Publication History For : Paul Smart
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Older articlesRedmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
Published in Phones
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As with most recent SmartPhones it is all about the cameras. Here one of its four cameras is an amazing 108MP. However with 5G those who download a lot to their phone are also able to do this with minimal delay. So what has this latest offering got to make you choose it apart from of course the extremely powerful camera that it has?
While I am sure we all enjoy good Coffee Shop coffee, sad to say even those with far deeper pockets than mine are starting to see where savings can be made. Sadly one of these is the coffee shop, while some instant offering are tolerable what if you could have coffee grounded and brewed in your home of office, you can with this latest offering from Melitta the Purista Series 300 Jubilee Edition.
Perhaps the first step is to find out what coffee you favourite coffee shop uses and where they get it from. There are plenty of online places that roast beans and despatch them the same day. If you have beans then what you do not want is them to be ground and not used immediately as fresh ground is even more important than how long ago – within reason – they were roasted. Now all you need is a machine to grind and prepare your coffee.
Honor have produced a range of earbuds alongside their larger offerings such as PC’s and Tablets. Here their most recent set of earbuds that are small, fit neatly into the ear and run for extended periods. They are silver in colour and live – when not in your ears – in a small case that is also a charge unit to quadruple the total amount of runtime.
The buds weight only 5.5 gram each and in their case a total of 54 grams. The case is 6x4x2.3cm there is a flip up lid 1.5cm from the top and when you flip it open a tiny pin hole LED comes on green if you have good battery reserve. Linking for the first time is very straightforward with the lid open make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone and the Honor unit should be found click on it and that’s it. Next time you connect it will link automatically.
This is the latest in a range of Gimbals from Zhiyun. It has the ability to expand its length and even an attachment that enables image background fills so the Smooth Q4 Combo is far more than just a camera Gimbal be it used hand held or with the supplied tripod to enable you to control it remotely from a second SmartPhone.
While its default length is 28cm attaching the tripod to the end of the grip can give you another 13cm of length, when the tripod is opened this is only 3cm. However for serious extra length in the arm the top manually expands by up to another 22cm so you should be able to get clear images or videos over even the tallest people. It comes in a hard zip up padded case; the items in the case are the Gimbal and the tripod.
This is a large curved flat panel that can easily support three HD screens side by side however for those into gaming you get far more detail. The resolution is right for recent cinema releases and I was able to watch the latest James Bond offering full screen with absolutely no borders - 21:9 aspect ratio - from the comfort of my living room with excellent sound. This is a curved panel and the centre is 4cm in from the edges.
The screen is 81x36.5x2cm; its stand raises it between 8.5 and 23.5cm from your desk. The stand is 27cm square. There is plenty of back tilt and some forward tilt. Older films will have borders up to to 10cm wide either side dependant on their original resolutions. The external connections are in a single line under a shelf on the rear, HDMI, Display Port, USB ‘C’, USB Up, two USB downstream with one being always on.
Having recently reviewed another Find X5 device that had what I considered a ‘strange’ feature I was more careful when I did the setup and this unit did not have it, however as it also did an update to the ‘Color Overlay’ of the Android operating system this could have been why it now works as I would consider all phones should function.
The Oppo Find X5 Pro measures 15x7.4x1cm the last figure at the camera bump top left of the back, it weighs 219 grams. Going around the outside has the on/off button on the right side; the base has speaker, USB ‘C’ for charging and the SIM entry point. The left side has volume down and up buttons while the top is clear. The back has a slightly raised area top left and instead of it being raised it is sloped up. The viewable screen is 7.
Strangely enough recently I noticed my wallet was showing signs of wear and then quite by chance I was offered the chance to review one from Snakehive. After I said ‘yes please’ another half a dozen emails went between myself and the PR lady with all the different options and colour choices, you can even for a small extra charge have up to three initials embossed on it. They also do a range of phone cases.
When opened thie bifold wallet from snakehive measures 17x10.5cm and when closed it is 10.5x9cm. My choice was Tan & Cognag you can see on their website that this was one of eight colour choices. It is stated to hold up to ten cards as well as the larger compartments for notes and receipts.
So many people moan about Windows continual upgrades, with a Chromebook they still occur but in the background. So do you really need Windows, the answer lies in what do you use your PC for, if you use Windows programs then the answer is yes. However if you use it for Browsing, sending and receiving emails writing books or using spreadsheets possibly not as a Chromebook can do all that and now it even supports the Google Play store.
This latest offering from Acer has another plus ‘touch’ so ideal for those not keen on the Touchpad. It is 32x22.5x1.5cm this last measurement is at the back, at the front it is only a tad over 1cm. It weighs only 1284grams. The viewable screen is 31x17.3cm which gives you very close to the imperial measurement of 14inches, the aspect ratio is 16:9. The left side has USB ‘C’ and 3.5mm headset socket. The front is clear; the right side has USB3 and Kensington Lock socket.
Most people will have heard of Ring for their video doorbells. However they also do other products and here is a Security System with an associated item a Glass Break Sensor. In my area there are dozens of homes that have Ring door bells and these do have a small security aspect in that every time movement is detected even if the bell is not pushed you get an alert to your phone.
So here I am looking at the Ring Alarm package plus the Glass Break Sensor which works with the Ring Alarm. The Base Station is 17x17x3.5cm and can connect via Ethernet or USB and this brings together all the parts of the system. Next is the Key Pad which can be wall mounted or sit near a main entrance door, it is 11x10.5x2cm, it can run on battery or from USB. What else you get depends on the model you purchase, lower down the box I got sent are seven items.
Over the years I have had the chance to try several vacuum cleaners and carpet washers both big and small from VAX. The more recent carpet washers are great in that they make the decisions, move forward and wash and move backwards to dry. These however have one drawback space, by that I mean you need to empty the room and in today’s cluttered world that is not easy and that is where the Spot Washer comes in.
The VAX Spot Wash Duo is 40cm tall, 17cm wide and 32cm deep, the fitted hose is 1.5metres long. The cleaning solution goes into an area in the centre of the unit under the carrying handle, at the front is the clean water tank and at the back the dirty water tank. On one side is where you insert the end of the hose to run a cleaning cycle on the hose and beside this is a wrap area for the hard wired power lead. There are four heads to attach to the end of the hose.
Up till now all the camera gimbals I have looked at were designed for SmartPhones either for direct use or in one case to control a second phone remotely in the gimbal. Here a much larger and more robust offering that can be used with DSLR offerings and most likely by semiprofessionals looking to produce output for others to see and use.
The whole unit arrived in a padded carrying case and weighted a not insubstantial 1.6 kilos. While it can still handle a SmartPhone this is really designed for far weightier items such as DSLR cameras. The full title of the product is ‘ZHIYUN Crane M2S Combo [Official] 3-Axis Handheld Stabilizer, Gimbal Stabilizer for Mirrorless Camera, Gopro, Smartphone with Cell Phone Clamp, Bag.’ A not insubstantial title but when you break it down it is an accurate description.
A while ago I told you about a new small portable projector from Acer whose internal battery had enough power to show a couple of videos back to back. Here I get to try a full size offering from Optoma one of the leaders in projector technology. This is a unit that connect from a whole range of units and that includes your Wi-Fi. It is equally at home in less than HD, HD or 4K.
Over the years I have attended hundreds of presentations and so often when I arrive the presenter is struggling to get his notebook to connect to the hotels projector and often even connected the resolutions do not match so the presentation looks strange. Apart from the mains lead the back of the unit has twelve different connectors so whatever you are trying to connect should be covered providing you have the leads required. The projector is 30x30x10cm and weighs 2.5kilos.
Having recently told you about a Samsung Chromebook that comes with the latest version of Wimdows here is their Chromebook offering that was released at the same time. So here you get a Chromebook that can also allow you to get mobile data to keep you in contact while out of the office and as it has its own SIM so no nicking mobile data from your phone.
The measures 32.5x22x1.5cm and it weighs 1431grams. The viewable screen is 17x31cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 14 inches and the display is 1366x768. There is .5cm clear either side of the screen 1.5cm above it and 2cm below it. In the centre of the area above the screen is a 720p web cam. The 75 key keyboard has full size alpha and numeric keys. There is 2cm clear on the sides and 2.5cm clear behind it.
Having recently told you about a large outdoor camera that can be Wi-Fi or Ethernet here one that is a lot smaller but it still offers the choice of Wi-Fi or Ethernet but of course it weighs a lot less and has another very useful feature it’s a lot cheaper but still offers the same resolution of 2K.
The camera measures 5.5x5.5x7cm and its fixed mount can move it 7cm further out from whatever it is mounted on. Its hard wired lead can go through a wall or window frame up to 35cm from the camera. The mount allows a good area of coverage. At night you can set either monochrome or as an added help as deterrent full colour with the aid of the built in spotlight. You get a near instant notification of any movement being detected on your Smartphone.
This is a powerful Notebook from Acer that is very fast and while not a featherweight at 1.41 kilos it is very solid so should stand the odd knock or three. It still has the ability to be used in an office environment as it has Ethernet and a full sized HDMI port. So what else does this latest offering have to temp the user to dig into their wallet.
The Acer TravelMate P4 measures 32.5x22.8x1.3cm and weighs 1.41kilos. The left side has DC input, Ethernet, HDMI, two USB3 ports and USB ‘C’ which can be used to charge to save carrying a power brick on your travels. The front is clear. The right side has on/off button, two LEDs, micro SD, 3.5mm audio out and a further USB ‘C’. The back is also clear as the screen goes back to 180 degrees. The base has a long 28x.
This is quite a chunky unit, however for what it packs inside its body it is certainly worth considering either for a home office of for a small company. It has two separate input trays underneath as well as a sit up input at the back at the top. However you want to use it is catered for as you have Ethernet, Wi-Fi and USB.
The Canon Maxify GX7050 is a multi-function machine meaning that it can Print, Scan, Copy and Fax. Unlike other such machines that have Fax abilities it does not make a fuss when you want to switch it off. The Canon Maxify GX7050 measures 39x38.5x29.5cm (WDH) and power Ethernet and USB are on the back left of it.
For a gamer one of the most important factors is a fast refresh rate, it is literally the difference between gaming life and death. Here not only do you get fast refresh but also the things that will matter later on in life to keep your eyes healthy, no flicker and low blue light among other things. So what else does this 27inch flat panel have to offer?
The Philips Momentum 5200 27inc monitor measures 61x35.5x1.5cm. The stand is a sort of corral ‘C’ shape with the open part at the front it is 32x21cm and this can raise the panel by between 6 and 20cm above your desk. It panel can also rotate 90 degrees to be portrait. There is good tilt both back and forward, there is also as much side to side as you want as it rotates on the stand.
While they are stated to be for kids these fitted me without any problems and as they lacked any child orientated advertising they could be worn by most adults without any problem. This is not just a smaller version of an adult headset as it comes with three different volume levels for Toddlers, Kids and Travel with the levels increased by 10dB for each mode and unless you show the child how to do this they will never know it’s called ‘Safe Audio’.
They are 18cm from the base of the ear pads to the centre of the padded headband and the same from side to side when the ear pads are parallel. For those noisy times there is ANC active noise cancelation. Another feature that may appeal to the young is Buddy Link that with the aid of a 3.5mm cable these headphones can play output to another set of headphones. Linking Bluetooth was very simple and quick and of course once linked every time you reconnect its automatic.
Having just told you about a very unusual phone the Samsung Fold I expected my next to be more normal the initial setup seemed to go OK but here a cautionary tale do read the choices carefully and I must admit I did not and so after two days trying to switch it off I conceded and started again and read the choices more carefully now I do have a normal phone.
I am aware few regularly turn their phone off but there are occasions when a phone call is unacceptable yes you can set to vibrate but some forget and switching off is failsafe. I have no idea who would not want the ability to switch off but answer one choice wrongly during setup and that is what you get. Even so it’s on/off key and volume up at the same time so no danger of doing it by mistake.
Honey based Gels from Hilltop Energy
Published in Health and Beauty
on
30 Mar 2022
A lot of energy drinks do not taste that good and they often have a lot of E numbers. Here are three different energy gels that are all honey based and all the contents are stated to be natural and when I don my glasses to read the list of ingredients of the back of the sachets there are only two or three items listed according to the flavour.
Xplora XGO2
Published in Health and Beauty
on
28 Mar 2022
This is marketed as a Smart Watch for kids. The stated age range is 5-12 years, maybe my thoughts would suggest towards the top of that age range. However as I often see babies in their push chairs watching videos or playing games on their mother’s phone so perhaps I am wrong.
I am not normally a big chewer but as I was offered some samples I gave it a try, anything that offers the chance of not catching recent bugs is a plus as far as I am concerned. While I have heard of the possible advantages of Zinc the word Chitosan was new to me but not it seems for Microsoft Words spell checker.
Each Tablet is 1.5cm across and around .5cm thick covered in a glossy coating, they start to do good things in the mouth as you start chewing. The blurb says lasts for up to an hour, well in my tests I was still getting a good minty taste after two hours. The benefits should start to be given after fifteen minutes of chewing. So what is Chitosan? ‘Chitosan is a natural sugar polymer found in nature.
This portable projector has an internal battery big enough to show two full length movies. Connection types are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, direct cable and more. Best of all it costs less than £400 and it has an Auto Portrait mode when needed. The base allows you to connect a tripod, even without one you can choose its position as it is twelve sided.
It is 10x10x18cm and setup once I had charged it – recommended at three hours – took only as long as it took me to read the thirteen sides in English in the 176 page Quick Start Guide. A long press on the on/off button and the projector light comes on with an easy to follow screen that lets you choose the source and how you want to connect.
A 24inch Philips flat panel that has all the normal connections including those less normal like USB ‘C’, Ethernet and a USB hub. So this means for those of us still using Desktop or Tower Systems the main unit could be just that bit further away and the nirvana or a clear desktop just that little bit nearer.
It is 54.5x32.5x1.7cm; the viewable screen is 53.5x30.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of very close to 24inches. The native resolution is 1920x1080 for most applications. Its stand is 20.5x20.5cm and can raise the base of the screen between 2 to 14cm above the stand. There is plenty of back tilt and a little forward tilt, no side to side movement but if this is required just move the whole panel on the stand which is stated to have 178 degree viewing angle.
This can be considered two phones in one, ‘folded’ it’s a little narrow compared to most recent offering, ‘unfolded’ you need large hands or a flat surface to lay it on. Having told you about the Samsung Flip last year here is its big brother the Samsung Fold.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 measures 15.5x6.5x1.2cm folded and when opened it is 15.5x12.5x.7cm it weighs 273grams. The stated figures say you have a 7.6 inch main display and a 6.2 inch closed display. The right side has volume rocker with on/off button below it. The base has USB ‘C’ microphone and speaker. The left side is the hinge; the top has microphone and speaker. The right side of the other half has the SIM entry point.
This is an outdoor camera, it is designed to be mounted on a ceiling or wall and hang downwards. Unlike a lot of small indoor cameras this is designed to be seen and therefore this can have the effect of deterring before intrusion happens.
The camera is 15cm from top to base disregarding the aerials and is round at the base at 11cm. It can be hung or attached from the supplied fitment. Everything you need to fit is supplied apart from a screwdriver and drill, they even supply a template.
This is one of three different models of notebooks that have something that few notebooks have, a SIM slot so that when out and about you do not have to rely on your SmartPhone or dodgy open Wi-Fi to stay in touch. While I have seen this before it has only been on a very few Tablets and not on a full notebook like the Samsung Galaxy Book Go.
The is the first notebook to come my way that has Windows 11 pre-installed. It is 32x22.2x1.2cm and weighs 1350 grams so will not weigh down your bag. So on initial startup after the normal 15 minutes of questions and choices you are ready to go. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of close to 14inches. The screen resolution defaults to 1920x1080 with 125% being the setup default if your eyesight is excellent then 100% may work for you.
This is a powerful Notebook which at the time of setup you can have as Windows 10 or Windows 11. I choose Windows 10 and after the normal 15 minutes’ worth of questions answered was able to use the machine, as usual there are a number of updates to do to bring it right up to date. So after a few days having done all the updates I expected to be offered the chance to upgrade and as I was not I restored it and this time I choose Windows 11.
The Acer Predator Notebook measures 32x22.5x1.8cm and weighs 1722 grams. The screen is 31x17.5cm, 14inch. The viewable screen is 1920x1080 with the default display set to 150%. Bootup is 8 seconds while shutdown is 5 seconds. It has an 11 Generation Intel 17 processor running at 3.3GHz. It comes with 16GB RAM and has a 1TB SSD (952GB). Going around the outside on the left has a Kensington Lock port, Power input, USB3 port, USB ‘C’ which can also charge.
Last year I told you about a Pixel 5 and if the advertising is correct the Pixel 6 is available so why should I now get the look at the Pixel 4XL. On the face of it a phone launched at least two years ago would be well past its sell by date. After a few days of use I was offered an upgrade to Android 12 so Google certainly do not consider it past it. Yes more recent phones offer more from their cameras but I still took some excellent pictures and videos.
The Google Pixel 4 XL measures 15.5x7.4x.7cm and weighs 186grams. The viewable screen is 14.5x7cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal measurement of 6.3inches in QHD with a 9:19 arrangement. The display can be up to 90Hz. The screen is Gorilla Glass and supports up to 16.7 million colours. I had not got round to checking which version of Android it had on arrival but I assume it was Android 10 but as stated this soon became Android 12.
This flat panel from AOC is for those who want to see a bit more on their screen as its 3840x2160 and it allows you to connect HDMI or Display Port as well as USB ‘C’. To fulfill the first requirement without you having to have 20:20 vision it’s just that bit larger at 27inches from corner to corner but still takes up little more space than a smaller panel.
The AOC U27P2CA flat panel screen measures 61x36x1.5cm; the viewable screen is 60x35cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 27inches. It weighs 4.42 kilos. There is almost no margin at the top and the sides – called frameless - and the bottom margin is 2.5cm. Towards the right are the five buttons to control the panel to their right is a white LED. Its stand is 19x22cm and raises the screen in Landscape mode by between 2.5 and 17.5cm.
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