest was fun and interesting to walk through, but humid and hot, especially when hiking with a tube over our shoulders. It took about 15 minutes to get everyone in our group into the river - and we hooked our feet and arms to create 5-7 person tubing chains. Each group had a staff member in charge of their navigation through the river and caves. Our individual chain of seven people had Crystal and I on the back, five newly met friends in front, and was being led by Jimmy.
Jimmy was a very energetic, happy, and funny leader. We ended up tubing through two caves, with a stretch of open water between the caves, and a larger stretch of water after the second cave. Both caves were quite long, so long that there were points that we were in complete darkness, so the headlamps and high powered flashlights came in very handy. The caves were really cool to tube through. As our guides reminded us multiple times, we were much better off than the cruise-ship excursion tubers who were given a tube, pointed at the river, and left on their own to navigate their way. Our Cave-Tubing.com guides on the other hand knew the river, and the caves, better than anyone - and they had all the proper knowledge and equipment to make our tubing experience fun. Many of the individual tubers that we passed on our way looked confused, concerned, or were stuck (in places the river was very shallow), and I was glad that we were in good hands. In the really shallow areas our guides shouted , “butts up!” and we would lift our butts up to avoid rocks. 
Also, if it was needed, our Cave-Tubing.com guys pulled us along to maintain a pretty constant speed, and we never had problems getting stuck. We had the leisure to not worry about actually navigating, and instead we were free to site-see, enjoy the river, and take pictures - we even spotted a few howler monkeys in the trees overhanging the river.
After we reached the end of the tubing area we headed back to the bus. On the way back the group voted to stop for lunch at a local restaurant in the country for an addition $5 per person - we were given a Coke, and a traditional Belizean meal. One of the best features of the Cave-Tubing.com experience was, they didn’t collect any money from us until after the tubing. This gave us the confidence that we weren’t going to be ripped off, and if we weren’t satisfied, Richard ensured us, he wouldn’t force us to pay. 
The entire excursion, including lunch, cost $50 per person, but we felt the service was definitely good enough for a $20 tip on top of the $100. We also purchased a Cave-Tubing.com t-shirt for $10 after getting dropped off at the docks again. We were returned to Belize City with plenty of time to get back to our ship, as promised.
I would definitely recommend this cave tubing experience to anyone who will be visiting Belize City in the future - not only was it cheaper than the cruise-ship tubing excursion, it was better executed, professionally led, and great fun.
Belize Cave Tubing with Cave-Tubing.com: 5/5
5/5
Have you ever been to Belize? What did you do there? Have you ever been river tubing?
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