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Sound Advice: A gift idea to brush up on and a great 4K projector

Don Lindich, Tribune News Service on

Published in Tech Advice

A great gift for $17.50: The most popular product I covered so far this year was the Oclean X Pro Elite electric toothbrush. Praise from readers was effusive, though I received a few comments from those who found the product to be complex or thought the documentation could have been better. This week’s gift idea should overcome those objections while delivering an excellent brushing experience at a far lower price.

The Oclean Ease is, as the name suggests, an easy-to-own-and-use toothbrush with a microvibration motor similar to the X Pro Elite. The streamlined design features a protection cap that turns the whole toothbrush into a smooth cylinder, perfect for travel without packing a separate case. It charges quickly and provides four months of brushing between charges. The brush heads are soft and comfortable and the brushing action is gentle yet effective, making it perfect for kids, older folks, first-time users and those who want a better clean than their manual toothbrush. It includes a 2-minute timer that notifies you every 30 seconds to change the brushing area. It’s a good introduction to electric toothbrushes and an ideal stocking stuffer, especially given it comes from an up-and-coming name brand and the price is so attractive. The Oclean Ease S x 2 includes two separately boxed toothbrushes with 3 brush heads in each box. Normally $49.98, the Ease S x 2 is currently on sale on oclean.com for $34.99, making it less than $17.50 per toothbrush and since they are boxed separately you can keep one and give one away, or give both as gifts. Replacement brush heads are only $19.99 per six-pack, making upkeep inexpensive as well.

Q. I want to build an outdoor projector outfit and feel that with a 120-inch screen, 4K is mandatory. I know I can get a good 120-inch indoor/outdoor screen for under $200, but quality 4K projectors are still expensive and I don’t want to spend thousands on something that will be used infrequently. Do you think there will be good 4K smart projectors offered for around $1,000 anytime soon?

—J.M., Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania

A. We are there now with the new Nebula Cosmos 4K SE Smart Projector, which lists for $1,299.99. Though priced aggressively for a 4K smart projector, it is a premium product loaded with high-end features like Google TV for streaming, multiple HDMI inputs and a dual LED-laser light source for high brightness with rich, accurate color reproduction as well as no expensive lamps to replace. The projector also offers high-quality projection optics, Dolby Vision, autofocus, automatic keystone correction and the ability to correct colors when projecting on a wall that is not white. It also has the kind of tactile feel and build quality you would associate with a luxury product and can project a huge 200-inch image. I have seen it in operation and the picture is beautiful, colorful, exceedingly clean and ultra-detailed, easily competing with a high-quality movie theater when used with a quality projection screen and a good signal source. The built-in speakers are surprisingly loud and effective as well.

 

There was a $135 coupon offered recently on Amazon and the seenebula.com website, bringing it down to $1,164.99. Even at $1,299.99 I think it is the absolute best projector value on the market but if Nebula wants to make it more attainable for home entertainment fans, I am all for it.

Please note that a good 1080P projector will also deliver an excellent image at a 120-inch screen size, especially when using Blu-ray discs instead of streaming. But at $1,299.99 I’d say get the 4K you want with the Cosmos 4K SE.

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