Stereowise Plus: December 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

2012 Editor's Choice Awards

There have been some great products in 2012! Many a product has come across my desk this year. Based on design, features, quality, and performance, awards ranging from Value, to Recommended, Highly Recommended, and Editor's Choice can be awarded. Not all products receive an award. The best of the best earn our Editor's Choice Award. Our annual Editor's Choice Awards publication is to give the extra kudos to those special products that are so deserving. Below is the list of this years recipients.

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Sunday, December 16, 2012

2012 Christmas Free Giveaways Contest Announced

The 2012 Christmas Giveaway will feature the contests below. And a special thanks to Kingston for sponsoring. Email your contest submission(s) to jeff@stereowiseplus.com. Only one submission per family per contest. Contest submissions will be taken until midnight MST Friday 12/21/12. Winners will be notified by Christmas Eve.

Contests:

1) Submit your best scenery or desktop wallpaper photo
     Prize: Kingston HyperX 64GB DataTraveler USB 3.0
          http://www.kingston.com/us/usb/personal_business#dthx30

2) Submit story of worst Christmas you have had, or worst Christmas present ever received
     Prizes: 1st Place: Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 2.5" SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) SSD Drive
                      http://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/v#sv300s3
                 2nd Place: Kingston HyperX Beast DDR3 1866 16GB (2x8GB) Upgrade Kit
                      http://www.kingston.com/us/memory/hyperx/predator/beast

3) Submit story/photos of your computer: why you need the upgrade
     Prizes: 1st Place: Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 2.5" SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) SSD Drive
                      http://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/v#sv300s3
                 2nd Place: Kingston HyperX Beast DDR3 1866 16GB (2x8GB) Upgrade Kit
                      http://www.kingston.com/us/memory/hyperx/predator/beast

Thank you and Happy Holidays from the Stereowise Plus crew!

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Saturday, December 15, 2012

2012 Christmas Giveaway Contests

We are happy to announce our 2012 Christmas Giveaway Contest, sponsored by Kingston. It will feature items such as USB Flash Drives, Memory Upgrade Kits, and SSD drives. So get ready to sift thru photos for those of your cutest baby or best scenery pictures (just as examples), or photos of your decrepid computer or screen print of components for proof why you need the upgrade. There will be multiple contests each with their own requirements. So stay tuned for their announcements in the next few days. These will be some great Kingston products!

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Friday, December 14, 2012

Sandisk 32GB microSDHC Card Review

There's a lot of different gift ideas for the holidays, but what about stocking stuffers? Something that is small. Jewelry makes for great stocking stuffers, but that wouldn't be appreciated by most guys. A memory card, however, is both small and would be well used by most guys. After all, what guy wouldn't want more storage for their cell phone, tablet, digital camera, etc. Up for review today is a 32GB SanDisk microSD card.

The SanDisk 32GB microSD card is a great little memory card. It's a class 10 card so you know it's high speed. It also comes with a great little adaptor. The microSD card slides into it and turns it into a SD sized card. This makes it compatible with most digital cameras and also laptops.

It's features and specs:

Boosts the memory of your mobile device

Waterproof, x-ray proof, temperature proof, and shockproof

Transfer speeds up to 30 MB/s

Highest video recording performance with Class 10

UHS Speed Class 1 (U1) rating

SanDisk Memory Zone app for easy file backup on your Android powered device

Build quality is typical for a memory card. It's a thin, small plastic card that is well put together. Contact points are crisp. The SD adaptor is also well made. Sliding the microSD card inside, you can feel a little snap as it locks into place.

Benchmark

The SanDisk 32GB microSDHC card performed very well. The write speeds are nearly 15MB/s, but where it really shines is the read speeds of nearly 45MB/s. I have come to expect nothing less from a company like SanDisk. It comes with a lifetime warrenty and with their quality, I can see why. It has a MSRP of $104.99, but it ca be found for much less online. With it's design quality, features and performance most guys would only hope for one of these to find it's way into their stockings. Hopefully many of you will get lucky and Santa will get the message. For more specs and info, check out their website at www.sandisk.com.

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Coby CSMP95 2 Piece Wireless Soundbar Review

Whether it be watching a movie, or just a tv show, the image or picture from the tv is only part of the equation. The other part of the equation is the sound. Often times, especially in the flat LCD/Plasma TV's, the sound does not seem to have as much attention paid to it. Due to the limited space the built in sound often leaves much to be desired. Soundbars can help get rid of that flat sound that comes with the flat picture. The Coby CSMP95 can help solve that problem.

The Coby CSMP95 not only is a nice soundbar, it looks good as well. It has a elegent looking gloss black plastic finish. It also comes in two pieces. There is the soundbar that would typically go under or next to the flat tv and the detached subwoofer. The subwoofer is wireless so it can be placed anywhere in the room where there is an outlet to plug into. The subwoofer receives the signal from the soundbar. I also liked the auxilliary input for an MP3 player/Cell phone/iPod so it can do double duty as a sound system.

It's features and specs:

Built in Amplifier

Front Channel 20W x 2 Speakers

2.4Hz Wireless Subwoofer 40W

Connectivity: Coaxial input, RCA Jack, 2 aux input

LED Indicators

Front Panel Control

Wall mountable

Build quality looked pretty good. The soundbar and detached subwoofer came in a nice looking box with color printing and pictures of the product and some of it's features/specs. Opening up the long box revealed the soundbar, the subwoofer and some cardboard boxes as spacers to keep the devices protected. Also included were the owners manuels, power cords and a remote. The soundbar seemed to be made of good quality plastic and construction seemed fairly tight as well as the fit and finish of both the soundbar and the subwoofer. Connections on the rear also seemed nicely secure in place. Coby seemed to put a good amount of attention to details into their top of the line soundbar, and it showed.

Sound quality was actually quite good for the Coby CSMP95. It played loud, and vocals were easy to understand, even at loud volume. While the subwoofer did not have out output I was expecting, the wireless subwoofer added good low end extention for a true full-range sound. It did not have the full low end extension that a larger subwoofer typically can go down to but it still provided the depth even down to the 30 hz range. The sound quality and resolution was not to the level of a high end soundbar such as a ZVOX, but it was closer than it should have been given the price difference. It really did sound good.

I was impressed with the Coby CSMP95. It seemed to have all the bases covered, not only was it a nice looking product with it's gloss black finish, but it also did what it was made to do which was to provide good sound. Especially with the 2 peice design with a detached subwoofer that actually provided bass you could feel! At a MSRP of $129.99, it is a solid value and a great buy, especially since it can be found for less than that online. Based on it's design features, quality, and performance it has easily won our Recommended Award. For more info and specs check out their website at www.cobyusa.com.

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android 4.0 Quad-Core Tablet Review

Tablets are getting more and more popular. They are functional computing device that adds a huge amount of portability. Samsung has made quite the name for themselves with their high quality, high performance, yet attractive styling tablets, starting with the Galaxy Tab. But they upped the ante even more with their Galaxy Note 10.1.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 has the computing power to be considered as a netbook/laptop replacement for some. It does not have a built-in optical drive, but neither do netbooks, or ultrabooks. And it doesn’t have a built-in keyboard, but there is a pop-up one onscreen. And while it does not have a large built-in hard drive either, it does have a built-in memory card slot. So you can have unlimited memory capacity in the form of memory cards.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 does have a lot going for it in its many features. The 10.1" display has sufficient resolution for 720p video. There are stereo speakers built-in to the front, as well as front and rear sensors for video capture. So not only can you record home movies on the Galaxy Note 10.1, you can even Skype with your friends. The built-in wi-fi allows you to convert to a wireless network for web surfing. The Galaxy Note comes preloaded with Android 4.0 OS, and there are a plethora of apps and games for it. Whatever you like to do, be it web surfing, games, or productivity, it's quad-core processer with built-in GPU has you covered.

Features and specs:

Color: Deep Grey
OS: Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
Front Camera: 1.9 Megapixel
Rear Camera: 5.0 Mexgapixel with LED Light
Dimensions: 7.1" x 10.3" x 0.35"
Weight: 1.31 lb.
Battery: 7,000 mAh
Internal Memory: 16GB
Externl Memory: up to 32GM microSD card
Connectivity: wi-fi, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0 (with adapter)
CPU: 1.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Display: 10.1" 1280x800 pixels TFT
Audio: Music: MP3, AAC/AAC+/EAAC+, WMA, OGG (vorbis), FLAC, AC-3 Sound: AMR-NB/WB, WAV, MID, XMF, iMelody, SP-MIDI, RTTTL/RTX, OTA
Video: Video: 1080p Playback Full HD in 1280 x 800 screen @ 30 fps Video Codec: Mpeg4, H.264, H.263, VC-1, Divx, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark Format: 3gp(mp4), wmv(asf), avi(divx), mkv, flv, webm
Image: GIF, AGIF, JPEG, PNG, WBMP, WEBP
Fun and Entertainment: Google Play™ Store, Books, Movies, and Music Preloaded: Contacts, Alarm/Clock, S Planner, Camera, Gallery, Google Talk™, Dropbox, Netflix, Gmail™, YouTube™, Web Browser, My Files, Email, Google Search, Latitude, Video Player, Media Hub, Game Hub, Calculator, Music Player, Smart Remote, Settings, ChatON, Samsung Apps, Polaris Office, S Suggest, Google Maps, Google +, Google + Messenger, Music Hub, Navigation, Places, Video Maker, World Clock, Nook, AllShare Play S Pen Optimized Apps: Crayon Physics, S Note™, Adobe® Photoshop® Touch, Kno™
Supported Doc Types: Word File: .doc .docx .txt .hwp .rtf Excel File: .xls .xlsx .csv PowerPoint: .ppt .pptx .pps PDF: .pdf
Messaging Options: Email (POP3/IMAP/SMTP/SSL/TLS); Exhange ActiveSync Email

The Galaxy Note 10.1 came in Samsung standard white box packaging for tablets, with color printed images and product specs on the box. Opening the box revealed the tablet along with its charger. The owner’s manual is available online. Build quality of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is very good. While it is quite thin, similar to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 it still feels rather solid in hand. I do like the styling of the silver finish around the edges. While it is all plastic, it still feels good and fit and finish is excellent.

I really like the design of the charger. It is actually two pieces. There is the wall adaptor that plugs into the wall, and then there is the cord. The cord has a micro USB connector on one end to plug into the device. At the other end of the cord is a USB connection, which plugs into the wall adapter. Going this route means you can use the same cord for charging the Galaxy Note with your laptop.

The Galaxy Not 10.1 has some awesome advanced features as well. It's split screen feature is REALLY cool. You can have S Note open on one side, and a video or internet open on the other side. You can even copy and paste from one screen to the other. Group Share lets you share a presentation with multiple devices. Smart Energy also helps with your battery life. If you aren't engaged after so long, the display will dim. And using facial recognition and the built-in webcam, it can go into sleep mode if it sees you are not engaged.

Polaris Office is a great app that will work with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I also LOVE the S Note program! It is more than just taking notes. In converts handwriting to text, and can recognize math formulas. The S Note will even let you load diagrams, photos and videos to your note. Just imagine getting a hand cramp taking notes in class. No problem. Just take a picture of the chalk/white board, and load it into your note. If only this was available when I was in college!

Performance of the Galaxy Note was nothing short of stellar! The screen was pleasantly responsive, sound was quite good for such a small device and gave a wide soundstage. The screen had great resolution, and good saturation. It even had good shadow detail with videos, and playback was silky smooth. I had no problems with any program or game that I ran on it. Everything ran smoothly. It's wireless response was also fast and responsive. It has the performance I have come to expect from Samsung.

Now it is time for a few benchmarks from Linpack single and multithread, NenaMark1, NenaMark2, and Quadrant, which should also speak for themselves. The Samsung Quad-Core is a seriously performer!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a spectacular tablet. It is loaded with features that make the device a joy to use. With an MSRP of $499 for the 16 GB wi-fi model, it's performance was on par with the price point. You definitely get what you pay for. Based on it's design, features, quality, and performance, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at
www.samsung.com.

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Thursday, December 6, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Tab II 7.0 Dual-Core Tablet Review

When it comes to Samsung, they make a lot of good products: Cell phones, cameras, even surround sound systems and appliances. And when it comes to tablets, they're considered a top tier manufacturer. If you haven't tried one of their tablets, you really should. Up for review today is their Galaxy Tab 2 7.0.

Features and specs:

Carrier: Wi-Fi
Color: Titanium Silver
OS: Android 4.0
Rear Camera: 3.0 Megapixels
Dimensions: 4.8" x 7.6" x 0.41"
Weight: 0.76 lbs
Battery: 4,000 mAh
Internal Memory: 8GB
External Memory: microSD card slot supports up to 32GB
Main Display: 1024 x 600 pixels
Display Size: 7"
Audio: Music: MP3, AAC/AAC+/EAAC+, WMA, OGG (vorbis), FLAC, AC-3
Sound: AMR-NB/WB, WAV, MID, XMF, iMelody, SP-MIDI, RTTTL/RTX, OTA
Video: 1080p Playback @ 30fps
Video Codec: Mpeg4, H.264, H.263, VC-1, Divx, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark
Format: 3gp(mp4), wmv(asf), avi(divx), mkv, flv, webm
Business and Office: Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync, Virtual Private Network (VPN) Access, Polaris® Office, Video Chat, Cisco WebEx, EAS IT Policy, HW Encryption, Sybase Afaria
Messaging Options: Email; Corporate Email; Instant Messaging; Swype™

The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 came shipped in their standard white box with colored pictures and some features and specs printed on it. Opening the box revealed a tablet sitting in a cardboard cutout. Underneath it was the charger cable and owners manuel. The device felt really solid in hand. It appears to be made mostly of a hard plastic with curved edges and gorilla glass. Quality of materials used is excellent as well and the products fit and finish. It really was put together really well and plug in the charger seemed to have a solid connection to the main board. I was also very impressed with it's form factor. Last years Galaxy Tab 7.0 was a nice device but this years model is really slim, a lot more so than last years model. It's thickness reminds me of last years Galaxy Tab 10.1.

I have really had a lot of fun using the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. It feels really good and solid in hand. The touch screen is pleasently responsive without being overly so. Panel performance is also very good with it's contrast, resolution and even shadow detail. Processor performance between aps and gaming is also very good. It is very fast when it comes to closing and switching between aps, using the apps without any hickups. It's dual core processor and GPU have also proven a performer with games, showing no system hangs or low frame rates.

Wi-Fi and internet connection speed is also very good. There have been zero issues in regards to connectivity and downloading, even when it comes to video, such as watching movie trailors on YouTube. Audio quality, with it's small stereo internal speakers was also surprisingly good. It played sufficiently loud when it needed to. Yet it also provided a crisp clean sound that was near full range. Having the memory card slot for more expandablity for storage unlike the iPad is just icing on the cake. Another area where the dual core processor has seemed to help is with capturing video with the tablet. It does lack an external LED light and low light performance isn't great, but when capturing video, the video was smooth and flowed very well.

Here are a few benchmarks from Quadrant, NenaMark1, NenaMark2, and Linpack single thread and multithread benchmarks. Performance was very good as a dual-core.

Samsung has really done it right with the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Not only is it loaded with great features, such as a dual core processor and gorilla glass, it's also set at a great price point at $249.99. Bargain hunters should be estatic. You do get what you pay for, and I've seen tablets only last 6 months before problems start to surface. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 seems built well enough to provide years of service. You will probably want to upgrade for features before needing to upgrade for functionality. Based on it's design, features, quality and performance, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has earned our Highly Recomended Award. For more information and complete specs, go to their website at
www.samsung.com.

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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Coleman Hooligan 3 Tent Review

If you're looking for qualtiy camping gear at a great price, Coleman has been providing great products for over 100 years, starting with their lanterns. Having recently reviewed Colemans Big Basin Extreme Weather sleeping bag, I was glad to note that things hadn't changed on that front, so I was eager to test out their Hooligan 3 tent. The Hooligan 3 is a 3 person, 3 season backpacking tent.

Features and specs:

Exclusive WeatherTec™ System Keeps you dry Guaranteed™

Spacious interior, room move

Dome for quick, 10-minute setup

Snag-free, continuous pole sleeves for easy setup

Fully-covered vestibule for dry entry and added wind protection near the door

Full rainfly for protection from the cold, sun, wind and rain

Dry entry vestibule allows convenient access and adjustable airflow

Entire mesh inner tent provides maximum ventilation

Full fly offers complete protection in the harshest conditions

Full-mesh inner tent for incredible ventilation

Large windows help cool the tent

Storage pockets keep gear organized

WeatherTec™ System— patented welded floors and inverted seams keep water out

Insta-Clip™ pole attachments stand up to winds

8 ft. x 7 ft. (2.44 m x 2.13 m), fits three people

Center height: 4 ft. 10 in. (1.47 m)

Limited 1 year warranty

Made in China

The tent came in a nice looking, color printed cardboard box, with images of the pitched tent as well as some features and specs printed on it. Opening the box revealed the tent bag with the tent enclosed in protective cardboard inside the tent bag. I opened up the tent bag and removed the cardboard to unroll the tent. The nylon floor as well as the nylon walls appear to be of good quality as well as the netting of the walls. Stiching of the floors, walls and basically all surfaces appeared well secured and well put together. The included tent stakes are rather cheap, thin aluminum and have a tendancy to bend rather easily, so you may want to consider purchasing some nicer tent stakes. With that being said, that is typical with tent manufacturers.

The tent was rather easy to set up. The three tent poles were all a fiberglass construction and slid into the sleeves in a crossover pattern that seemed fairly strong in design. I really liked the large mesh side walls which kept out bugs yet allowed for stargazing if the rain fly is not needed for moisture protection. There was also a ventalation built in to allow for fresh air in and out of the tent so it doesn't get stuffy. Based on the size of it's footprint, the Hooligan is rated as a 3 person tent, and I can see 3 adults fitting inside it. It would be a slightly tight fit, but as a backpacking tent you don't want excessive room anyway, it's heavier to carry! There were included pockets in the interier to help with the space saving by providing spots for flashlights and small items to be stored inside the tent. The included instructions were easy to follow and proved to be helpful in putting it up for the first time, especially with the pole that goes accross the front for the rain fly/vestibule area.

After setting up the tent and securing the fly I could see how this could be a easy 3 season and possibly light 4 season tent. It's use of a two pole design for the main tent body make heavy snow loads a potential problem, but anything other than that should be fine. The fly fits snuggly and I really liked the velcro to attach the fly to the main tent and the pole accross the main vestibule. The front vestibule was also very nice. It was rather large with plenty of space for 3 bags plus your shoes and provided a nice place where you can walk out of the rain or snow and take off your shoes and jacket before entering into the main body of the tent to keep wet or muddy items away from sleeping gear. About the only thing I did not like about the design was the number of tie downs on the fly. While I could see them being helpful in more extreme weather such as high winds, there were a lot of them and I've seen tents with a lot less. But at the same time, that's being a bit picky. Taking down was also simple to do and getting it all folded small enough to fit back into the bag was not overly difficult. To me that's a big win!

With the Coleman Hooligan 3, I was pleasently not surprised with the quality of the tent. This is a good example of a company that makes a good product and continues to maintain that hard earned reputation. I had high expectations for the tent, and was not disappointed. The Coleman Hooligan 3 was made of good quality components, was put together well, and seemed able to handle the wear and tear of anyone, including a scout troop. As an assistant scoutmaster, I would not hesitate to recommend this tent to any scout/parent, or anyone for that matter, who does a lot, or even a little, amount of camping. With an MSRP of $99, it's also an excellent value. Based on it's design, features, specs, it has earned our Recommended Award. For more features and complete specs, check out thier website at www.coleman.com.

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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Coby SNAPP CAM5005 Portable Camcorder Review

Electronics have come a long ways, especially cell phones. When it comes to capturing those special moments, many of us will just capture images or short videos using our cell phones. But it's hard to beat the quality and the edit ability of footage when you use a stand alone camcorder. Fortunately for us, prices on those have contually gone down. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is one of those camcorders.

The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is a small, hand held, HD camcorder. It can capture images as well as video in 720p resolution. It is very compact and has a flip out touch screen LCD monitor and built in light. MSRP is a lowly $59.99, which is quite the bargain. I remember spending $800 on a Hi-8 camcorder 17 years ago. And that was a good deal!

Features and Specs:

Full-color 2.7" Swivel LCD Touch Screen

Records video in 720p HD resolution

View recorded videos and photos on a TV (HDMI or composite video supported)

Advanced features including still capture and digital zoom (4x)

Supports SD/SDHC memory cards

Integrated Hi-speed USB 2.0 plug for fast file transfers

Built-in Lithium Ion Battery

The product came in a plastic shrink wrapped package, with a colored printed paper that surrounded the device that included features and specs of the camcorder. Included in the package was a USB charging cable, AV cable, owners manual, software CD and a protective cloth pouch. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is made of a plastic housing with an ok fit and finish. It didn't feel as solid in hand or well built as many other camcorders, yet at the same time it also wasn't flimsy or felt like it would fall apart. It should hold up just fine. You'll just want to be a bit more careful with it. With electronics, you tend to get what you pay for, so just remember the price point.

Using the Coby SNAPP CAM5005 was fun. Not being very complex, it was easy to just charge it up and start recording. The touch screen display was responsive and managing throught the settings was rather simple and easy to follow. I liked the memory card slot so you basically have unlimited storage. Your only limits are the size of the card or number of cards you want to haul around. And if you really want to turn your kids into hams, just flip the screen so they can see themselves to get some fun footage. Low light performance was not the best and images were grainy, but the built in light did help some. The included software also allowed you to upload your creations to YouTube after basic editing, and was sufficiently simple to do. I also liked the built-in anti-shake feature, which was not an advertised feature. It has other typical camcorder settings such as quality, resolution, white balance, etc. The HDMI output also lets you easily connect it to your HDTV. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 could be a poster child for Bang for the Buck! Full camcorder functionality for only $59.99 is amazing. For those on a tight budget but still wanting to capture precious moments, or for those kids aspiring to be a movie producer, the Coby SNAPP CAM5005 could be a good start.

The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 proved to be a very capable and extremely portable HD camcorder. It's obvious not a $600 Canon, so don't expect it to perform like one. But it's a true bargain at it's $59.99 MSRP. There are a lot of manufaturers with cheap camcorders. Given the performance of the Coby SNAPP CAM5005, if this was my price range, I would have no problem jumping on the Coby. Based on it's design, features, quality, perfomance and bargain price, it has easily won our Value Award. For more info and complete specs check out their website at www.cobyusa.com.

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Friday, December 14, 2012

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Friday, December 7, 2012

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012

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