NWZ-W252 Walkman

When I run, I like to listen to songs that get me pumped up. I can be dead tired, but if I hear one of my power songs, it makes getting through a tough run that much easier.

I generally use my iPod Shuffle for exercise, but was interested enough to try Sony’s new portable MP3 player NWZ-W252 because it’s wireless, lightweight….. and well because Sony gave me one to try out (what’s better than that).

The Good

It’s wireless. I can’t underscore how nice it is not to have to fiddle with wires. It’s just easier. No more running the wires under your shirt or untangling sweaty ear buds.

It’s lightweight. Wearing the NWZ-W252 is very easy. After a while I didn’t even notice I had them on.

Loading music was easy. I was able to easily transfer playlists and songs straight from my iTunes library. With 2GB of maximum capacity, the new Walkman W Series can hold approximately 470 songs (4 minute length at 128 kbps).

Quick Charge Function. If you ever forget to charge your walkman (I do this often), the NWZ-W252 has a nifty quick charge function which gives you about 90 minutes of use on only a 3 minute charge. That’s pretty bad@$$ if you ask me. Full battery life will get you about 11 hours of use.

Navigating songs was a breeze. The controls which are located on the ear piece were intuitive and easy-to-use. Scrolling through my playlist was easy and there is even a way to scan your music in short spurts to find just the right song to get you through your workout.

Sound quality was impressive. The ear pieces are shaped in a way that really eliminates ambient noises well. The quality audio is noticeable. They are definitely a step up from standard ear buds that tend to allow more noise leak.

The Bad

Too cool for school. You know we’re not fans of the bluetooth headset. With the NWZ-W252, it gets rid of the wires, but the tradeoff is that it adds not one, but two bluetooth looking earpieces to your head.

One-size doesn’t fit all. Because the head piece is meant to be one-size-fits-all, there was some jingle bojangle action when I was running. I felt the ear pieces bounce around a little at first while I ran. After getting it to sit right though, I was able to make it fit comfortably and it was fine.

Sony Walkman 250 Series

Overall

The Sony Walkman NWZ-W252 is a solid MP3 player for people who like to run or exercise to music. It does more than get the job done and offers impressive sound quality. It’s ideal if you’re a fitness enthusiast who is looking for a noticeable upgrade in audio experience and where going wireless is a must.

The Sony W Series Walkman, model NWZ-W252, is available for about $60 at www.sonystyle.com.

Blank Label is a Boston-based startup that allows its customers to create their own custom dress shirts online.

I went ahead and used their online custom shirt creator and waited for my shirt in the mail. Now that I’ve worn the shirt a couple times now, here are my thoughts.

Overall, I’d say Blank-Label is really on to something here. They’ve created a nicely designed site which allows any Joe Shmo like me to easily create a custom dress shirt online. And I’ve got to hand it to them, the shirt fits almost perfect. It fits exactly the same if not better than the shirt I bought at Cafe Coton off the rack and had taken in at the local tailor. The difference though was that with Blank Label, I never left my apartment.

The Good

• I was able to customize the shirt just the way I wanted in terms of type of color, fit, number of pockets, button color, etc. Because of this, the shirt definitely feels custom and not something I could get off the rack at a department store.
• The fit is spot-on and overall quality is high in terms of materials used (Both times I wore the shirt I got compliments about the fit).
• Price wise, Blank Label isn’t a steal, but it’s definitely a great price for a service that usually cost a hell of a lot more. Shirts start out at just $45, and mine with all the unique customizations topped out at around $70.
• With Blank Label, they’ll never run out of your size since it is basically on-demand shirt making.
• The shirt came with a hand written note. It was a nice touch, but I wasn’t sure if that was special for us or if  they do that for every customer. Still the best packaging experience I’ve had so far were for a pair of pants from Bonobos.com.

The Bad

• Workmanship was fair, but I did notice a bit of excess threads and things that weren’t clipped off. This was more apparent around the buttons and in the areas where I customized the shirt a bit more. It felt like it just left the seamstress’ table…which is fine, but it did feel a little less polished than something I’ve seen come from other vendors.
• The wrapping the shirt came in felt a little budget and I would have liked to see better presentation here.

About Blank Label

Individually Designed By You, Individually Made By Us

We’re changing how young guys buy and wear dress shirts. Add a subtle personalized touch to that blue or white work shirt or go crazy by really designing a one-of-a-kind creation, hit that sweet spot in between with that shirt you leave work and go for dinner and drinks with. We have one of the hottest design-it-yourself dress shirt applications going around, have fun with it, create something individual. After all blank label is your label.

Did you know?

“74% of girls agree that hair is one of the first things they notice about a guy.”

National Survey of 2,500 girls 18-24 conducted by StrategyOne June and July 2008.

AXE, the popular grooming line which you’ve come to know now has a line of AXE Hair care products aimed at giving you “girl-approved hair.” The line includes 5 new shampoos, a conditioner, and styling products that are designed to take your hair care to the next level.

Since we always like to give you the heads up on all things men, here’s the lowdown.

AXE Shampoos & Conditioners

Just Clean Shampoo provides a fresh scent and invigorating feel for a clean she’ll notice
De-Glue Shampoo + Scrub features rock crystals and removes the gunky product build-up blocking guys’ game
De-Poof Shampoo features a hydrating Kukui blend and deflates poofy hair to inflate guys’ appeal
Anti-Dandruff Shampoo + Conditioner offers zinc-based dandruff control because girls don’t dig flakes
2 in 1 Shampoo + Conditioner combines cleansing and conditioning to speed up guys’ clean and their game
Just Soft Conditioner leaves hair so soft she won’t be able to keep her hands out of it

AXE Styling Products

Messy Look Paste gives hair a messy, just-out-of-bed look she’ll want to run her hands through
Spiked-Up Look Putty gives hair hold without all the hard crunch of gel that girls hate
Clean-Cut Look Pomade gives guys a girl-approved polished look without appearing wet
Shaggy Look Cream gives longer manes an easygoing look for hair she can’t resist

Overall, the AXE hair care line products are affordable and get the job done. These are not the foofy salon type products that each cost more than a 24-pack, but think of them as better than using your girlfriends Herbal Essence shampoo or that tired L.A. Looks MegaSuperUltimateCrazy Hold gel you’ve been using. Sure the AXE stuff is a little over the top with the packaging and somewhat overpowering scent choices, but they aren’t a bad way to go if you’re looking for alternatives. While I don’t necessarily believe girls will be climbing over each other to get to you after using this stuff, they just might say you smell nice, and that’s not too bad.

The problem I find is that I go through these shirts too quickly. When I first buy them, I think I’ve found my new favorite shirt, but after a few washes they just ain’t the same. So you cut their playing time and eventually relegate them to the end of your proverbial bench.

Enter Dunning Sportswear.  The Dunning Performance Sportshirt ($125) may look like a traditional shirt with a classic fit, but after deeper inspection, the threads reveal a non-traditional Coolmax poly-cotton blend which wicks away moisture .

Dunning Performance Sportshirt

The Dunning clothing line was founded by Toronto native Ralph Dunning, a lifelong athlete turned golf enthusiast. Dunning has also done work for some of the world’s largest and most authentic sports brands including Saucony, GT Cycles and Cervelo. This is important because you know the man knows how to fuse quality and performance.

I’ve had my Dunning shirt going on 4-weeks now and it’s been great. The first thing you will notice is that it is stylish in an understated way. It doesn’t scream, it sings quality.  The fabric is crisp but not overly stuffy or tight. It’s lightweight, well put together and can be worn for a variety of occasions. I’ve had the opportunity to wear it to work and to a dinner with friends. Some even noticed the subtle logo near the left hand cuff which I thought was a nice touch on the design. It’s just a well made shirt, flat out.

Sure you’ve probably never heard of  the Dunning brand, but don’t be surprised to see their threads start to pop up on your local golf course.  2007 Masters Champion, Zach Johnson, has been seen sporting the line.

You can purchase Dunning SportsWear at fine clothiers and through their website. Run, don’t walk to DunningSportsWear.com.

I said yes to the test drive not because I happen to love American cars (I drive an older Acura CL myself), but because I wanted to see firsthand what type of car the American auto industry has to offer in these troubled times.

With the Lincoln MKS, Ford is competing directly with the likes of the Lexus GS350, Infiniti M35 and Cadillac STS among others. And out here in the Bay Area, where German and Japanese cars dominate the mid-luxury sedan space, it was refreshing to be driving something different.

After the car was dropped off, I asked a couple people in the office to come check out the MKS.  Both were impressed with the stance of the car. “It looks mean. Look at that grill, it’s a BEAST”, said one of them. The other said, “Wow, it’s not what I expected.” Read into those comments all you want, but I was equally impressed when I first saw the MKS.

When I think of a Lincoln, a quiet, tuxedo black Towncar with a comfy cloud-like ride comes to mind. These have become the defacto standard non-taxi work horses I see all around downtown San Francisco.

With the MKS, it’s a huge departure from what I have come to think about Lincoln. The lines and overall fit and finish of the MKS are very impressive.

The interior looks and feels like what I would expect for a $40k+ car. It doesn’t shout out luxury, but the leather and wood trim accents are very nice. On the center console, the knobs and dials were a tad too small. I did like that the center arm rest telescoped and extended out some (nice touch). I also liked how the seat belt height could be adjusted easily and was also hidden at the same time.  The interior is not as spacious as I would have guessed looking at the car from the outside, but in no way was it small. I had a friend who is 6′2″ sit in the back and he had no problems with the amount of head or leg room either. The gauges on the dash board looked a little budget. In particular, I didn’t like the fact that every MPH was displayed i.e. 40MPH, 50MPH, 60MPH (see image).  It felt a little cluttered and made it harder to read my actual speed.

Where I think the MKS really shines is in it’s technology enhancements. Rear view camera, Microsoft SYNC, keyless entry, push-button start, steering wheel controls, navigation, voice control and THX sound system were just some of the nice things I really enjoyed. Anyone looking for a car with these technology enhancements will not be disappointed. If you’ve ever seen the movie Flight of the Navigator, the MKS felt similar in terms of all the technology crammed into this car. While some of the voice commands took a little while to execute, the ease of use and increased functionality more than made up for it.

Another thing about the MKS that really stood out was the sheer size of the trunk.  It was Grand Canyon like. Holy shite, was it huge. You could fit at least a couple golf bags and at least a weeks worth of groceries in there. The only down side though was the lip or entrance into trunk felt a little tight, but you can’t have everything.

Once I got the car out on San Francisco roads, I was pleased. Although the MKS’s suspension feels a bit stiffer, it’s still similarly tuned to that of a Lexus over a BMW in terms of comfort. The steering is true, not overly sensitive and you get just the right amount of feedback to make driving it fun. There was noticeably more road noise in our test car, but that may be attributed to the stiffer suspension. Aside from that, the MKS handled very nicely. Whether on the street or on the freeway, the handling felt appropriate and the throttle responsive.

Overall, you can tell extra effort was put into making this car. Although I was skeptical in the beginning, I came away with a good impression of the Lincoln MKS. And in a way, it gives me hope that the American auto industry can turn it around. Now wouldn’t we all like that.