Ativa DQ83Mn Paper Shredder – Green light won’t turn on

Ativa DQ83Mn Shredder

I bought an Ativa DQ83Mn Shredder from OfficeDepot back in February of 2008.  I believe Ativa is OfficeDepot’s own tech brand. It worked perfectly for atleast four months. Then one day it just wouldn’t turn on. Normally all I do is push the button to Auto mode and the green light goes on. Now nothing happens in any mode. In disgust, I left the shredder to die for a few months before I finally looked for the receipt today. I went online to check the warranty info on the product and see what was the best path to go, deal with the hassle of getting it fixed or replaced or just buy a new one. After all I had bought it on sale for $29.99, and it seemed more of a hassle to go through warranty.

Luckily for me, I found a problem post on this shredder online:

Fixya – Shredder won’t turn on

A poster carlosquinto said he had the same problem, and after talking to tech support, it was determined that the electrical contact between the shredder and basket was not touching each other! Huh? There needs to be electrical contact between a mesh basket and shredder? Interesting… I guess it makes sense. Sort of a safety feature that won’t allow the shredder to go on unless it is safely over the basket. I decided to look at my shredder one last time. It seemed to be placed perfectly over the basket… But then I lifted the shredder about 1 mm above the cord cutout on the basket. I heard a click and the green light went on! I let the shredder drop back into it’s normal position and the green light went off! Hmmm, it is due to the electrical contact! After a little maneuvering, the green light now stays on for good.

Yayeee! A fixed technical product issue. So few of those…

Product Review: Dynacraft Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huckjam 20-Inch Silver BMX Bike

Front Angle View

I’ve always wanted a BMX bike as a kid, but we were never able to afford one. Now that I’m too old for one, I decided to get one anyway for my short commute to campus. I ended up getting the Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huckjam 20-inch Silver BMX bike at KMart for $149.99. I have seen it on sale at KMart for $134.99.( On a side note, KMart has by far the worst customer service ever.) Here’s a short review of the bike after riding it for about a month.

The bike is a series of BMX and mountain bikes released under the Tony Hawk Huckjam name, although its not listed on the current list of bikes on the website. These bikes are built and distributed by Dynacraft. Since I bought this as is from KMart, I did not have to go through the assembly process. There are front and rear hand brakes and no coaster brakes (good). There were two main the reasons I wanted to get a BMX bike. One, they are usually much lighter than mountain bikes. This bike, although lighter than mountain bikes, is still heavier than typical BMX bikes. Even the fncluded and removable four freestyle pegs are pretty heavy. According to Amazon, the shipping weight of the bike is 43.2 lbs, which makes the bike roughly 38 lbs or so. I had wanted a bike under 30 lbs. The second reason is my height. I am 5’8″ and I feel most comfortable on a bike when my feet are flat on the ground while I’m seated on the bike. It’s also safer when I can plant my feet quickly during emergencies. A 20″ BMX bike fit the bill. However, I had to raise the seat to its maximum height.

I am using this bike purely for transportation and fun, and not for exercise, so I didn’t want to spend too much money on it. I had wanted a bike closer to $100 bucks, but it was definitely difficult to find one I liked at that price. All the Mongoose ones that were priced cheaply were either of poor quality or too heavy. After searching for a while at Walmart, Target, Sports Authority, Dick’s, Modell’s and KMart, I couldn’t stand it anymore and settled on this one.

Side View

I also wanted a dull inconspicous color since I did not want to draw attention to myself. The silver on this bike is more of a multi-silver, with different shinyness. I plan to sandpaper and spray paint the bike with a clear matte to dull the color.

BMX bikes contain one gear. The gear on this one is roughly gear 5 on a 10-speed bike. It makes uphills difficult but doable for short distances less than 1/4 mile. Another advantage to one gear bikes is that the gears don’t jut out to the right of the bike too far. This allows you to wear long pants and jeans without worrying about it catching on the gears. This bike also comes with a plastic gear protector anyways.

Overall, I am pretty happy with this bike. It seems pretty well built. Although there appears to be a paint chip inside one of the aluminum bars, that makes a sliding noise when I have it stored in my car. While I ride the bike, there is no sound. The seat of the bike is also pretty comfy. I remember riding BMX bikes as a kid and they seemed hard, narrow and uncomfortable.

I am sure I would’ve been happy with a Mongoose at this price also. But I got this one and I’m happy with it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this post or email me.

PICTURES

Lower Angled Bar

Gears

Wheel

Front View

Freestyle Pegs

Seat