Publication History For : Paul Smart
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This is a set of speakers that can also charge external devices; it is also a dock. Yes that word does have a life beyond the i devices. Other Sonoro devices are high end so why should you spend your money on this device.
It is not often I start with the Instruction Manual, I can just forgive English being the second language after all they are not manufactured in the UK. What is harder is that the one page in English lists the contents and tells you to read it in its entirety before using and then the next page does the same for the next language and so on. Then from page 12 on you have a series of pictures and diagrams with little or no worded instructions on how to use it.
A new Smartphone seems to arrive often, a new Apple offering has people queuing round the block, a new Android offering less so, but you can do more of what you want, a new Android smartphone with an Intel Chip.
Yes the Intel smartphone is alive and fast in the form of the Motorola RAZRi. It is smaller than a couple of recent offerings and uses a micro SIM and micro SD for added storage but even study fingers like mine work well with it. People I have shown it to often say that is heavy it’s actually 126grams but the case is metal and it should survive the odd knock with ease.
This is another in a range of larger flat panels to have recently crossed my desk. This one has VGA, DVI and Displayport connections as well as USB to power a hub. Here however you can control how high off the desk it is.
Assuming this is your only display then use either DVI or VGA and you should get a perfectly acceptable image. Should you need any further advice then you need to consult the manual that is in PDF format and to view this you need a working monitor. While this unit has Displayport most such connections are on Apple units and I do not have one of those so I cannot comment on whether this works out of the box on first connection or not.
Even after the clocks went back most people are having to rise for work in darkness and while most will still be reluctant to get up in daylight you often need another pressure other than your bladder to get you from your bed.
For those with limited space this small unit may be ideal. It is 23cm wide at the face and 17.5cm at the rear, a maximum of 7cm tall at the face and 4cm at the back these figures are without your ‘i’ device inserted in the dock. Overall it is 8cm deep with leads inserted inset in the rear. The hard wired wire radio aerial is 1.4 metres long. Without your ‘i’ device it is an alarm clock radio controlled by two ubiquitous joystick controls on the units top.
A long time ago in the early years of PCs there was a phrase around saying no one ever got sacked for buying IBM. While things have changed a huge amount you still see a lot of ThinkPads around in everyday use.
For those of more tender years IBM sold their notebooks to Lenovo who have continued to develop this winning brand. While this does not look as ‘sexy’ as some other brands the rubber coating over the skin make it feel solid and reliable the whole reason for me reproducing the comment in the introductory sentence above. It is 35x24x2cm and weights 1865grams; it feels sturdy when you move around with it and nothing during use changes this perception.
Samsung have long produced a range of printers, notebooks and other electrical products including digital cameras. In the last few years they decided to use Micro SD cards for storage; here I am pleased to say its just SD here.
The Samsung WB150F measures 10.5x6x2cm and weights 204grams. It can take 14MP images, has a 24mm wide angle lens and is capable of 18x optical zoom. My unit was metallic red the right side has the wrist strap anchor point and a door behind which is the AV out socket. The left side is clear, the base has tripod anchor point and a door behind which is the units solid battery and any SD card you may use. The face has the lens and the small bar flash which is always a minimum of 4.
Upgrading to Windows 8
Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple
on
12 Nov 2012
A few days ago I was sent a link and passcode to download Windows 8. So with fingers crossed I embarked on making a two year old notebook that has become slower and slower become a more useful member of society.
While I understand that some UK people were involved in the Beta program I was amazed that Microsoft decided not to have a launch in the UK. I have attended every launch since Windows 95 so to launch a new operating system without the chance to talk with people who have been involved seemed strange, also as far as I know there were no UK pre release briefings. So it was a little surprising when I received a link and a code. You need to download onto the machine you intend to upgrade.
Neither of these are what you may expect. The Rubik Cube is a speaker available from the Science Museum the Mouse has a hedgehog type covering but the spikes are soft and will not prick it comes from Brando in Hong Kong.
An 8.5cm cube with blue, yellow, green and white sides, the back where the connections enter is orange and the front where the speaker grill is red but with the black showing through. All the links between the nine squares of each colour are black; however these do not move the only connections are on the back on this fun unit. The bottom line of three squares on the back has the connections, on-off slider, USB power input and Auxiliary input from your music device.
The Canon Pixma MG4150 is an All in One printer, scanner and copy unit from Canon. Small and flat and it works either via wireless or USB. The black colour may not appeal to all but as it can sit on a shelf or in a cupboard or even behind the sofa.
When closed the MG4150 measures 43x30x15cm. The middle figure the depth increases by 13cm with paper in the front tray. If you add 5cm to the last figure the height you should be able to slip most items onto the scan surface of the flatbed. There are nine buttons and the ubiquitous five position joystick to the left of the flatbed where the flip up screen also is. This is a two ink offering with reasonable sized cartridges.
Maybe its the wooden case but as soon as you take this from the box you feel quality. It is not just a DAB and FM radio it also supports iPod and iPhone as well as Auxiliary input and for dinosaurs like me it also has a CD player.
It is 32x21x10cm, the middle figure the depth is taken at the point where the mains lead enters as this is the deepest point. You can control it either from the buttons on top of the unit or from the provided landscape shaped remote control. There are four lines of three well marked buttons on the top centre of the unit, the ‘i’ dock is behind this. The central area of the face has the 6.8x2.5cm white on blue display, either side of this are the stereo speakers of the unit.
The buzzword around today is Ultrabook not simply because they are small and light but they also boot exceedingly fast. So what exactly does this Acer unit have to offer that will make you reach into your wallet to buy.
The Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook measures 32x22x1.5cm at the back and less than 1cm thick at the front, it weights 1330grams. With care it should power your needs for a full day. With such thin sides the only place most connections can be is at the back. The right side has only an SD card slot. The front has nothing not even LEDs. The left side has an earbud jack. Both the earbud and SD card port are close to the back.
Here I am looking at various styles of SmartPhone cases, from iLuv, Gear4 and Brando. The first for Apple iPod Touch, the next a kids design Angry Birds for iPhone and lastly for those on Android a wooden case for Samsung III.
My iPod Touch has been naked for months and of course the reflective back gets covered with fingermarks so this offering from iLuv came just as the weather got colder which spared its modesty when out and about with me. It is described as a Silicone Case with 3D Patterns, when fitted it increases the overall dimensions by a tad to 11.5x6x1cm. It is made in black or white, mine was white. It feels nice in the hand and should you sweat it will increase stickability.
This is an i dock but it can and does do far more. It has a built in FM Radio and clock with alarm it also has a sleep countdown timer so although it does support most i devices everything mentioned in this sentence is built in.
The Gear4 AlarmDock Halo2 measures 15cm wide, 14cm deep and 18cm tall. The depth is only for the first 2cm – base – the top with the display is only 3cm in fact it is an ‘L’ shape with the front being the lower corner and you are looking above any ‘i’ device at the back. It is even more intelligent should you have more than one iPod Touch or iPhone using a free app available from App store.
With notebooks and tablets being the in thing from pre teenage years younger siblings will want their own and something like this is ideal even from pre school time. So what exactly does the LeapPad2 have to offer your child?
It is 17x13x2cm and weights 412grams. The screen is 11x6cm while the layout appears portrait as soon as you switch on its landscape. There are four buttons on the face as well as the ubiquitous five position joystick. The right side has a stylus tethered on a 30cm piece of cord which may keep it with the unit for a few days, maybe. The top has a 3.5mm jack for earphones, a cartridge slot (for some extra items not included) and a mini USB port.
A large desktop monitor that can should you wish - be split into up to four windows, so four displays on a single screen. While the basic resolution is still 1920x1080 with a decent video card then DVD watching can be a new experience.
However having a panel that is 65x38x2cm may be too big for some without the still very expensive option to have resolution beyond 1920x1080. The stand is oval at 24x19cm and this raises the panel by 5cm from your desk. There is no side to side movement but joy of joys for those who have it mounted above eye level there is a few degrees of forward movement. As most users will have it below eye level the amount of back movement is much more I made it 18degrees.
A DAB/FM Radio is just two of the things that this unit does, the Wireless Internet ability will give much more than Internet Radio, Pure Lounge and Media Player ability, the touchscreen or infra red controls make this more like a computer.
The nearest shape I can call it is an egg, it is 17x28x18cm and weights just less than 2 kilos, it can run on a ChargePak (internal rechargeable battery pack) but I doubt that many will walk around with the Sensia 200D Connect. Unlike most DAB units the visible controls are not obvious and consist only of volume up and down, mute and on/off. Everything else is controlled from the large 11.5x9.5cm touchscreen which is full colour and easy to read.
A couple of weeks ago I told you about two sets of Bathroom personal Scales. Here are two sets of Kitchen Scales both from Salter a neat single scale and second bearing the Heston Bloomatile name a jug that converts wet and dry weights.
I am perhaps rather simple to please as this delights from looking at the box through to use. The first joy is that colour is spelt correctly, next the simple easy to use unit. The scale itself is a 14.5cm disc set into 15.5x18x1.5cm rectangle. I know they do a range of colours mine was a lime green but it is crisp and easy to read.
Last year I was at the launch of the Nikon 1 camera, and although I asked several times to review it I never got to the top of the list. Now however Nikon have just launched the Nikon 1 v1 which comes with two lenses.
Most ‘kits’ come with something like a 28-55mm lens. With the Nikon 1 V1 kit you get a 10-30mm and a 30-110mm to give a wide range. You could also buy with just 10-30mm lens if you wished. Both are available in black or white. Te Nikon 1 V1 compact system camera measures 11x7.5x8cm and once the smaller lens is released this increases the last figure by 3cm. The unit weights 500grams with the 10-30mm lens attached.
Normally to boot a PC you need a DVI or VGA monitor connected. Recently I reviewed a unit that could be a second unit for notebook that had only a USB lead, so this unit was a new thing for me as it has neither DVI nor VGA.
The Samsung C24B750X Smart Station Series 7 monitor has a surround which measures 56x33.5cm and apart from where it joins the stand is only 2cm deep. The screen itself is 53x30cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 24inches. The default resolution is 1920x1080. The screen has no side to side or forward movement but can tilt back up to 20degrees. The stand is quite meaty at 16x23cm and raises the screen around 9cm above your desk.
Two more presents for Christmas, first a Crossbow that fires water balloons, it can be messy but not dangerous. Second an anatomical model of a dog from Revell, first for you to put together and then to be displayed.
It is 47x30x12cm. Before you as a responsible parent stop reading the only likely damage to your child or property is they or it might get wet if one of the supplied balloons fired from the crossbow might split and spill some water. A target is supplied and if someone else got hit by one of the balloons it might sting a bit but not much more than that. I suspect some larger water pistols would carry a more destructive load.
This is the larger sibling to the offering reviewed on the 13th August, that was 8inches this that bit larger at 9.7inches. So apart from the larger screen what else has this to offer both are running the latest version of Android.
While it has a perfectly good on screen keyboard it comes with a 24.5x18.5x1cm external keyboard that is made especially for the JoyTab. It is Bluetooth but is can support the Tablet so it becomes more like a notebook. Also supplied is a mini USB to USB adapter that allows you to attach a standard USB stick to the unit. This has the advantage of quick transfer to a PC as well as the advantage of large storage ability at a cheaper price. It is 24x18.
First from Buffalo a 500GB Thunderbolt drive which should take care of the storage side. Second from Proporta a solution to your mobile device running out of power an external battery that you can keep in your wallet.
Not the smallest 500GB drive around, however it will sit happily on your desk and is still small enough to travel with you in a case or bag. The coverage from me for Apple products is small and rarely goes beyond various ‘i’ items. Here however the white top and white lead make Thunderbolt users right at home but so are USB3 users. The back of the box compares possible speeds USB2 30MB/s, FireWire 800 77MB/s and Thunderbolt 105MB/s. The case is 13x8x2.
For those who print a little, scan a little and copy not a lot may well fancy a small in size unit that does all those things. Those who have a small place to print from this is certainly a unit that can tick all the requirements.
The Epson "Expression"e; XP-102 All In One is 38x30x14cm but add another 20cm to the last figure to put a stack of A4 sheets in the sit up sheet feed in the rear. 10cm on the 14cm height should be plenty if you are scanning something and wish to locate the unit on a shelf. USB enters back left while the power enters back centre. There are four touch buttons on the front face of the unit just above where the finished page exits face up. The buttons are on/off, mono copy, colour copy and problem.
Christmas is now well on the map, here are two things that are a little different, first a 3D construction toy from Triqo and second a model of a giraffe from Revell that includes where all the vital organs are to be found.
In my youth Meccano was king, for the last few decades it has been Lego. Now a new kid has arrived called Triqo - yes the forth letter is a Q so if it gets into the dictionary scrabble fans will love it. This is a different type of construction as the pieces are triangles and circles, all are disc shaped and they clip together. Strangely enough they are made in Holland like another construction toy. The pack I was sent has 50 pieces in the two styles.
This is a PowerShot but looking at it quickly you may consider it is DSLR unit as it is larger than the recent PowerShot offerings not in the battery area as it has a solid battery but all round as it is a chunky looking item.
The Canon PowerShot G1X weights 540grams quite a lot for a digital unit and it comes with a neck strap. It is 11.5x8x7cm but add between 3 to 5cm when switched on as the lens moves out by that much as soon as power is applied. If you use the TFT to frame images then you can double the width to 16cm as it flips opens like that of a camcorder. The left side has one anchor point for the neck strap; the right side has the other as well as a door hiding the HDMI and A/V out sockets.
Hoover is a brand name from Wales as well as being a generic name for a vacuum cleaner. Here is their latest offering called The Globe which has striking resemblance to a recent upright cleaner offering from Dyson.
There are three parts to assemble when the unit is unpacked, the body, the shoe (or foot) and the handle. The only slightly tricky bit is connecting the two pin power connector between the base and the body which is a swivel motion. During my couple of weeks testing it my own vacuum was put aside and this got a good workout. As with most modern uprights you can remove the hose from the body and attach various supplied fittings to do stairs and curtains etc.
If like me you find bathroom scales hard to read then either of these offerings from Salter may well have the answer. The first has a magnified display that stays on for a while once you step off. The second is all glass with large digits.
Unpack, attach the supplied 3x‘AAA’ batteries, attach the rubber foot covers place on the floor, the unit shows 0.0 it will then switch off. Step on it and it will show your weight in the default measure of kilograms. Step off and it will still show the weight for another four seconds giving you ample time to bend down to read the display should it be necessary. It is approximately 28x28x2cm but as the corners are chamfered it could be slightly different to the size stated.
With the Olympics now a distant memory thoughts must turn to Christmas. Here a couple of suggestions, first a UFO toy that can have a message of your choice, second a jigsaw but this one is not flat but built up in 3D.
The box suggests 8+, while I have no doubt children of this age will have the required piloting skills; I have my doubts about their ability to insert the required six ‘AAA’ batteries into the remote controller / charging box. As with a lot of toys they look great in the packaging but removing them from it is a work or art with numerous pieces of tape and in the case of the remote even a Philips screw through the cardboard to be removed.
iLuv Bluetooth Speaker Stand & Fit Active Earbuds
Published in Entertainment
on
5 Oct 2012
Listening pleasure for a group with the Bluetooth Speaker Stand allowing you to view as well as listen to stored content. The second is something called Fit Active earbuds that stay in place even when you engage in activity.
Since this was first announced I have been trying to get one to test as this is probably the most talked about recent offering from anyone. A friend of mine claims it is the only product he needs to run his whole work life.
For a phone it is slightly large but for web browsing it is perhaps the ideal size able to be read in the palm of your hand. For composition of emails or writing longer items it also works with ‘SWYPE’ technology built in. It is 13.5x7x.5cm and weights 132grams. The exact model number is GT-19300 although everyone seems to call it Galaxy SIII. It runs Android version 4.0.4 The viewable screen is 6x10.7 with notional imperial measurement of 4.8inches.
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