All right, I'm going to be honest: when I pulled this thing out of the package I thought it would be some quiet little low vibration thing, something to help me along with other stimulation or maybe start things up but not quite finish.

Boy, was I wrong.

This little vibe has 5 settings - low, medium, high, and two patterns: pulsating (buzz, pause, buzz, pause) & escalating (low buzz, medium buzz, high buzz, repeat). Even the lowest setting is nice. It's quiet enough to be discreet, but it's what I liked the most of the majority of my play time with it. The medium is louder - not so much as to be heard through a closed door, but you won't get away with it in the same room as someone else. The next three settings are loud enough that I wouldn't try them if I knew anyone was nearby, even if I had the door closed. Despite taking AAA batteries instead bigger ones, this toy has some strong vibrations. The only thing I didn't really like about the settings is that since it's a push-button activation, you have to cycle through all the vibrations to change them or turn it off - which makes it hard to turn off in a hurry.

The compact mini vibe is made for clitoral stimulation. Its shaft is a grooved plastic, while the tip has a softer velvety coat. I personally wouldn't insert it farther than the soft tip, because those grooves are going to be hard to clean!

This toy is waterproof, but always insure that the cap is on tightly if you get it near water. Since it can go pool-side along with being small, it would make a good weekend-getaway toy.

The packaging on this toy says to use a rubber-compatible lube (because of the coat on the tip) with it. Silicone and water-based lubes are what you'll need.

Overall, I quite liked this toy. However, it's a plain-Jane (haha, Jane) toy, so if you've gotten used to higher-end toys with all the bells and whistles, it can be a little boring. I plan to use it mostly when I want to get off quick with no real 'play', or during partner sex since it's small enough to fit between bodies. But if you get creative, this is a great toy for beginners or those who like the basics.

Trying to get the batteries into this little guy was confusing for me - but probably only because I was attempting it late at night! You screw the cap off, then tip it over and tap gently to pop the battery pack out. Slip in two AAA batteries, slide the pack back in, screw the cap back on, and it's good to go.

I'm a little (okay, a lot) ashamed that it took me four months to write this follow-up review, because it's been on my to-do list for, well, three and a half months.

Not long after I got this (two weeks? three? a month-ish?) it just stopped working. I thought maybe I hadn't pushed the button hard enough so I kept trying. I thought maybe I'd forgotten how to use it in my sex-addled state and had Rich try, but he couldn't get it to work either. Nothing had happened to trigger it, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and popped in new batteries. Nothing. Hm, maybe it got wet when I cleaned it? Opened it up and took out the battery pack and batteries, let everything 'dry' out.. nothing. Waited to see if it was just being temperamental, nothing. Begged it to work, nothing. Waited a week, nothing.

Who knows what happened. Maybe I *did* get water in it while cleaning it, somehow. Maybe it got set down too hard or dropped and something on the inside went wonky. Maybe I just got a faulty unit. I dunno, but I kinda liked the little guy and I'm sad to see him go. :( At least I got one good long last use of him a few days before I discovered he went crapola.