Publication History For : Paul Smart
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This looks like a conventional DAB/FM radio and indeed it has both those functions, it is also able to be an Auxiliary output, play anything from a Media server and is also the best and easiest to use Internet Radio I have seen.
The Roberts Stream93i measures 24x17x19cm, the last figure is the height to the top of the built in carry handle, the middle figure assumes you have the mains lead plugged into the back. It has a 45cm five piece rod aerial for reception of DAB/FM radio. My unit had shiny black sides, top and bottom, the front and back are matt black. It has a 6x4.5cm colour display in the centre of the front in the top half of the unit, level with this are two large knobs on the left volume and the right tuning.
This is marketed as a quick and easy way to transfer data via your own secure Wi-Fi network. If your first use is via an Android (or I assume an i device) this may be so but it may be far harder if you start from a PC with only the supplied five point guide.
This is a USB3 device but I found it difficult to get it accepted on my PC, however once you have then all the information you require and more is available in files on the 1TB hard drive and this includes easy to follow videos no problem. Finding all this information elsewhere is less easy so let’s hope it’s just my PC that it was fussy with. It is 12.5x8.5x2cm and weights 279grams. The top has two LEDs, green and blue.
This is certainly the thinnest soundbar I have seen. It does however have a separate rather meaty sub woofer. So any thought you may have of a thin or sub standard sound reproduction should immediately be banished from your mind.
The sound bar is one metre long, 5cm tall and 2cm deep. The small plastic stand that it rests in is 40cm long, 5cm deep and 3cm tall. The sub woofer is 19x26x27cm. As with all sound bars the main use will be with your TV and an optical cable. In my past tests with such items I have had mixed results. Here however anything that would normally throw volume from the TV speakers worked, that is of course what you want but with some devices not what you get.
Certainly a small unit, it has a changeable lens but is not in my mind a DSLR unit. In fact my first thoughts on taking it out of the box would not have made pleasant reading but after sorting the problems, I grew to like verging on - love the Samsung NX Mini digital camera.
During my test period I was lucky enough to get invited to an event half way up The Shard and this provided some amazing images on an autumn evening. The camera measures 11x6.3x3.3cm and weights 228grams. It is surprising how used you get to letting the camera do the work and not worrying to much about how close you are to the subject. Here with the fixed 9mm lens you need to move around a bit more or rely on the image and photo manipulation software to give you the image you want after capture.
For those looking for a book reader then the Aura H20 from Kobo could well be something to consider. The bright white background makes it seem just like what one used to take off the bookshelf to read, the main advantage is that text size can suit your eyesight.
The Kobo Aura H20 measures 18x12.5.7cm and weights 228grams. It fits nicely in an adult hand and will slip easily into a bag or purse. The screen is 10.3x17.7cm, the screen in imperial measurements is 6.8inches and the screen is 1430x1080, the default text size gives 25 lines of what looks quite small text but even for someone of advanced years and less than perfect eyesight – me – found is very readable at 40cm distance.
While most think of Samsung for mobile phones and their more of less consistent war with Apple they also do a whole raft of other excellent products including Smart TVs so flat panels for computers will be no surprise is another of their group of expertise.
The screen of the Samsung S24D390HL monitor measures 54x31x2cm with the 25x20cm stand raising it 9cm from your desk. The viewable screen is 51x29.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 23.6inches. The default screen display is 1920x1080. This unit has a lot of back tilt and a small amount forward of vertical. As with all recent panels this has a wide viewing angle and here it is not just from side to side but also above and below, the stated figure is 178degrees.
This unit arrived shortly after the Humax YouView unit, at the same time as a brilliant Humax Sound Bar (review to follow). Things did not start out well but after a couple of conversations things improved and I now trust it.
Trust might seem a strange word but if you want to watch a program that is broadcast when you are out then you have to trust the machine to record it. Initially I could not but a firmware update brought things into sync until Freeview did a channel reorganization and then I found that my schedule was lost, not disastrous as I found out the next day, but if you had been away for a holiday it could have been. The version of the Firmware that I found worked correctly was 1.
Being a mere man the secrets of a girls handbag normally remain just that. Here however are two products that it is likely a man will want to use, in most cases they will not be the lipstick or compact packaging they come disguised as.
This is a large lipstick of an age passed as most ladies now seem to use a brush to apply such things but when closed this just under 10cm long and near 2.5cm square offering does indeed look like a lipstick. Pull the unit apart and the black and gold lower half is the units battery. The top 4.5cm can house a short 8cm long micro USB to USB lead but when stored in this way the top does not fit back on.
This is a 7inch Android Tablet, from the same range as the A1 I reviewed in June. This looks and feels quite different and I have not really worked out why the only thing I noticed remember I am a man is this this was black and the A1 was cream.
The screen is smaller and the back has tiny ridges. The dimensions are 12x20x.8cm; the viewable screen is 9.5x15cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 7inches. Screen resolution is 800x1280. The right side has the on/off button towards the top with the volume up/down rocker below it, even lower on the right side is a micro SD card slot. The base and left side are clear while the top has pin hole microphone, micro USB connector and 3.5mm connection for headphones.
For those who are serious about security it is not a case of extra cameras you need somewhere special to keep the evidence and here it is a box that can record everything from up to sixteen different cameras and keep it all securely.
This is collaboration between Buffalo the secure storage part and Axis Communications in my case the one camera. The Buffalo box comes with WD Red hard drives that are pre configured for NAS use. So all you need to do is locate the cameras and make the connections. The stated time is less than twenty minutes from opening the shipping box. The longest job is of course installing the camera of cameras to get the best view.
This is a wireless (Bluetooth) Boombox that is able to get reasonably wet and has an uncanny look like a sculptured shape with its fourteen upward facing edges which are there to project the sound, twelve of them have a speaker grill finish.
I remember the Sunday morning when I removed this from the box and bleary eyed thought for a long time – without reading the instructions – the difference between ‘in’ and ‘out’. Then slowly the penny dropped as this is not only Bluetooth speaker but also a battery charger.
This is the second portable untethered unit I have looked at this autumn; my home is looking rather clean by my standards anyway. This unit that is not heavy comes in a very large and heavy box as it comes with not one but two batteries and a charger, these are the weighty bits.
When assembled it weighs 3.4kilos, it is 1.1metres tall, 28cm wide at the cleaning head and a maximum of 25cm deep also at the head, the top 40cm is the handle and unlike the Hoover recently reviewed this does obediently stand in the corner when not in use. The reason this stands is that it locks in an ‘L’ shaped position when not in use, unlike some cleaners that are difficult to get ready to work a small pressure on the foot of the unit is all that is required.
This is an inkjet unit and it can also print A3 as well as the normal A4. Two sided printing as standard and as it has four separate cartridges only the required empty ones need changing so you should also save money with this unit.
I normally think of Olympus as a manufacturer of removable lens cameras which normally makes then larger than pocket size. Here a unit that will easily fit in a pocket and also one that can survive the odd drop or immersion in water.
The Olympus Tough TG-850 measures 11x6x2.5cm and weights 216grams. Because it is waterproof the zoom is internal so the dimensions given are maximum. There is a printed ‘Basic Manual’ in 29 languages, the full manual together with software is on a supplied CD-ROM. Charging is by USB but lose the supplied lead as the end that fits in the camera is not standard. The face has the lens top right with the flash beside and slightly behind it 1.5cm away.
I think of Epson as a producer of printers and projectors, their parent company is Seiko so timing systems and quality watches are their bag. Here however a health product that combines a watch with a whole range of other features.
When a company known for something launches a new product in a different field it always takes a while to bed in. This product from Epson is no exception. There are a range of products on the market in fitness and health, none that I know on can do everything that Epson is trying to do in a single product.
Two items that are both connected with telecommunications, the first a rather patriotic telephone that I can see being popular is places like Notting Hill and the Leef Bridge 3.0 a high speed USB 3 flash drive offering a standard USB connector at one end and micro-USB at the other for Android devices.
This is a very conventional well-made push button telephone. Maybe it will find its market in posh stores for its decoration as it is tastefully decorated with the union jack, while the red, white and blue are all correct the finish is matt. It is 23x21x12cm these are maximum dimensions as it is less than 3cm at the front. The shape is one that was favoured by BT in their later years and it bears the GPO label which is not to convey that they are old stock but the current owner of the GPO brand.
Canon make two ranges of small cameras the very tiny but powerful IXUS and the slightly larger but a lot smaller than they used to be PowerShot. Here an IXUS offering dont dismiss it because its small as its still a very good camera.
The Canon IXUS 155 measures 9x5.6x2.5cm and weights only 140grams. The last measurement the thickness can increase by up to 3.5cm when the lens is fully zoomed. This is a 20MP camera with 10x optical zoom. These are impressive figures backed up by the quality of its CMOS which is what determines the quality of the images you shoot. Press the Function Set button to get a simple range of choices. Canon use L, M1, M2, S and Wide as there way of showing the capture size.
This is a rather nice square speaker from Polk; it can be used with Bluetooth or via a 3.5mm lead to connect to older music devices. This has an internal battery so in Bluetooth mode no cables are required so it can be placed almost anywhere.
The Polk Audio Camden Square bluetooth speaker, as the name suggests, is square measuring 17.5x17.5cm and 8cm deep. It is not light as it weights 1935grams. The face is one large speaker with a white patterned grill. Both sides have a more conventional grill mesh 11.5x6cm. The base and top are covered in leather and the back has a grip to enable movement as well as four 15mm round rubber feet as it can be used lying on its back.
This is a 7.85inch Android Tablet from a company that has loads of other brands Binatone. It has almost the latest version of Android operating system and something that a novice user will appreciate a 68 page printed User Guide.
It is 13.5x20x1cm and weights 380grams. The native display is 1024x768. Unlike most other basic Android Tablets this marks every socket and connection which are all in one corner of the unit on the top and left side. Micro SD card, Volume rocker – and + and once onto the top the power on/off button, 3.5mm headphone socket, micro USB for charging and pin hole microphone. On the back near the top is the units camera and to its right the internal speaker.
Here I am looking at two pans from different sources, the first an exclusive to Lakeland a different shaped saucepan. Second from JML a frying pan that is coated with stone and it then becomes truly non stick even in a dry pan.
This is truly different saucepan in that it has fins, so the normal round shape is somewhat changed. At the top it is still circular but around 3cm below the top on the outside the fins finish. At the base this 20cm saucepan is only around 15cm across inside the 24 separate fins that surround the outside of the unit. The inside is of course still circular. Filling it to the top takes over 4pints of liquid.
The Canon MG7150 is an All-In-One unit so it can print, scan, and copy. It is a six ink unit and this means that if you use one colour more than the others there is less waste as you can buy just the ink you need. It is also rather sleek.
The Canon MG7150 measures 46x37x15cm with the paper output tray closed; open it and you add 17cm to the middle figure. There are two paper trays near the base, the top one is for photo sheets 6x4inch or 7x5inch and the lower tray is for A4. It weights a tad over 8kilos so you might even place it on a strong shelf as it does not need to be tethered to the PC as it is both USB and Wi-Fi. When the paper output tray is lowered there are three card slots visible on the left side.
For a gamer hearing a sound a fraction of a second earlier can be a matter of life and death. So the quality of the headset is almost as important as the speed of the processor and the graphics card that show what they are doing on the screen.
Hyperx is part of Kingston a company best known for PC memory and SSD drives so having fast reliable memory is next door to having a fast headset. The headset is an over ear offering after all when gaming you need 100% concentration so no external noise needs to penetrate your concentration. They need to be comfortable as gamers often play for many hours without a break. They need to be light and sturdy so they are made out of Aluminium.
The Braun WF2S Blue WaterFlex is both a wet and dry razor, it is equally useable in the bath, shower or at a basin using foam, gel or just soap. However it can also give a dry shave just as easily. So the above are the claims does my extensive testing agree?
This wet/dry shaver measures 15.5x3.5x4cm and weights 192grams. The shaver head can move around 30degrees forward to suit all shaving positions. My unit was an aquamarine blue and black which may be a little garish for some after a heavy night. The unit is rather like an angry wasp in sound but it gets the job done efficiently so if you head is spinning the pain of wasp noise soon goes.
This is a tiny portable Bluetooth speaker. Like an egg without the ends, however twist the centre and then the egg shape expands. So can this be an answer to sharing music in a small space without having to have large speakers?
The X-mini measures 4.5cm high and 6cm across when collapsed, twist it and it expands by 3cm, it weights 129grams which includes a short 10cm long 3.5mm lead for those times when you need to connect by lead or when no Bluetooth device is available. So let’s first deal with cable connection the 10cm lead always seems a little less than a comfortable amount, it does however mean that speaker and playing device remain close together.
Here it is the long awaited coffee machine and what a machine it is. While I have reviewed numerous machines before this is the first that uses fresh roasted beans, not ground coffee, unground beans freshly ground in the machine for each cup.
A new experience for me and by some way the largest machine I have used, still it’s a lot smaller than that found in a decent coffee shop. It is 26.5x39x35cm and you will need access to the left side to remove the compacted used coffee grounds every so often, maybe every two days or so dependent on use.
This arrived just as I injured my ankle so it was not taken from its box for over a month. To say this is a pedometer is a disservice to this multi-use product, however that is the starting point, link it to free Withings Apps and go from there.
It is 4x2x.8cm and can be worn either on a belt clamp or a watch strap, both are provided. This device shows nothing unless you press the one button which is either bottom right or top left dependant on how you wear it on your wrist. It only fits into the strap housing in one way. The only other item on this matt black product is a micro USB socket used for charging only. This device requires that you have an iOS or Android device and Bluetooth 4 to upload its stored information.
Here is one of my occasional forays into large kitchen items. This time an offering from Dixons a Grundig Fridge Freezer. This is quite large so should certainly suit a family as far as the fridge is concerned; its what is called 60/40.
First the all-important dimensions, its 1.85metres tall, 66cm deep and 59cm wide, you should allow at least another 4cm clear behind to allow free air flow. I will deal with the ‘40’ first the freezer. Whenever I review a fridge freezer I take the opportunity to defrost my own freezer, this has 6½ drawers but they are not that deep. This unit from Grundig has 3 drawers but they are large.
A product I have reviewed a couple of times in the past. The 15 in this case refers to 2015 and not to the version number. So for anyone owning an earlier version what does this version have to offer that earlier versions did not?
For those new to Painter it is probably the best way to paint with a PC, in previous versions you had the ability to have Water Colour and Oil paints and even had the ability to see it dry – now you can say that watching paint dry is not interesting – and it can be fun to get effects that otherwise would need a canvas and paint to achieve. In this version there are Particle Brushes, these allow you to draw wisps and swirls and even add colour to shades.
I have reviewed quite a lot of Android Tablets this looks similar but is a Windows Tablet. This means that all your Windows programs will be able to run. It has an SSD and will accept OTG or USB sticks up to 64GB as well.
The supplied short micro USB to USB lead enables standard USB sticks to be read. It also accepts up to 64GB OTG natively without the lead and you also have a micro SD slot so plenty of storage available apart from the supplied 58GB SSD unit. Around 6GB of this is taken by a recovery partition and once the unit has Office and other offers installed you have around 35GB free. Yes I just mentioned Microsoft Office you get 12 months Microsoft Office for up to six people.
A lightweight upright cleaner with a narrow cleaning head ideal to get into small spaces. Add to this that it runs on an internal battery and you may just have discovered the ultimate floor and carpet cleaner. So is the Hoover Unplugged nirvana?
The Hoover UnPlugged 300R is 122cm tall, the body is a maximum of 13cm wide and deep, the top 55cm is considerably less as is the bottom 20cm. The cleaning head is 23cm wide and from the front to the back of the unit’s two wheels is 17cm. The internal battery has enough charge for 60 minutes of use. This may not seem long but anyone who can hoover for 60 minutes non-stop is doing well.
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