In the total 113 Amazon orders placed last year, below is a list of our honest feedback. We hope what we learned can be useful to you!
BenQ ScreenBar Halo
Background
BenQ ScreenBar initially caught my attention at the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone started working from home. For me, my home office is also my kitchen/living room area which lacks windows and natural lights. While tempted, I held on until I moved into my new place and had to set up my workstation once again. In a moment of impulse, an Amazon order is placed and the rest is history.
Review Over Time
10 months later, I have been using the BenQ ScreenBar almost daily. I have the BenQ ScreenBar power USB directly connected to the monitor itself, so when I turn on the monitor it automatically turns on the ScreenBar. There are times that I forgot it was even there!
After the initial tweaking, 10 months ago, and adjusting the position of the ScreenBar to ensure that light is not directly projected into your eyes, the BenQ ScreenBar is bright enough to be the only source of light near your working station.
By designing the BenQ ScreenBar to be on top of the monitor, if you are someone who does occasional journaling. This product is perfect for you, the light makes it very easy to read and write.
Cost
BenQ ScreenBar Halo is $179. It is more expensive than the other cheaper alternatives you can find on Amazon. I also do not think that BenQ is still manufacturing this product. If you are interested in this product, you will likely buy it from resellers. Considering there was absolutely for the product in the past 10 months and the quality of life improvement for me, I would still strongly recommend this product!
BenQ TK850i Projector
Clarification
I did just now realize that both of my top mentions are BenQ products. That is entirely by accident. The two products mentioned here are my entire BenQ lineup.
Last year, when we were creating a home theater/game room, we selected the BenQ TK850i Projector to be the centerpiece of the design.
Overall
The BenQ TK850i is a really good projector with 4k graphics, HDR support, and great color contrast and brightness. It was MSRP at $1,699, and I was able to purchase it at $1,299 around Prime Day. In the end, at that price range, there are not a lot of solid options from renowned brands to choose from.
However, that is not why BenQ TK850i made the list. It becomes one of my favorite purchases of 2023, because of the excellent customer service from BenQ.
After I received my TK850i from Amazon, it was very clear to me that something was wrong with the device. As you can see here, vertical white lines are being projected on half of the screen.
I contacted both Amazon and Adorama, the certified reseller for BenQ from whom I purchased the unit, both were kind and informed me that the device that (1) they cannot fix the issues of the device (2) TK850i is a discontinued line, therefore no additional inventory is available and (3) I should return the device and get my money back. However, I do want that projector to complete my home theater build.
With my last attempt, I called BenQ customer service, after being redirected to the right place. Someone from the BenQ TSE Support Team picked up my call. I told him the situation and he asked me for the serial number on the device to double-check if there was an active warranty, there was none. He told me that the best he can do at the moment is to have me ship the unit to their factory and have their technician take a look. I filled out the RMA form and sent the Amazon invoice as a recipe for the purchase.
Two days later, BenQ called me back and told me that the technician could indeed reproduce the issue. They do not have any TK850i in their warehouse, they apologized for my inconvenience and sent a BenQ TK860i projector in return.
Review Over Time
6 months and countless YouTube videos later, my BenQ projector is still the centerpiece of my game room and my game room has become the favorite room in the house where we can spend time with family and guests.
Zojirushi CD-WCC30 Micom Water Boiler & Warmer, Silver
Background
In our household, we are a big hot water consumer. I was brought up this way drinking tea and hot water even during summertime.
Different from other store-bought hot water kettles, Zojirushi’s water boiler holds significantly more water and can typically last me the whole day for personal use. It can also keep water warm at the temperature you specify. I typically set it at 175°F throughout the day, just so that I can have access to hot water anytime during the day.
Review Over Time
This is not the first water boiler and/or kettle that I have purchased over the years. One major thing that sets it apart from the others for me, is how easy you can access the interior of the water boiler for cleaning. At where I live in the United States, we have hard water in the region. That means after fair usage, the interior of your water boiler can and will get crusty. The fact that the top of the Zojirushi’s water boiler comes right off and the body of the water boiler is a cylinder shape allows easier access to scrub off the crust inside of the water boiler.
Overall
If your family regularly uses hot water, the Zojirushi CD-WCC30 Micom Water Boiler is an excellent investment. Unlike store-bought kettles with a limited lifespan, Zojirushi’s Water Boiler is exceptional and built to last.