Highly Commended
Some products just miss out on our coveted 5x5 smiley award - a product has to be just about perfect in every way to receive that award! That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of very good other gadgets out there!
To recognise those products that missed out on a 5x5 award by just a whisker, we've introduced the 'Highly Commended' status. Products still have to be pretty good to get one of these and out of almost 5,000 reviews on GadgetSpeak (as of February 2016) only around 280 have gained the required marks to be Highly Commended!
Tell me more about the GadgetSpeak Awards!
Recently I have been talking to my computer. This should not be regarded as a sign of any mental disturbance but more to do with testing the latest speech recognition software from Nuance.
Nuance, the leading provider of speech solutions, has released the latest version of its best selling speech recognition software. This is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS from now on) which is now up to version 10 and arrives just over two years after version 9. The product is available in Standard, Preferred, Preferred Wireless and Mobile, and Professional flavours. This review is based on DNS Preferred.
Put together an 18-inch display, Blu-ray drive, Intel Core 2 Duo processor packaged inside a Gemstone Blue design and the result will be the Acer Aspire 8920 which is currently residing on my work space.
Unlike most Medion kit that is sold through Aldi where if you are not queuing on the day they go on sale before the store opens you dont get one this tiny notebook is one of two currently being sold by Sainsburys both online and in their larger stores.
This is the third Netbook I have reviewed both the others (Acer and Asus) were running Linux this however runs Windows XP Home. It is 25.5x17.5x3.5cm and weights only 1130grams. It is totally black apart from the area surrounding the keyboard that is silver/grey. The screen is 22.5x13cm giving the notional diagonal measurement of 10.2inches. The screen resolution runs in 1024x600 but it has a VGA port and runs a second monitor/panel without problems at a higher resolution should it be required.
When I first opened this box I thought another DAB radio from Pure, after a few minutes use I knew this was something that takes things to the next level. This is not simply a good DAB radio it is much much much more.
The Pure Evoke Flow DAB radio measures 21x14x9cm. The rear has six connections. USB, auxiliary speaker, headphones, stereo out, auxiliary in and DC power input. Towards the top of the back a 70cm seven piece rod aerial starts. There is also a door on the back that can take a proprietary charge pak to allow it to be used on batteries. Neither of the sides or the base has anything. So this leaves the front, the single speaker is on the left on the right is the six line 6.5x3.
If you need a set of kitchen scales that are supremely accurate and look great as well, then take a look at the Salter Mix 'n' Measure
January is still shiny and most of us haven’t had the chance to break our resolutions yet. If you decided to lose weight or spend more time cooking gorgeous meals from scratch, I have just the product for you – the Salter Mix ‘n’ Measure scale. Now if you thought weighing ingredients was just a matter of chucking some flour or sugar in a bowl let me enlighten you. Most scales either leave you peering at a dial or work in increments of 5 grammes.
Just over two years ago I reviewed a coffee machine from the people who made the coffee Nescafe. Now there is a new version and this is from the people who make the machine Krups. Its still the same coffee but the machine is even better.
In the ensuing two years my Dolce Gusto article has been well read and I am told is one of the top reads ever on it certainly still often features in the monthly top ten reads as it is still an extremely popular coffee machine. So what is new or different well lets deal with the consumables first the Chocolate was launched after the review and has had some favourable comments. If you have a spare half an hour why not read all the numerous comments to my original review.
This is a digital camera that is easily small enough to fit in a pocket or purse but this does not mean it is lacking in features. It is a 12MP offering that has scene recognition, face detection and auto red eye removal to mention just three.
It is 9x6x2cm and weights only 165grams. Doing a quick run round the unit mine was a rather nice matt black with silver fitments such as the Fujinon lens F=8-24mm. Above and to it’s right by a minimum of 2cm is the flash. The left side is bland while the right side has wrist strap anchor point and A/V out behind a door. The base have the rechargeable battery behind a door that also hides the card slot, to the left of this is the tripod anchor point.
Recently I heard about a Swedish Phone company, I went along to their presentation and was given several of their phones to try. This was the first offering a rather nice slim DECT phone called the TH80.
The phone is 15.5x4.5x1cm and weights only 120grams. It comes with a base station that you plug into the wall socket and this is 11x11x3cm both the phone and the base station are black. The phone has a silver back. The base station also charges the phone. If the phone is away from the base station you can page the phone from it, great if you have a large garden and the person in the garden has it in their pocket. Also useful if you forget where you left the handset just follow the tone.
At the start of 2008 GE launched a range of cameras into the UK. While some were on show and have been reviewed during the year as they became available. Not even a dummy mock up of this unit was available at the time, finally it has become available, was the wait worth it?
A lot was made at the initial event of all cameras sharing the same manual. Well this unit does have the same ‘Superior Features’ sheet featuring Face Detection, Panorama Stitching, Smile Detection and Blink Detection but while the manual itself is in five languages it varies quite considerably simply because the controls are in vastly different places. The reason, this is an almost totally touchscreen camera.
According to Ugobe, the creator of the Pleo, this is the very first life-form they have created. While a claim to have actually created life may be a little bold, there's no denying some of Pleo's life-like characteristics.
I'll start by mentioning the price, which I usually leave until the end, which is around about . Now you can either consider this as a very expensive toy as a cheap way of satisfying your childs desire for a pet without the cost of a tin of catfood each day, vets bills and a responsibility for your pet long after your child has moved on to other delights. You can see what Pleo looks like from the pictures - a small happy dinosaur.
Accidents can happen, so can deliberate attacks on your computer systems integrity. So why not make sure your data has been backed up
As I have mentioned in the past, backing up your hard drive, even in the days when MBs and not GBs were the norm, could well involve long drawn out sessions with a propensity to raise frustration levels to great heights. Nowadays you do not have that excuse for putting off the task of backing up your valuable data. There are numerous products available that will carry out an automated backup on a user-defined schedule. One such product is Drive Backup 9.0 from Paragon.
Looking more like a toy than a serious piece of equipment, the Flip is one of those devices whose performance exceeds its appearance.
Why, when you probably have a mobile phone that is capable of capturing video clips as part of its functionality, would you also want to weigh yourself down by carrying a camcorder? Two obvious reasons immediately spring to mind. These are ease of use and image quality. Both of these attributes form part of the concept behind the Flip Video Ultra camcorder from the appropriately named Flip Video UK Ltd.
This looks very like a DSLR but it isnt. In some ways its a poor mans DSLR accept that the lens is fixed but what a lens and it has over 14x optical zoom. The other big bonus it is a lot cheaper than a DSLR.
It is 12.5cm wide 9cm tall and between 15 and 21cm wide dependant on where the lens is. It is not light at 970grams. So the neck strap is all important, in fact it will look exactly like a DSLR but it will cost a great deal less. Anyone who has focused using the sides of the lens on a DSLR will love the fact that’s exactly what you do here. Most DSLR come with the basic 18-55mm lens and should you require more that’s another lens to carry around.
Departing from the usual black-box approach to iPod speaker Systems JBL brings us something a little different - without sacrificing sound quality.
The JBL Radial does not follow the more common brick formula to iPod speaker systems, instead effectively being a vertically mounted donnut with the iPod nestling securely in the middle. The first things that strikes you as you take the JBL out of the box is just how striking it looks - you don't need to hide this unit away in a corner. You're more likely to want to have it in clear view as a focal point to a room in it's own right.
Having just reviewed the excellent EOS 450D (29-08-08) I was more than chuffed to be offered the very new EOS 1000D. At this time of year everyone wants to tell you about what they have to offer for Christmas are you listening Santa?
It is 12x8x9.5cm, add the 18-55mm lens and this adds up to another 7cm to the second figure the width. The main difference between reviewing a digital camera and a DSLR for me is that the manual is essential reading. With a multi language digital you might get a dozen pages in English and what they have to say you probably knew anyway. Here it is 196 and all in English and unless you are a professional photographer I doubt that you could claim I knew that most of the time.
This is an excellent voice and music recorder. Not only does it record in rather good stereo in MP3 but it can also record in WAV at 44.1 in 16bit (CD quality) but even up to 96 in 24bit.
click image to enlarge The R-09HR voice recorder from Edirol is 11x6x2.5cm and weights around 170grams with the supplied 2x'AA' batteries inserted. I found these tended to last around eight hours. Also supplied is a 512MB SD card this would have capacity to record around 45 minutes in CD quality WAV. The unit is black and coated with a rubber substance that gives it some protection.
Flip is not an expletive but rather a nice handheld camcorder that costs less than £100. The most important points are that the quality is superb and it is extremely easy to use and transfer or watch the output.
click to enlarge The Flip Video Ultra is 10.5x5.5x3cm and weights only 140grams. It comes in four colours, mine is a creamy white with orange sides. It is powered by two 'AA' batteries (supplied) and it's internal memory can record an hours action. It comes with a drawstring bag and a wrist strap. There is a folded card for the instructions and delving in the box will find the leads to connect the Flip Video to your TV.
This looks like a small DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera while is not it does have a range of features such as a decent continuous shooting mode only normally found on DLSR units.
click to enlarge It is 10x7x7cm when switched off, the lens can jut out by another 3.5cm. It is of course black and it weights around 360grams with - shock horror - the supplied 4x 'AA' batteries inserted. It is supplied with a neck strap partly as most wrists would soon get tired with that weight and probably partly as DSLR units always come with neck straps.
This is a rather different phone with a camera in fact although it will do everything a modern mobile phone does I think a more accurate description with be camera phone as it is a 5MP camera with both auto and manual focus as well as flash.
click to enlarge This phone has a huge TFT and as soon as you use it you think why don't other phones work this way. The controls are minimal and that means the screen icons often have more than one level of action. However most actions are intuitive so you should - even without a manual - manage to find you way about. The dimensions are 10x5.5x1.5cm and it weights just under 100grams. As stated there are few buttons. The face has three answer, cancel and end.
"It aint heavy, its my Brother" could well apply to a new desktop mono laser printer from Brother.
While inkjet printers can product excellent results with regards to quality, the running costs of such a device can quickly mount up as replacement cartridges are required on a regular basis. An economic and viable alternative, especially when colour is not called for, is a desktop mono laser printer. Compact in size, a fast print speed and quality output plus high capacity toner cartridges all add to the appeal of such a device.
With the holiday season round the corner, Mi-Vox ihas launched the latest in audio-books - a must for the beach.
Mi-Vox from £9.99 to £24.99 www.mi-vox.com One of my favourite things to do in airports, once the bags are all checked in and you have made it through the long queue for security, is to browse in one of the book shops. With the thought of 2 weeks away from work, I usually end up with at least 4 novels. It's a real pleasure taking the time to decide on which book will keep me company on the beach while my family frolics in the sea.
Nomophobia, the fear of having no mobile connectivity, is not a complaint that should affect those with the WP-SI device (hereafter referred to as the Skype phone) from 3.
This product brings together Skype capabilities with those of a 3G mobile phone in a single unit. While the white and blue colour scheme adopted by this device might not be to everybody's taste, other aspects of this mobile phone are more appealing. Measuring 100 x 44 x 13.6mm and weighing 86g, this Skype phone is of the candy bar style.
This is a rather squashed looking grey unit, but it does have some surprises, it is an All In One unit, it can print direct onto CDs and DVDs and while on printing, in custom mode you get close to 30PPM.
The Canon MP610 is 44x40x18cm the last figure the height increases by around 20cm when paper is waiting to be printed in the vertical rear tray. Although it has the squashed look it is remarkably clean as all the controls are under a lid that also has the 5x4cm TFT display inset into the rear of the cover.
Catpod is a outdoor cat shelter made from a Contico Monster Fun Storage Trunk and a Ferplast Swing 1 cat flap.
Catpod is a simple product idea I came up with to provide shelter for our cats. It's basically a 189 litre Contico Monster Fun Storage Trunk with a Ferplast Swing 1 lockable cat flap at one end. Dimensions:
External: L 1100 x W 510 x H 480mm Internal: L 910 x W 360 x H 420mm Capacity: 189 Litre Weight: approx. 5 kg Benefits:
Easy to make. Total construction time was about 25 minutes.
This is a sleek low slung AIO (All In One) unit that without the black front may have just passed the lounge police. However it still is a rather nice unit that does everything rather well.
It is 43x34x15cm the last figure the height increases by 17cm when A4 paper is in the tray at the rear of the unit. The scanner lid opens landscape front to back and to the right of the lid are the only controls a total of eight buttons and some LED's including a simple 1 to 9 counter for copies. You can of course copy either in colour or black without the PC being turned on or even connected to the unit.
Now up to version 10, Easy Media Creator Suite really expands the concept of a suite with over 40 applications gathered together in a single package.
I can still remember the product's original incarnation as a one-trick CD-burning application. However technology, processor speeds and hard disk storage capacity have moved on greatly since those days that we tend to look at through rose-tinted glasses. Now Easy Media Creator Suite sets out to tackle every task you could possibly conceive regarding your digital music, images and video content.
This is the latest in the excellent Ixus digital camera range, in August 2006 the Ixus 700 won the rarely awarded 5x5 award. Does this latest offering live up to this rarely awarded accolade.
Like all of the Ixus range it is small at 9x6x2cm the last figure the width doubles when the 3.8 to 1 optical zoom lens is fully extended. This is very solidly constructed unit so it weights 120grams. The base has the optional tripod screw, and cover that hides the li-ion battery and also where you would insert any SD/MMC card. The right side has a very solid anchor point for a wrist strap. On the face is the 4.6 to 17.
While it may be small and eminently portable, Fujitsus latest external hard disk does not stint on capacity.
As a market leading manufacturer of various types of hard disk drives, you do tend to sit up and take particular notice when Fujitsu Europe announces the availability of the world's highest capacity 2.5-inch external hard disk drive. This travel-ready device is appropriately named the HandyDrive. I say appropriately not only because of its size (22 x 82 x 141.
Despite the traditional DAB shape this unit has a few surprises inside. The sound quality is excellent and it is extremely easy to use. In fact all in all its a very nice DAB radio.
Yes there was an earlier Tempus offering and it's shape and size very like others by Pure but certain features are new. It is 21x12x17cm. These are the maximum sizes the latter the height goes to the top of the snooze handle, the middle figure is from the front of the volume and tuning knobs to the rear of the power lead. My unit was in a light cherry (looking more like teak to me) wood. The right half of the front has a two line display 6x1.
Since taking control of Paint Shop Pro, Coral has added Photo to its title and provided annual versions of the software.
Meeting up with an old acquaintance can sometimes be a cultural shock as happened with my first view of the latest version of Corel's Paint Shop Pro Photo product. Now up to X2 (surely if you are following the Roman numeral sequence then this should be XII), has been given a new set of clothes with a graphite grey coloured interface. If this new colour for the interface is not to your taste then you can revert to the familiar old style colour scheme.
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