Four months ago I purchased an Apple Watch. I hated it.

If I’d written this review after the first week of buying my Apple Watch, I would have almost certainly have typed up “Why you shouldn’t buy an Apple Watch” blog! However several months later,  I must admit that my Apple Watch is really starting to grown on me….

So now that I’ve given my Apple Watch a “fair-go”, I’d like to give you a rundown on the good and bad points from a non-techie user viewpoint. Here are my Apple Watch good and bad points….

Bad points

It’s dependent on your iPhone being nearby – the watch is essentially a monitor for your phone. If it’s not connected to your phone (via bluetooth), it will still operate as a time-keeping device – and not much more.

It’s expensive – the lowest price entry-point Apple Watch is the plastic wrist-band version. It reminds me of an old Swatch watch – probably great for teens, but for anyone else over 30, it may not be or look like the quality you expect for a $500 watch.

The battery runs down in 1 day – no matter what. Even less if you are a heavy user – frequently mine is dead by late afternoon. And because of the low battery life, you can’t rely on the watch as an actual watch. Few will remember to regularly recharge it (another annoying task to do every day – just what I need!), plus apart from the little vibrating ping notification (or “Haptic”, as Apple like to term it), it’s easy to miss the fact that the watch is running flat. So once it is flat, you have a very expensive, dead piece of metal strapped to your wrist!

Talking into it makes you look like a bit of a dork – it’s Maxwell Smart territory, and not in a good way! However I found that despite looking like an idiot, I still answer it this way until I unearth my actual phone.

It’s heavy to wear and get used to – I still wear my old-fashioned watch (in case my Apple Watch goes flat) which looks a little weird, but I admit I no longer feel the weight. I guess it’s sort of like a horse in harness getting used to it…

It has it’s own charge cord which is incompatible with anything else – you can’t use your iphone or ipad cord to charge the watch – annoying! That’s an extra cord to carry when travelling, and a spare watch charge cord isn’t readily available like the standard iPhone lightening cable – you can’t just pick one up at the nearest service station if you forget it.

You can’t surf the net on it, answer email, SMS text or Facebook etc. messages other than clicking on a default selection such as “Okay”, “Thanks”, “See you soon”, etc. – Apple Shop staff say that their Apple Watch software update with internet access will happen “in a few months” (still waiting!) and current watches will be able to be updated – but for now at least, there are no watch internet capabilities.

Good points

It’s easy to pair with your iphone, and learn how to use (I don’t do instructions – who has the time to read those?!). Failing this, the Apple Store will happily pair it up for you – if you ever get served there, that is…

It fully charges in less than 1 hour – you can do a quick charge in ten minutes that will last you a couple of hours standby.

It rings when your phone rings – you’ll never miss another notification, SMS text or Facebook message again – as long as you religiously keep it charged up!

My particular watch strap choice is fabulous. The Milanese Loop watch strap I chose looks stylish and seals easily and firmly with an ingenious magnet.

The watch is water resistant – so far, so good! It’s been dunked a few times now and no water-damage.

Your Apple Watch will find your phone for you by pinging it – as long as your phone is not flat, and in range of your watch.

The correct date, time weather are all on your wrist – you’ll never have ask someone for the correct time date or temperature ever again – you are now the information go-to-guru!

There’s a heart rate monitor and fitness app built in – I must admit I haven’t set it up yet (well, okay, possibly never) – I’m not sure I’m ready to give my watch that much power in our relationship – yet!

Sat nav works through it and vibra-pings you when you are coming up to turns – very handy for the geo-challenged folk like me! It’s like saying, “Turn NOW stupid!”

So – am I still using my Apple watch?

Why yes I am. I even feel a bit lost without it when it has gone flat on me or I have forgotten to charge it (All the time).

Is it worth the big bucks – and would I buy it again? Probably not, but seeing I have it, I may as well make use of it…at least until I lose or break it!

The Apple Watch is definitely a want, not a need. If you love to own the latest in tech toys and have the disposable cash to purchase what is pretty-much just a large piece of costume jewellery, why not? It’s only a bit of fun, after all!

Apple Watch info

I bought my Apple Watch from the Apple Store – see my watch model here

Model: 38mm Stainless Steel Case with Milanese Loop

Size: 38mm (Small) – Large also available

Band: Milanese Loop – magnet closure

Price: $949 (July 2015)

Optional insurance (Apple Care): $109

Do you have an Apple Watch? What do you like (or hate!) about it? Perhaps you’re thinking about buying one – comment below!

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Here’s a brilliant new gift idea – Cupcakes Delivered!

Beautifully packaged, these cupcakes are a gorgeous surprise gift to receive. They are absolutely perfect for so many occasions too – birthdays, new baby arrivals (order pink or blue icing!), a congratulation gift (graduations, weddings, new job…) and of course, love – who needs boring old flowers and chocolates when you can have cupcakes?!

Samantha savours her Cupcakes Delivered cupcake

it’s tough to think of a celebration where these wouldn’t be a great surprise! Even corporate branding is available as a cupcake-topper, which makes them a really unique business catering idea or gift. Plus these cupcakes are so pretty to look at that they would be perfect for super-stylish party display tables too.

Cupcakes Delivered cupcakes don’t just look good – they really are delicious! There are a lot of bland-tasting cupcakes out there nowadays, but these taste just like they should – the real bakery item.

We had a Mixed Dozen box with both vanilla and chocolate mud, plus a Choc Decadence box of all chocolate mud. The vanilla was deliciously light, and the chocolate mud was rich and chocolate-y – real mud cake, not pretend!

All of the cupcakes were beautifully decorated with a melt-in-the-mouth icing swirl – some with choc sprinkles – some with party-confetti sprinkles, topping them off nicely.

Cupcakes Delivered packaging is top-quality and stylish

But how do the Cupcakes Delivered crew manage to mail these cupcakes without them losing their shape, icing or freshness? It’s quite ingenious really. The cupcakes themselves are packed within individual cells which keep the cake, icing and sprinkles exactly where they should be.

The cupcakes sit inside a pretty pink cupcake box of superior quality, packed within an insulated satchel with a cool-pack bag inside. This whole package is packed within yet another lovely gift box. It all looks great and works like a charm – cool, scrumptious cupcakes that taste super-fresh.

My whole family loved these cupcakes, including my extremely fussy 7 year old, Samantha – if something passes her taste test, it has to be good! She normally just licks the icing off cupcakes, but she ate the whole of her Cupcakes Delivered cupcake and asked for another! Indeed, both kids were clamouring for more cupcakes and I must admit that I went for seconds too – they were just too hard to resist!

I’m excited to tell you that I have been given an exclusive discount for my Let’s Go Mum readers! You can use the below voucher and discount code to get $5 off a Cupcakes Delivered purchase! To check out all the yummy options to order, you can visit the Cupcakes Delivered website here

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As soon as I navigated to Love That Pet, I found myself drawn to their pet information sections, using the left-hand menu navigation buttons. There is information on an extensive range of pets – from the smallest to the largest domestic pet! The tips are interesting and useful – and even unexpected! We have a new baby rabbit, and in about one minute I had learned several facts about rabbits that I had had no idea about previously (For example, put hay over the rabbit’s toilet tray – ah! So that’s why he wasn’t keen on using it!). After a combing through the pet info, I decided to check out what else Love That Pet had to offer – as it turns out, quite a lot! There are pet communities and forums (with a resident vet!), and even a funny pet photo section that had the whole family laughing! Check out the mouse with it’s teddy for ultra-cuteness…

Then it was time to go shopping by clicking into the Love That Pet online pet store. The first thing that was obvious, was that this pet store sells quality pet products. The cosy-looking dog and cat beds, the solid and attractive leads and harnesses (pink hearts – so cute!) – plus a stack of toys and other accessories. The best thing though, was the fact that they sell all the top brands of wormers and flea removal products for both dogs and cats – so you can do a proper flea or wormer (or combined) product comparison on the one website – and a quick Google reveals just how price-competitive Love That Pet is, too.

The thing I really liked about this website was the easy, clear navigation menu. I could find exactly what I wanted, pricing was clear and each product I purchased was a simple price selection click into the cart. Upon check out, I was really happy to find that Paypal was accepted as well as credit card (saves typing in all those numbers – I’m lazy!). The next morning I received an email with my delivery estimated times, which were more than reasonable at just one week from my order date.

A great online pet store ordering experience.

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