Publication History For : Paul Smart
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Gigibyte are best known for making motherboards for both desktop and notebook computers. They also make rather good notebooks as the motherboard is itself perhaps the single most important component in the notebook.
The Gigabyte i7 Notebook U2442F measures 33.5x23x2cm, the last figure is thickness and the figure quoted is at the front add another.5cm at the rear. It weighs 1.6kilos. The screen display is 1600x900. Model numbers for some computers often give no indication as to what is on offer, for instance I recently reviewed a U2442N little thinking that the next offering from them would be a U2442F but there are many differences.
At one of the recent Xmas In July events by HoMedics and Salter. Other items will follow as they arrive. Here some items suitable as gifts without costing a fortune. Spatulas, Measuring Spoons, Adjustable Rolling Pin and an excellent Professional Whisk.
I am sure we all try to use a spoon to get into corners of a round saucepan, maybe even a knife. They do not work a finger may be better but as the contents are often hot that is not a good idea even if you are cooking for yourself. Here a set of two spatulas, the smaller one is red and the larger one is black, they are 23cm and 28cm long one edge is nearly flat the other curved and of course they do what they are meant to do.
Samsung are perhaps one of the top two manufacturers of affordable lounge sized TVs that do far more than offer Freeview HD. In fact this one complete with its two remote controls could for a lot be everything that they need.
It is 90x52x4cm, this can fit on the ‘x’ shaped chromed stand provided or like most recent TV’s be mounted on the wall. I used the former method, the stand raises the TV from whatever you sit it on by 8cm and the ‘X’ is 55x37cm at the extremes. The last measurement – for now – is the viewable screen size which is 89x50cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal measurement of 40inches.
I am sometimes asked what is a gadget my answer is anything produced to make a job easier. Both these products fall into that category, first a microphone aimed at a vocalist and second a very flexible five port gang socket.
While the quality of this good it is not aimed at professional musicians for one basic reason it is supplied with a 3.5mm jack suitable for insertion in an ‘i’ or Android device, which would using the free downloadable software be ideal for practice or for getting a rough draft of your song onto media. The microphone itself is of good quality and suitable for vocalists because it only accepts sounds from the front of it, spurious sound from behind or the sides are not carried in.
Self-Stirring Mug or Finger
Published in Misc
on
27 Sep 2013
The first is an item I saw at the Wilkinsons Xmas In July event, an ideal stocking filler for those who expect their tea to be stirred for them. The second is another stocking filler this time from Brando in Hong Kong to get your Smartphone at the correct viewing angle.
Both these items are value purchases for the person in your life who has everything – even when they do not – and best of all can say it without costing too much. It is 13cm tall with the removable lid attached. It has a handle made in the same see through plastic material as the mug which will hold just over half a pint of liquid. It is circular 8.5cm across at the top and 6.5cm across at the bottom.
It is rare that a single set of headphones produces a press briefing. Here however it does mean that the focus is on exactly them and not other items brought along to make up the numbers, the only variant the range of colours available.
While these are designed to work with Apple devices they also work perfectly well with Android and for that matter even humble MP3 players. For many reason weight can be important and these are very light at 160grams. First job is to extract from the packaging, not like I so often moan with industrial scissors as this has a sturdy box and then a foam surround followed by a zip up case and then a drawstring bag. You might think you are unpacking a valuable piece of fragile glass.
This is an Android device the screen size you might guess from the title is 9.7 inches. The colour is creamy white rather like those of another manufacturer whose name is taken from a popular fruit.
The Archos 97b Titanium measures 24x19x.8cm and it weights 633grams. It runs Android 4.1. The viewable screen is 19.7x14.7cm. There are three buttons near to the top on the left side, the on/off that you need to press and hold for five seconds to turn it on and volume up and down just below it. The other connections are on the base, headphones, pin hole microphone, DC input, micro USB and micro SD card port. It has forward and backward facing cameras.
While it shaped life a pen it is not one, it is a scanner a rather good one for scanning items into such things as Microsoft Office, it also has another function in that if you right click an image it converts it into a small PDF.
IRISPen Express 7 measures 15.5x2.5x1.5cm, a 1.4metre USB lead is hard wired into the tail of the unit. I used it in a USB2 port but it will work in USB3 but at no faster speed. In fact while the head is 2.5cm wide it will only read a single line at a time. In the initial setup you are asked a very important question ‘are you left or right handed’. It determines what the scanner should expect.
Pure have long been a top name in DAB radios, others have followed and here is an offering from Dixons own label brand Sanstrom as well as the latest offering from Pure. So is the technology any different in the branded product to that on offer from the own label offering?
The Pure Evoke F4 DAB/FM radio measures 21x9.5x16cm excluding the semi circular handle that adds 3.5cm to the last figure the height. Mine was black. The handle acts as a snooze setting. It can be either mains or battery powered, the latter by fitting an F1 ChargePAK. The DC lead is 1.5metres long ending in a mid sized power brick. There are two knobs Volume and Select with seven touch buttons all below the 6.7x3.5cm six line white on black display.
Asus are a company that I think of for computers and motherboards. So when the opportunity to look at a mobile phone from them it seems an interesting option. The name puzzled me for a moment until I related the Pad part to a tablet.
I think of Asus as a computer company but then a modern Android phone is more of a computer than just a phone. It is 13.5x6.5x.8cm and weights 135grams. It is shaped like a wedge and I have quoted the maximum thickness at the base it is less than .5cm.
A four in one device is normally called multi-function, while a three in one device is often called an All In One, this is from the former category as not only does it scan, copy and print it also has a fax ability for those who still use it.
The Canon Pixma MX455 measures 46x37x21cm so it is a chunky unit and that is without the page feed being extended on the scanner. You also need to add another 13cm to the middle figure the depth to have the drop down output tray and the paper input trays extended. Power and USB inputs are back left of the unit. You can probably do without the USB lead assuming you have a Wi-Fi connection but for some you may need a USB to complete the setup as sometimes it fails to find the Wi-Fi without one.
A set of earbuds from a comparative newcomer to the audio market and I think their first buds as opposed to headphones. Second something that any keen photographer needs a quality tripod suitable for a good sized DSLR unit.
The headphones I reviewed earlier this year were certainly a set worth considering. Here a set of earbuds that seems to have a lot going for them. The first thing you notice once you have extracted them from their box is that the cord is white and flat. Why flat well simply because it is less likely to knot up when the lead is twirled round your fingers and placed into a pocket or bag.
Having reviewed scales, various other fitness and health products from Withings it seems logical to cover a blood pressure monitor linked like so many products they do to an App so you do not even need to note down the units readings.
If you already have other items from Withings then the same App will work it may require a small update. The advantage of this is that you already know the layout. The App if you have not got it already with other Withings devices in Free and quick to download. It is designed to work with any ‘i’ device, that is iPhone, iPad or as I have an iPod touch. It consists of a cylinder 15cm long and 3.
Here I am looking at a wireless speaker unit that can connect via Bluetooth, Near Field and even by 3.5mm lead. Second a pair of earbuds described as Noise Isolation In Ear Earphones, so two ways to enjoy your sounds without power.
This is a single triangular unit 25cm long, 11cm at the base and 10cm tall. All the controls are in a line on the top, microphone, volume down and volume up on a single rocker button, and a multi-use that is on, pairing for Bluetooth and hold for off. Finally an LED that is white when on, flashing white while pairing and briefly red when you power off. There are two inputs at the base of the back in the centre, Auxiliary input and Micro USB (cable supplied) for charging.
This is a rather nice book reader however it can be far more as it is Android based, so you can surf the WWW and collect your emails however for some reason not quite all the content of the Android Play Store is currently available.
The Nook HD+ book reader and general Android tablet measures 24x16x1cm and weighs 500grams. The visible screen is 12.7x19.2cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 9inches. As a book reader it is backlit so the battery will not last as long as an e-ink offering. The default font size will show 33 lines of text when in portrait mode; in landscape it will show 20 lines in two columns of just over 7cm (3inches).
This is a rather good multi-function device from Bosch, not as multi-function normally means with a printer scanner etc. but a device to chop, mix, blend and most other things you want to do to food in preparation to cook or eat.
This is somewhat larger than the recently reviewed ‘Magic Bullet’ but this unit from Bosch can easily accommodate the needs of a family. Ten with these multi-function devices they require a great deal of room and if you are neat and tidy they prove nearly impossible to store away in the box. Here while the box itself is not small at 39x38x37cm everything fits into it with a minimum of fuss and no degree in puzzles is required.
This is a large 1920x1080 panel. In fact the 27inch size is larger than most TVs were not that long ago, however the newer LED technology means thats displays stay crisper and blacks stay clearer whatever the display size.
The Samsung SC750 Flat Panel measures 61x37x1.5cm. The screen is raised 14cm from your desk by the 30x20cm stand and then 13cms worth of solid oval arm that is centred just behind the centre of the stand. The viewable screen is 60x33.5cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal measurement of 27inches. The arm is actually 33.
Slightly different to most Power Shot offerings as this is waterproof, it still however has all the normal facilities and enhancements of a standard digital camera but in this case getting it wet will not be a disaster at least in the short term.
The Canon PowerShot D20 measures 9.5x6.5x2cm and weights 228grams. Normally I am a fan of sober colours and the predominate black of this unit pleases my sober personality. However as this may be lost under water the bright yellow buttons and semi-circular yellow swirl on the face make it stand out where other single sober colour units would become lost. The left side has only the wrist strap anchor point.
This is a thin and light Windows 8 notebook that boots very quickly and for me anyway cures the problem of fingermarks around the screen by making the whole thing in silver grey rather than the standard shiny black finish.
It is 31x21.5x1cm and weights 1110grams. The 1cm thickness is at the back the front is only .7cm. Because of the size there are special leads to connect certain standard things. The left side has the DC input, a USB3 socket, next two of the special connections for HDMI and Ethernet. The front is clear and the right side has an SD card port on a flip open door that is more on the base than the side, pin hole microphone, another special socket for VGA, a standard 3.
The new standard in Power Line transmission seems to 500, not so long ago 200 was nirvana. Here a Starter kit that allows you to connect up to three devices from a single plug socket in that area that Wi-Fi just does not reach.
As with all these devices you need two units, the first will connect to a plug somewhere near your router or modem/router. The second can be anywhere on the same ring main and unless your property has been substantially changed most will only have one. The first ‘master’ socket is 12.5x6.5x4.5cm and the only thing to remember is not to plug it into a surge strip or sometimes a gang socket – dependant on what else is plugged into the same gang socket.
This is not a GPS unit as some may think but a watch, a rather special watch that not only tells the time but can also give you your pulse rate at any time by the simple press of a button, no chest band just wear the watch on your wrist.
This was one of a few items I was interested in at a recent distributor event held at the London Film Museum that is in County Hall on the side of the river Thames. It was the first item I saw as it was just inside the door and by the time I had been round all the stands it was still the most interesting item to me.
Though it may not be clear from the title this is a vacuum. In fact when I first used it the lack of noise even on maximum suction made me think I had not assembled it correctly, so Power Silence does seem to be a good name.
The Bosch GS-50 Power Silence vacuum is a pull along unit measuring 43x29x28cm without the hose; it comes with a 7metre flex which means I can just do my whole property from a single centrally located plug when I attach the hose. The cleaning foot and arm is 75cm long and the tube that fits into the rear of the unit another 2metres so a near 10metre stretch from a power socket. The foot has a flip switch for solid floors or carpets.
Earlier this year I had a look at a Chromebook from Samsung, here what at first glance looks a fairly similar offering from HP. Could a Chromebook be a real alternative to using a notebook with the Microsoft Windows operating system?
The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook measures 34x23.5x2cm and weights 1716 grams, sadly it is shiny black so shows all your finger marks on the screen edge and lid. The left side has a Kensington Lock Port, one USB port and a headset port. The front is clear, the right side has SD Card port, two USB ports, an HDMI out port and an Ethernet port, finally the DC charging point. The back is also clear as the lid goes partially over it to open to around 140degrees.
This is a high quality digital camera that records with a 14MP sensor, it is intended for use for people who do things of a daredevil nature in the open air, as such it can be strapped to a helmet while these deeds are being performed.
The camera itself is circular at 2.5cm and 10cm long and in this format it weights 150grams. It comes with a whole range of accessories and attachments. The Quick Start Guide has 14 pages in English and this at least explains what the various extra parts are and what they might be used for.
This is the latest in a line of Mobile Phones from Doro suitable for those with a hearing or seeing disability. It even now comes in a box little bigger than the phone itself, even the box is easy to get into for those with less dexterity.
The Doro Phone Easy 506 measures 12x5.5x.9cm and weights 80grams. My unit was black with bold white lettering on the keys and clear illustrations around the connections. There are only two sockets on the unit both towards the top right side the micro USB charger which is hard wired to a good long lead ending in a conventional three pin plug. Below this a 3.5mm socket for the supplied earbuds.
Although I own a Bosch fridge/freezer I tend to think of Bosch as a power tool company. So when I was invited to a recent event that featured vacuums, food processors, coffee machines and kettle and toaster combos it was a little bit of a surprise.
While these items can be purchased separately as they are either the cream colour I was sent or black they tend to be purchased as a pair. This is a round unit that takes its power from a flat stand that it sits on. The stand is round at 15cm and the power lead can be stored under it when not in use. It is .7metre long and is hard wired into the base, this means the kettle can be removed without having to unplug or remove any leads.
Having recently looked at a couple of items from D-link it seems a natural extension to look at one of their recent Routers. This would give a no installation setup to their security camera as well as many other items to desire.
The D-Link Wireless AC1750 measures 21x10.5x9.5cm and shiny black as most routers just sit there are perform their job there is a good chance that it will stay shiny black. The rear has a line of connections, USB3 port, WPS activation button, four LAN ports, Internet connection to your modem, power button and DC power connection. The front has two buttons Power and WWW. The full name of this unit is Wireless AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router DIR-868L.
A very interesting and rather different product. Massage is something that most people appreciate for one of more ailments; while various medical experts can help, often, other devices can improve the symptoms at a lesser cost.
While I have reviewed specialist devices that fit to a chair this one is somewhat different as on first glance it looks like a toy car the wheels are somewhat unusual and it runs on 3x‘AA’ (not supplied) but it will work with rechargeable ones. The unit has three modes and these are controlled by the two buttons on top. Each cycle of massage will last for 15 minutes after which the unit will switch off. It will also switch off should it fall over so careful placement is important.
A company I think of for notebook bags have produced a three in one device, a pen, a stylus and screwdriver. Second another multi use item this time aimed at keeping you fit and apart from counting steps it also takes your pulse among other features.
This is 12.5cm long and circular at .7cm, 2.5cm from the top is a standard clip to allow it to sit in top or inside pocket. The total weight is 26grams; this had me weighting the more normal plastic offering which came in at just under half that weight. The Tracer deluxe is far more rugged being made of aluminium.
Here I am looking at two ways of extending the reach of your Network, until now most solutions have required two plugs to get one extra connection, here I am looking at one that gives three and the other two both at up to 500mbps.
This is really simple to setup just remember two things both connections must be on the same ring mane and second do not connect one to a surge strip and if you do those two things then it really should be 'plug and play'. While there is a mini CD in the box this only has .PDF files in various languages.
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