GadgetSpeak Articles
GadgetSpeak has close to 5,000 product reviews and other articles. You can use this page to find others opinions on anything from mobile phones to computers to the latest kitchen appliance
Donato among others has cast envious eyes over the Archos A300 series units. So here is what I thought when I got a pre production model earlier this year.
Two companies lead the MP3 market, getting beyond 128MB means a hard disk, sometime ago Archos brought out a 6GB unit, that's a lot of MP3 files, now 20MB seems to be the base level. However with the AV300 series the biggest breakthrough, MP3, still images and also MPEG4 video but with a 8x6cm screen, that's 3.8 inches for the more mature amongst us. However it is also possible to watch the same output on your TV providing you have a SCART socket.
Maybe not your regular gadget, but i thought worth a mention as it is out for sale in UK on 1st November. It looks like a fantastic car, and with maximum speed over 200mph, its enough to give Michael Schumacher a run for his money!
There are nowadays a plethora of cards from cameras and other sources, most can be linked directly to PCs to download content. However it is often easier to remove the card and use a Media Reader.
A keyboard and mouse are both vital pieces of kit for any computer user. So why not have them both wireless? However I found that their installation is not all a barrel of laughs.
A bluetooth headset that doesn't make you look like you have just escaped from a call centre! Very simple to use and functional at a good price aswell.
Like most of you reading this, you probably never wanted to be
seen on public transport or walking through town and be seen
"talking to yourself"? Well rather than juggling with paperwork on the train and hoiding the
mobile between my shoulder and ear, i finally gave in and bought a
bluetooth headset to go with my Sony Ericsson T610. What was initially putting me off buying one was the prices when they
all seemed to be over £100.
Sports watch providing stopwatch, distance measure, countdown timer... you get the idea? Just about everything you could as of something you put on your wrist while out running.
Ease of use? 6 out of 10
About
a year ago my I started 'getting fit' - one of those things I've
observed that people seem to do as the big 4-0 approaches.
Dyson products are great at demonstrating innovation that has an everyday use, so having had this vacuum for over 3 years, i thought that it deserves a mention here. Aswell as looking very stylish, it performs superbly well.
A few years ago, a number of friends used to rave about how great their
"Dyson" was, so i thought i would pop round to the local electrical
outlet to see what all the fuss was about. After the intital shock of
the price, i soon realised how simple but effective this vacuum was,
which then made the price look like excellent value.
Fed up with arguing with your teenage children about where they are going and when they'll be back? Well that's nothing compared to the arguments that I have with Word.
A laser printer has one huge advantage over an inkjet, for text printing the claimed print speeds are always achieved.
Relaxing at home and listening to the radio is a lot of peoples idea of real leisure, however in the evening even some FM channels are less than perfect.
While DVD writers are fast becoming a must-have gadget, the lack of any agreement over a standard format could prove problematic. Fortunately manufacturers are now producing units that support both the DVD-RW and DVD+RW formats.
After spending a month with Motorola A920 here are my views.
The tablet's just a laptop, unless you've got software that truly caters to its talents. MindJet's Mind Manager is one such product.
A phone using a Microsoft OS? How often does it crash may be your first question, but you'd be surprised...
Is the P800 really that great?
Now this is a phone that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for, myself included and people that know me have asked whether it's been worth the wait. My feelings are still rather mixed on this - in some respects the P800 is definitely ahead of similar devices and clearly outclasses them yet in others it simply seems disorganised. Personally I think this is down to it feeling far more like a PDA with phone functionality versus a smart phone style device.
Setting up your video recorder to tape various programmes, within a single session, from the range of channels available from a Sky digibox can prove to be a frustrating experience. Those who have attempted, and failed, to achieve success at this task are the obvious target for a device developed by Bluedelta and entitled the Phantom PV (Personal Video Recorder).
Designed as an inexpensive alternative to the multi-channel record facility available from a Sky Plus box, the Phantom PVR consists of a special Scart adapter that is attached via a lead to a small transceiver unit. After removing the Scart lead supplied by Sky as part of its kit, the Phantom Scart adapter, with its piggy-back or throughput approach, slots into the vacant Scart connection of your digibox.
What have Pocket, Mini USB, Travelling, Pen plus many more proprietary names in common? They are all Mules for transferring data, as is the Belkin USB Flash Drive.
It is said that the camera never lies but digital technology can certainly help deceive when it comes to improving photographic skills. Let me tell you about a new camera I have looked at recently.
The Caplio G3 camera has been developed by Ricoh. This particular model comes with the claim of having the fastest shutter response time when compared with other auto-focus digital cameras. Timed at a fast 0.14 seconds, the Caplio G3 even exceeds the speed of many conventional 35mm cameras. However, at the rate at which technology is progressing, it is debatable how long Ricoh will be able to hang on to this particular record. Still the camera does have some other points of interest.
Flat Panel 5.1 speakers good quality sound, a great sub woofer, these six components plus the ubiquitous remote control make up the Philips Acoustic Fusion A3 610 offering.
A great Digital Ixus Product although installing the software onto Windows 98 was a bit tricky...
I made the leap from a very capable Nikon Pronea APS SLR to digital compact about 12 months ago and after some research bought a Canon Ixus 330. this is a 2mega-pixel camera that for standard 6x4 and even 7x5 prints is great - no grain and definately of a quality that can be framed. The camera is small but feature packed. Most photo's i take use the automatic setting which is adequate for happy sdnapping of the kids etc which is mainly what i tend to do.
If you a frustrated PC artist then the Wacom Graphire3 Studio may well be what you are looking for and at a price that will not break the bank.
Recommending the 6310i - the IT staffs phone of choice?
A remote control car for a Fiver
Great phone packed with many features, but possibly not the one if you need bigger keypads. If it was good enough for Charlies Angels, would it be good enough for you?
What can I say? I find this phone excellent! It is packed with some excellent features including; The picture quality of the display is very good, however when in bright sunlight it is very difficult to see whats on the screen. What i like in particular is the attention to detail. For example, there is a button on one side to give instant mobile internet access, no need to goto to any menu selections. Also, there is another button on the other side that immediately activates the camera.
I have been using the new Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse for two weeks now, it features a side to side scroll wheel as well as the conventional forward and back motion.
Firstly let me prove a Microsoft statement to be true “If you do not already have a mouse, you can connect and receive before installation so you can use your mouse during IntelliPoint setup” I recently had a new PC that had no operating system in fact I connected a keyboard and the Wireless Optical mouse and inserted the Windows XP operating system CD. It booted from the CD and as soon as the Windows install stated I was able to use the mouse.
The ARCHOS VIDEO AV380 is the first handheld MP4 video player series on to the market place. This specific one has a staggering 80Gb storage capacity!
A quick summary of both shows which I attended today.
Is it any good and how have I got on with it in real life use?
WiFi and Broadband... a couple of techno-irritations
Super new product from Nokia, which has a multitude of uses! The compact and portable Nokia Observation Camera combines a digital VGA camera, GSM transceiver and MMS technology in the same unit.
Having finally had a chance to try out a demo model, i must say it can get pretty addictive. The dual band (GSM 900/1800) Nokia Observation Camera is a unique stand-alone imaging device that allows individuals and businesses to remotely request and receive visual information. Once mounted and connected to a power source, the Nokia Observation Camera is ready to provide information.
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