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While most will use this sitting on a table or desk, it can work from a wide shelf or even on the floor behind a sofa if the lounge police dislike the black colour. It can be connected via USB or by wireless meaning it need not be in sight.
It is 42x30x15cm, add around 5cm to raise the lid on the flatbed to insert pages. You will need around 20cm extra to the second figure the depth to allow A4 paper to emerge from the output tray, so 42x50x20cm is total space in use. Both USB and the power lead connect back left and as Duplex is automatic no further space is required for this action. There are a total of eight buttons and several LED’s along with a numeral display all along the left side of the top of the unit.
Keeping your teeth clean can help various health issues as well as having a cosmetic effect.
Whether featuring squeaky clean teeth or a case of bleeding gums, adverts for different brands of toothpaste appear on a regular basis on our television screens. Yet less consideration is given in these marketing exercises as to the hardware that applies this software solution for the benefit of our personal oral hygiene. A recent survey of 11,000 adults in Scotland has revealed that oral health can have a direct impact on heart disease, diabetes and complications during pregnancy.
Netgears readyNAS duo V2 is arguably the ideal storage centre for the advanced home user or small business. Documents, images, and video files etc. can be uploaded to the readyNAS and then shared across the LAN or even remotely over the Internet. As it can accommodate 1 or 2 SATA drives each having a capacity of up to 3TB, and has two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports, it will prove more than adequate for the vast majority of users.
It is a solidly built unit which is approximately 140 x 100 x 22mm deep. It has an attractive dark grey finish and weighs just over 2kg even without disc drives. There is a separate power “brick”. The large fan, the two USB 3.0 ports and the gigabit Ethernet and power connections are on the rear panel of the unit. On the front as well as the power switch, LEDs and a USB 2.0 port there is a door which provides access to the two disc trays.
Two satellites and a beefy sub woofer plus a corded remote to allow you to control the overall volume without leaving the comfort of your chair. It can be used to spice up your PC or connect to anything with a 3.5mm jack.
These units are basically triangular; the sub woofer is 29cm from front to back, 24cm across at the front and 2cm across at the back and it is 22cm tall. All connections take place under a slight overhang so no protrusions. The pair of satellite speakers are 10x12x23cm at the base and this reduces to 4x5cm at the top and includes the amount the lead juts out the back. You can connect to anything with a 3.
Some would call this top a fashion item; others would call it simply clothing however its the technology side that got me interested. It has enabled me to listen to music without earbuds inserted around my home and to keep me warm.
Being a male of a certain age clothes to me are something to wear and fashion is a thing that I let others worry about. I know some of my wardrobe is older than a lot of my readers are. In fact I have a pair of motorcycle boots that are over fifty years old and while I no longer ride a motorcycle they still get used quite often.
After the success of the Gadget Show held in Birmingham around the Easter period, a London-based version of the show took place at the end of November. One of the companies exhibiting at the show was Damson with its new Twist product.
The Canon PowerShot SX500-IS is another in the range from Canon, this one on a cursory glance could be confused with a small DSLR unit, it is however a digital unit with excellent zoom as well as other features making it almost a bridge unit.
The Canon PowerShot SX500 IS measures 12x6.5x7.5 however the lens will come out another 1.5cm as soon as you switch on and under full zoom another 3.5cm. The unit is capable of 30x optical zoom and the largest image size is 16MP but even at lower image sizes the pictures you take are sharp and have good depth. The old PowerShot shape is maintained what was the ‘AA’ battery bay now contains the solid battery and any SD card you use.
After each review of an Edifier speaker system, I try to imagine what shape or appearance the companys next model will adopt. I have yet to get even close.
The Edifier e10 Exclaim product is a multimedia speaker that follows Edifier’s normal pattern of developing a design concept that is somewhat out of the ordinary when it is paired with a PC, Mac, laptop unit or even various mobile devices. As I have mentioned before, on at least a couple of occasions, Edifier speaker systems certainly make an effort to stand out with regards to their appearance.
Where they come from nobody knows but the Globs need your help to progress to the next stage in their evolution.
Sticky Licky is a puzzle game recently added to Alawar Entertainment’s extensive catalogue of titles. Some initial research reveals that there is a game entitled Sticky Licky available for the iPhone from the Apple App Store.
Both these units from rely of what you sit them on to produce the majority of volume, a small amount - enough for a quiet room occurs naturally but place either of these of different solid surfaces makes everything come alive.
A new name to me with the unusual motto ‘designed in Yorkshire, made in China’. This of course insures UK standards of production quality. It is circular 5.5cm and 6cm tall. Mine was a metallic light blue colour with two silver stripes around it near the base. This is always going to be a personal speaker; methods of connection are either by the supplied 3.5mm jack or by Bluetooth.
Storing your documents, images and music in digital format on your computer is now the de facto choice of many. But how would you manage if this data became corrupted especially if you did not have a backup?
Over the years Acronis has built up an excellent reputation for producing back-up software for the Windows platform. The company’s flagship product of True Image is now available in its 2013 edition. This product features a set of tools designed for back-up and recovery tasks and includes support for Windows 8.
The wise think of fitting surge strips in their home but what about for the notebook when on your travels. The second is a device to allow you to get an e-SATA connection from a USB port, designed for USB3 but works with USB2.
With a personal trainer costing a fortune and a gym membership not a lot less those of us wanting to shed a little weight and trim up a bit have only one method available until now - will power this little gadget may help.
I first saw this at a press event before Christmas and mistakenly said I had asked on at least two occasions at events previously for them to send me one to review, then after a pause they asked are you sure you don’t mean a similar name (one letter different) which of course I did. After that things improved and I was soon sent one for review. I have been using it for a couple of months and while I can’t claim the weight is dropping off I do feel somewhat less decrepit.
While it is a part of out body that is used on a regular basis, it sometimes does not get the attention it deserves. Just how clean are your teeth?
According to recent research, up to 90% of the population is likely to experience some form of gum disease during their life time which could then lead to tooth loss and maybe complicate other medical conditions. Inefficient brushing can allow plaque to build up on teeth while allowing bacteria to attack gums causing bleeding and inflammation.
This is a DAB/FM radio and i device player. That is the bare bones of a quiet stylish device, not the least of these is the i device placement. Certainly I have never seen one in a similar place or one that comes up in such a way.
The main body is 32x10x15cm, however when the metamorphic ‘i’ device holder rises it adds 10cm to the 15cm height and 5cm to the 10cm depth, so the overall in ‘action’ size is 32x15x25cm. The height will be more with an iPad. It comes with a 5x8.5cm remote control that has 22 buttons however virtually everything can be done from the 14 buttons on top of the unit. These are bar type with one end doing one thing and the other end something else.
As the current hot bed of less expensive high tech equipment, Chine is the source for this next laser printer.
Seine Technology is a Chinese company that concentrates its expertise on producing laser printers and printing supplies. I thought I would just mention that as, like me, you might not have heard of this company before. Currently the laser printers from this company are being released under the Pantum brand name for both the home consumer and the business marketplace. The first printer in this range to come my way is the Pantum 2000.
Are you ready to enter a nightmare? This is the challenge facing you with the Big Fish Games Nightmare Realm. This next game adds an Origami tutorial to the popular mix of adventure, action and Hidden Object searching.
This should be the first of several Philips items to come to be reviewed as they now have a PR Person to oversee things. Certainly I have requested things before but the requests always seemed to disappear into a black hole.
The Philips 237E4 E-Line monitor measures 53x32.5x1cm; the last figure is at the edges. The viewable screen is 51x28.5cm giving the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 23inches. Its stand raises the screen by 8cm above your desk or whatever you place it on. The base is circular at 19cm with a diagonal arm from the very back that attaches about 5cm up the back of the panel. Unlike some panels the connections are above the bass connection and are all very easy to get at.
It has been quite a while since I last looked at a Hauppauge television tuner. Now the company has added WiFi capability to a two-tuner device for around the world access.
Co-incidentally on the day I started to check out the various items that make up this next piece of kit, the Internet was full of reports on Super Storm Sandy and the havoc it wrecked on New York with areas underwater. I mention this as a kind of tenuous connection between a popular New York landmark of Broadway and the title of the next product under review which is Broadway 2T from Hauppauge.
The first from a name big in shaving for more years than I can remember this offering however is battery powered. The second from the Kings of USB residing in Hong Kong a hand warmer that is available in four colours.
An electric shaver using blades is a basic description it also has two other combs that attach to the base unit to provide the style. A single ‘AA’ battery fits into the arm of the unit to provide the power at a touch of a button. It is 16.5cm long with one of the five bladed heads attached; these have a 4cm across shaving action as it moves across your face. The unit is 3cm wide and 2cm deep with a rubberised coating to facilitate holding when wet.
The EH-TW480 is a portable HD-ready cinema projector targeted at the home user. It provides high quality bright images even in daylight and, with features such as automatic vertical keystone correction, it is simple to set up and use. Consequently, despite it being in Epsons Home range, it could well have a wider application.
It is a relatively small unit, black in colour, weighing 2.3kg. Roughly 30 x 23 x 8 cm it is provided with a padded case with shoulder strap but more of that later. When not in use, a cover can be slid across to protect the lens. Known as the A/V mute slide, it can also be used during projection to hide the image and mute the sound. The projector is a HD-ready 720p, 1280 x 720 LCD unit having a 2,800 lumen output and a claimed contrast ratio of 3000:1.
Assuming their Christmas money is not already spent here are two more candidates. First the i-Hog a flying pig, who said there were no such things. Second for those a little older a vertical jigsaw from Ravensburger of the Eiffel Tower.
While ‘Flying Pigs’ on a Saturday night may not be rare for some members of the community they are hopefully not normal for the 10+ age group that this toy is aimed at. In fact during my tests even younger than that enjoyed flying it. From tail fin to the front of the double rotor is 25cm, the pig – complete with flying goggles – is 15cm from head to tail and 4.5cm wide. The overall height to the top of the rotors is 13cm and its weight is only 71 grams.
It is time for a breakfast break as I indulge in a heavy session of consuming toast and coffee.
Up until recently I had no idea that Panasonic has a division that dealt with home appliances. I had always regarded Panasonic as a company that concentrated its energies on the development and manufacture of televisions, cameras and similar products such as the DECT phone currently sitting on my right hand side waiting to choose the opportune moment to interrupt my chain of thought with an incoming telephone call.
The first could be used in the car or for accessing those hard to get to corners it comes with a rechargeable battery. The second to spice up your house lighting, these LED bulbs produce any colour you want from an App.
I have been using this far more than I thought the odd spill (dry) or crumbs neither or which merit getting out the large vacuum. Of course the car is what you think of with a handheld unit but it does have many other uses not least somewhere where a full sized unit will not go, that odd corner where the cobwebs grow but its only inches wide so you would need to more the bookcase. Also those places on a shelf or a ledge, when you have it you find the uses. It is 45x10x10cm and weights 705grams.
Small, medium, large plus IOS, Android, Windows operating system are just some of the options to be taken into consideration when selecting a smartphone. Check out this model from Samsung.
Following the successful release of its Galaxy Note device (around 10 million units already sold), Samsung has now developed the follow up offering. This product is appropriately entitled Galaxy Note II and it could easily be described as a smartphone on steroids with its dimensions of 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm (H x W x D) and a weight of 183g.
Its green, it flies and it goes to prove that a popular expression could be proved correct.
You have probably heard, or might even have uttered the words yourself, the expression that “And pigs can fly” in response to some outrageous claim spoken in your presence. I have, on more than one occasion, walked to a window to gaze out while stating that there were no pigs flying overhead as far as I could ascertain nor did I expect to see any in the immediate future.
Unlike other such devices that are designed to sit in front of the TV this is made so that your TV and stand sit on it. This means that exterior sound really surrounds and engulfs the TV so you realise how bad your own TV sound is.
There are two ways to use this if your TV has a headphone out socket and one way if like mine it does not have this. However using the RCA jacks means that the sound from the TV speaker can be muted separately to the SoundBar which gives a different dimension to available sound both with and without the TV sound being included. It is 71x36x3cm. The last figure is at the edges but it does rise slightly more than that once more than a centimetre of so in.
What started as a Pulse became an Echo and has now entered the Sky as the latest Livescribe smart pen makes an appearance.
When watching television, I tend to find that the greater part of my viewing experience is carried out using my Sky set-top box. Now with the latest version of the Livescribe smart pen, I am also able to make us of Sky to organise my note taking. I have to point out that these are two different Sky environments. While one Sky requires a satellite disk and television, the other Sky makes do with a combination of WiFi, the Cloud and the Evernote service.
Here a set of headphones from a new name to me Fanny Wang. Mind you I have not heard of Musical Fidelity who makes the ear buds either. I know I am getting old but two totally new names to me - in the crowded audio field.
I have been to a couple of events recently that I would certainly have appreciated these headphones just to drown out the exterior noise. I was very much taken by the ‘Noise Level’ chart in the back of the Manual for them. Remembering the noise where even shouting into the ear of the person next to you produced no sensible result told me the decibel level was somewhere well over the 100dB so the 95% reduction promised by these would be great.
Twin or Combo both names to denote two and both supplied by Binatone. The first called the Twin Solo Plus which also has an answering machine. The second the Carrera Combo a cordless and a corded phone using one phone line.
The iDect Solo L1i twin measutes 19x5x2cm and slightly curved so that it fits between ear and mouth – unlike most DECT phones that tend to be straight. The technology is a revamp of DECT that Binatone have called iDECT. It is stated to work up to 50 metres indoors and up to 300 metres outside. They certainly worked from one side of my property to the other. Outside I was able to go to the bottom of my garden and down the road by around 60metres before the signal broke up. It has a 3.2x2.
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