Articles by Judie Lipsett Stanford



ICECO VL60 Review: An Extraordinary 63.4-Quart Dual-Zone Refrigerator and Freezer That’s Ready for Every Adventure

Kev and I recently purchased a travel trailer that can be pulled behind his Toyota Tacoma or my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Part of the fun of planning your first big camping adventure is making sure that you have all the necessary gear to go off-grid for days at a time, which is why the offer to review the ICECO VL60 couldn’t have come at a better time. The VL60 is a heavy-duty metal dual-zone refrigerator and/or freezer powered by a Danfoss SECOP compressor that can be used in multiple outdoor and indoor scenarios. Let’s take a look.


Nanoleaf Matter BR30 Smart Bulbs Review: Light Your Home According to Your Mood with These Flood Lights

There’s something supremely cool about having smart lights in your home that are white when you want but can also be any other colors when you prefer a different vibe. If you have recessed lighting, as I do, you may have considered installing smart floodlights, but if you want to get them from a known brand, they can be as much as $50 per bulb! The new Nanoleaf Matter BR30 Smart Bulbs are reasonably priced, and rather than being from some random maker, they come from Nanoleaf, a well-known smart lighting brand. Let’s take a look.



OnePlus Nord N30 5G Review: At $300, It’s an Excellent, Budget-Friendly Smartphone Choice

The OnePlus Nord series is known for mid-range smartphones that deliver better-than-expected cameras, impressive performance for their class, vibrant displays with fast refresh rates, ample RAM, and features that are generally found on more expensive models; the new OnePlus Nord N30 5G is no exception. The unlocked N30 features a refined slab style, a 108-megapixel main camera, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, 8GB RAM (adjustable to 16GB), 128GB user memory, a 5,000mAh battery, and more for just $299.99. Read on to see if this might be a good choice for you.


Realme 11 Pro+ 5G Review: A Fashion-Forward Mid-Range Smartphone That Rocks a Flagship-Level Camera

Realme is known worldwide for offering feature-rich smartphones at affordable prices, and their latest model, the realme 11 Pro+ 5G, is no exception. Available in China last month and soon to be available in India and Europe (and available in the US if you don’t mind using a reseller), the 11 Pro + 5G  boasts a 200-megapixel camera, 5,000mAh battery, 100W fast wired charging, and impressively, the base memory option starts at 8GB RAM and 256GB storage for well under $500.


10 Things You Can Start Doing Today to Lock-Down and Secure Your Online Accounts!

After getting hit with yet another phishing email this morning and having received several password reset emails in the last week that I didn’t ask for, I figured it was a good time to go over some of the things you can do to secure your online accounts and ensure that you don’t fall victim to hacking and account takeovers. Keeping your online accounts secure is a crucial way to protect your privacy and personal information while preventing unauthorized access to financial or personal data. Here are ten things you can start doing today to help secure your online experience:



Gear Diary’s 2023 Father’s Day Gift Guide: Plenty of Ideas to Make Dad’s Day Special!

Father’s Day is June 18th, and what better way is there to appreciate the men who’ve been there for you than by celebrating them? Next to giving Dad more time with you, the next best thing you can give him is something that makes his life easier, more comfortable, or more fun. Take a look at our 2023 Father’s Day Gift Guide, and we’re positive that you’ll find the perfect present.


MediaTek and NVIDIA Partner to Make Future Car Cockpits Smarter, Better Connected, and with Enhanced Computing Capabilities

As car interiors get more advanced, vehicle electronics rely on the same technologies found in today’s smartphones, like advanced AI, 5G connectivity, and computing capabilities. MediaTek and NVIDIA have just announced a partnership at Computex that will provide a complete range of AI cabin solutions for the next generation of software-defined vehicles to meet the demand for smarter vehicles.


OnePlus Pad Review: A Gorgeous, Sub-$500 Android Tablet That’s Loaded with Useful Features

I’ve felt a sense of frustration because there really weren’t any real options if I wanted to own a stylish, thin, non-iOS tablet with a larger display, but now we have the OnePlus Pad to consider. The Pad is OnePlus’s first tablet, and they’ve loaded it to the gills with goodies, including a powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset, face unlock, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, all-day battery life, and an 11.61″ display with 144Hz refresh rate. Best of all, it is just $479. Is the OnePlus Pad the tablet that Android users have been hoping for?




BougeRV CRPRO30 30-Quart Portable Fridge Review: An Ice-Free Way to Keep Cold Things Cold and Frozen Things Frozen

There are plenty of times when having a portable fridge in your vehicle can come in handy; some of the ones I can think of off of the top of my head include when you’re spending time doing outdoor activities, traveling, when you have medications that need to be kept at a certain temperature, or when you just want the convenience of not having to stop for a cold drink during a long commute. Whatever your reason for needing one, the BougeRV CRPRO30 30-Quart Portable Fridge might just be the perfect solution.


2023 John Deere Tech Summit: Helping Family Famers Efficiently Feed an Ever-Growing Population

In many countries, shoppers enjoy the privilege of entering their choice of well-stocked grocery stores to find an ever-changing selection of fresh and packaged food options. Most of us probably don’t give a second thought to the people and processes responsible for producing our food; we just take the bounty for granted. But since attending the John Deere Tech Summit in Austin, I’ve gained a fresh appreciation for farmers (especially family farmers), the farming process, and for John Deere — the company that’s been helping farmers feed and clothe their families — and the world — since 1837.


Sleep Number Launches New Lifestyle Furniture Line Along with Next-Gen Sleep Number Smart Beds

Sleep Number’s first 360 smart beds launched in 2017. After seeing one in person at CES 2018, I soon bought the i10 360 smart bed. That was over five years ago, and ever since, Kev and I have enjoyed personalized sleep from our dual-zone, self-adjusting mattress. Each night, sensors inside our smart bed collect biometric data that is crunched to produce a SleepIQ Score. Today the next-gen Sleep Number smart beds were announced along with Sleep Number’s new lifestyle furniture line. It’s hard to imagine what could make our mattress any better, but Sleep Number has some ideas.


Sterling Pacific 35L Cabin Travel Case Review: Raising the Bar for Stylish and Well-Built 2-Wheeled Aluminum Carry-On Luggage

Business travel is ramping back to pre-pandemic levels, which means many of us are once again on the road or in the air multiple times a month. If the sight of your beat-up carry-on is making you question its viability, the Sterling Pacific 35L Cabin Travel Case is here for your consideration. Built like a tank and sporting a chic retro style, this bag harkens to an era when travel was an event. It costs as much (or more) than a round-trip economy flight to Europe, but could this bag be the last you’ll ever have to buy?


BlenderCap by Cruz Review: Don’t Leave Home Without It If You Enjoy Smoothies on the Go!

We’ve reviewed portable blenders before, but the BlenderCap by Cruz is something else. Designed by two former Apple Engineers, BlenderCap is one of the most functional and best-designed solutions we’ve yet seen for making smoothies, shakes, frozen drinks, or flavored ices while traveling or on the go. All you need to create your favorite concoctions are the ingredients, some ice, a wide-mouth bottle, and the BlenderCap by Cruz will do the rest.


The All-New Ring Battery Doorbell Plus Offers Significant Battery and Field of View Improvements

Eight years ago, I reviewed the Ring Video Doorbell. This was such a new product category at the time that I wrote, “knowing who’s standing at your door when you are or aren’t at home is a pretty handy superpower.” Honestly, I still think that’s true. The all-new Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is the brand’s most significant update to its battery doorbell lineup yet, and one of the features being touted is battery life that can last up to three times longer than that first-gen Ring Video Doorbell I reviewed, but that’s just the start.