I’ve only owned it for some days, and again I’m really happy with the object.  I bought it initially so that I could watch some recorded presentations – I have downloaded them a while ago but never found the time to watch – while sitting on the train commuting from work.  And then I realized that the headset not only fits perfectly in my laptop, it also works very well in combination with my PC at work.

And why would I want to use a headset at work, you might ask yourself?  Radio!  Streaming radio!  I like music quite a lot, and I like different genres.  Although not all of them.  My musical preference is a bit difficult to describe, music with good guitar and drums, music made with samples, as long as it sounds good to me

Since I started using the train to commute to work, I’ve not been getting my daily portion which I would otherwise get while driving my car.  That has now come to an (unexpected) end, finally I can listen to some music again.

In fact, already the first day the headset has proven to be useful.  My favorite radio channel, Studio Brussel (live stream – High Quality), was broadcasting a song which I’d never heard.  It was a hip hop song which sounded quite bizarre.  Initially I didn’t even know in what language the dude was singing but after a few seconds it hit me.  He was singing in Afrikaans (one of the languages spoken in South-Africa)!

Almost ten years ago, my wife and I visited that magnificent (though shocking due to the contrasts) country for a three-weeks-long holiday.  Being a Dutch-speaker myself I can understand quite a bit of the language that they speak over there (although not all of it, again difficult to describe:-)).

The song they were playing is called Cooler As Ekke, which means “Cooler Than Me”.

And it’s quite funny when you listen to it, it’s even IT-related (slightly).  Here’s part of the lyrics:

Ek’s original jy’s gecopy

Ek’s ‘n flash drive jy’s ‘n floppy

In English that would be:

I’m original you’re a copy

I’m a flash drive you’re a floppy

For more fun, try out Dans Dans Dans (dans is dance in both Afrikaans and Dutch).

Ow, and check out the clip of Dans Dans Dans, I think it’s really great.  Made me think of Indiana Jones movies for some reason, with a twist though.  The dude in the suit is just amazing!

Here’s one more, called Blaas Jou Vuvuzela.  Blaas means “blow”.  I’ll let you work out/look up the rest

Still not satisfied?  Lookup Jack Parow on YouTube

A Quick Headphones Review

Now, back to the headset.  When I got it out of its plastic package, I was a bit surprised by its cord, more precisely the length of it.  It was only 30 centimeters long!  Then I had a look at the package.  It read “for mobile phones”.  Oh no, don’t tell me they expect people to use this headset with their mobile phone clipped on their shirt, or in their shirt’s pocket?!  I must say I was a bit worried for a while, just a little while.

Then I had another look in the package.  It contained a small black bag, made from some special fabric, with a rope around the opening so that it can be closed.  That bag contained, guess what, an extension cord of one meter.  Plus additional earplugs of different sizes: S and L.  The M-sized ones were mounted on the headphones by default.  Phieuw, what a relief!

Apparently they chose to use this extension cord system so that it can be replaced with a mobile phone-specific cord with a speaker – that’s what they meant with “for mobile phones”.

The cord itself is made out of some special kind of rubber, preventing it from getting all tangled up.  It’s weird and it feels “jumpy”.  Very nice!  And all connectors are in shiny yellow, well, gold plated material.  I’m not sure if gold plated stands for better sound quality per se, but I guess it doesn’t hurt either.  Plus, it looks really good.

I don’t have a lot of experience with in-ear headphones, but I’m surprised by the quality of the sound produced by these things.  There’s more bass coming out of them than I’d ever have imagined – certainly a much better sound than what’s coming out of the headset that shipped with my Samsung phone.  Everything is really clear, I even hear things better than when played through my stereo system at home.

So, if you’re looking for a not-too-expensive headset, try out the Philips SHH8808.

Have fun!

Valentino.

Sunday, 10th of May

I made an order at Firebox.com.  The order included four Yondi travel pillows for our kids and the Flippin’ Penguins game, for our kids as well .

Monday, 11th of May

I received a confirmation that the order had shipped using TNT.

Wednesday, 13th of May

Shipment delivered at our neighbours (on our request as we were not at home during the day).

So in the evening we started unpacking the box.  All items were well protected using airbags to fill up the box.  There’s was even a free edible goodie, a mint Aero bar.  As far as I know this is not sold in Belgium so it was an interesting bite.

The penguin game requires two batteries, luckily we still had some waiting in our battery drawer.  Upon insertion of the batteries – exciting moment – we swapped the on/off switch and … nothing happened.  Hmm, bad batteries ?  Too old ?  Tried another set.  Still nothing.  All of them bad ?

To rule out an issue with the batteries we decided to try the device using freshly-bought batteries before filing a complaint.

Some days went by…

Tuesday, 26th of May

We finally had bought new batteries and tried them out.  But still no go so the engine really is broken.

The Firebox website has a very clear explanation on what to do when faulty goods are received.  The customer has 30 days time after receipt of the order so I wrote them an email explaining in short what we already tried out.

As this is an overseas order (UK > Belgium) I was quite curious to see how they would handle this.  After all, it costs money to ship such a large item and the sale price is £9.95.

Wednesday, 27th of May

Around noon the following reply was sent:

Hello Valentino,

I’m sorry to hear that you are having problems with the Flippin’ Penguins. Ordinarily we would get you to return your faulty product and then we would replace it.

However, rather than delay the matter further we are going to send you out a replacement ref: 1847702. You can dispose of the faulty ones that you.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you require any further assistance.

Kind Regards,
Sarah Kabunga
Firebox Team
Tel: 0844 922 1010

WINNER – Retailer of the Year (2008) Stuff Awards
WINNER – Best Retailer (2007) T3 Awards

Bored? Take a look at the Firebox Lunchtime Challenge, guaranteed to liven up your day…
http://www.firebox.com/features/lunchtimechallenge

“…we don’t stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing.”

Firebox.com Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 3874477
Registered Company Address: 41 Welbeck Street London W1M 8HD

In the evening of that same day I received a confirmation email to let me know that the “order” has shipped.

Friday, 29th of May

Shipment received.  Again we opened the box and inserted the batteries in the device.  Another exciting moment … flipped the switch … IT WORKS!

The box contained another Aero bar and a “£5 off on next order” voucher.

Conclusion

• Excellent customer service
• Fast delivery
• Free goodies
• If I keep writing these types of post I should start to ask for commission

I am not one of those who can start the PowerBall just by using my hands – believe me, I tried but I guess my fingers are just not long enough – so I went on the web to search for a replacement.  And I found it!  Right on the website of The Powerball People!

After submitting my loss through their website here, I got a prompt reply from Philip Macbain to confirm what is written on the rubber grip band of my PowerBall.  This was last week Wednesday.  I replied back in the evening.  On Friday I received a confirmation that a spare part shipment had been dispatched containing 1x – Neon Pro – Starting Cords.  And today I received an envelope containing 2 little red ropes, posted in Ireland!  This is even an extra rope because my original purchase from some years ago now only contained one rope!

I would hereby like to thank The PowerBall People for their outstanding customer service!  Hoping to own a metallic ball some day in the future

So if you’ve lost your rope(s) as well, contact The PowerBall People!

Disclaimer: no I am not sponsored in any way by The PowerBall People.  I just want everyone to know that – even in these times of difficult economic situations – there are still companies who take customer satisfaction highly!