Publication History For : Paul Smart
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While neither of these two items are likely to be needed that often when one or other is it will certainly get you out of a hole.
USB Portable Floppy Drive Nowadays the majority of new PC's are sold with an 'A' drive, the capacity is small and most situations can be handled with a pen/stick drive. There are occasions when these will not do and one of these could well the one that totally knackers you or me. Certainly if you have several PC's then if Windows will not boot then a USB floppy could be a 'lifesaver'.
While I have seen cheaper unbranded boxes on sale in adverts, this is a new ball park low in a nationally advertised box it breaks the £20 price point and of course its not a sale price.
This is a simple black box, it is 21x17x3cm with the aerial lead inserted. There is a single LED on the front and the mains lead is hardwired into the rear. Unusually for basic Freeview units not only does an aerial input but an output as well. Most will connect to a SCART socket and it of course has one of those.
This is a powerful intermediate user camera, more than point and shoot but a step down from a DSLR however it has 6x optical zoom and can take 12mega pixel images.
This is not a small unit, but somewhat less in size than a DSLR. It is 11x7x4.5cm and weights close to 400grams with it's 4x'AA' batteries inserted. I found it surprising that such a powerful unit only comes with 'AA' batteries. The case is silver in colour apart from the right hand side 'the grip' area which is black. Almost all the controls are also in this area.
A number of companies have produced photo frames, most however are no bigger than seven inches, so this at 50% bigger could well be worth a look, it also can play music.
It looks like a red wooden frame with another white spacer frame inside. The total external dimensions are 31x25cm. It has 3.5cm of depth, if you support it on a desk a snap in black plastic fitting fits into the black back of the unit and it leans slightly back in either portrait or landscape mode just like a traditional photo frame. The internal white spacer frame is 2.2cm wide top and bottom and 2.5cm wide at the sides.
A few weeks ago I told you about a couple of games/puzzles from Coiledspring games, here I am looking at two further offerings from the same company. Read the other review they are made of wood and are quality.
Katamino This is a game for one or two players and it can be easy or hard dependant on the number of pieces you use. Described as suitable for age 3+ in this case I can see at the basic levels that children of that age could compete. You have a wooden board 30x14x1.5cm a divider bar placed at various points along the board (according to difficulty) and twenty different sized coloured shaped bricks.
One of the better names for a DAB radio as especially if you are listening to cool music you would often come near to laying back for exactly its name.
It is black in colour, 17x14x5cm although those the maximum dimensions with only the centre rear being 14cm as it curves quite sharply each side. There are twelve silvered buttons on the top with the speaker mounted behind them. Should you prefer to listen via earbuds there is a 3.5mm socket on the top. The front has a 6x2.5cm three line display. The top line being twice the size of the other two.
Autumn must be here as the round of 08 releases start to rear their heads, the first this year goes to Britannica, certainly one up on Encarta that as yet I have not even heard whispers about.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 edition is available on CD or DVD, I got the latter and went for the complete install which means that you never need to insert the DVD to complete a search or project.
Why you may ask did I not put the name in the title, simple reason its just too long. Its a CD MP3 DAB Micro System with iPod dock. It also has FM and SD card support.
This is a rather smart gun metal grey box 21x28x16cm. It comes with two speakers 16x22x23cm these are also grey with a different grey mesh grill. The speaker leads are the fashionable bare leads but the claw grab fittings lock onto the leads. Fifteen pages of the manual are a must read as it does a lot of things differently to other units I have used. Some appear - to me anyway - to be illogical.
No not a keyboard and a hub but two separate items both at a good price with this firm charging only a flat low shipping charge for any order, something other Internet vendors might like to investigate.
Illuminated Keyboard According to the blurb they do several colours and I just happened to get the pink one. I have used it for some time and while the colour would perhaps suit a lady I am not keen on it however the things it does I do find interesting. First a button on the top right of the 109 key keyboard lets you turn the illumination on/off.
A camera that surveys its surroundings if it detects movement a text message can be sent to your mobile phone. You can then view whatever movement the camera detected.
This should have been something that had me jumping up and down, instead it did not work like that. I had numerous conversations with the lady at 3rdi and eventually it did work. The camera costs £199 and it charges from the mains but can then run for around six hours even without connection. So even if the intruder realises he/she is being filmed it's too late as the images are sent back to the server at 3rdi.
On the face of it this is a similar device to the recently reviewed Mio A501 but there are subtle differences. This is first a communications device and only then a device that has GPS capabilities indeed they do a model without the GPS.
Firstly the dimensions of the T-Mobile MDA Compact III, 10.5x6x1.5cm, the screen is 6x4.5cm. The weight is around 150 grams. It seems PDA manufacturers do not have the same restraints foisted on them that digital camera manufacturers do by the large retail chains as there is a pouch to protect the screen and indeed that of the 2 mega pixel camera.
This is a USB2 CD/DVD recorder/player. For anyone with only a CD or a DVD only player this is All Modes for recording and playback. should you not have suitable software it comes with a variety.
It is small and quite stylish and is automatically recognised so unless you need some of the software just plug it in. I found that the power drawn was low enough not to require a power supply however one of the extra USB leads that also draw power (takes two USB ports) is supplied if necessary. It has a 2MB cache and of course under run protection. It is 16.5x15.5x2cm, add 2cm to the first figure to insert the mini USB lead and that's it.
Two items for the older child the first a remote control helicopter with Auto-Stable technology and the second a toy of the year from the Science Museum Electro Mag. This is the first of my articles from this years Dream Toys event.
PicooZ Helicopter The Picooz Helicopter is 16x3.5x7cm constructed from plastic and expanded polystyrene so is amazingly light. Looking at the box it seems there are three different coloured models in the PicooZ range. The one I have white/red, there is also white/blue and white/yellow. Having recently got some digital scales I can tell you the exact weight 9 grams. So do not sneeze near it.
A colour laser printer is not necessarily a large offering, while it is course larger than an inkjet it will of course be a good deal heavier but full colour pages even one offs can take around 15 seconds.
First the all important dimensions. The Brother HL-4040CN is 48cm deep with power plug inserted, 41cm wide and 30cm tall. It is close to 30kilos when the toners are inserted. Some recent units state fast warm up or time to first page, no such luxury here it is at least 90 seconds before you get 'ready' from first switch on and then the first job will print quite slowly maybe only 6ppm but from then it is all systems go and colour or black/white is 20ppm.
This is a 2.1 speaker set mainly for the iPod but not just another set of speakers to dock your iPod. However you could connect almost any MP3 player via a lead, the high quality sound through the twin speakers and sub woofer is the thing.
Firstly the dimensions it is two items the first like a small French bread stick the second the sub woofer. The French stick has two sets of speakers at either end and is 40cm long a maximum of 8cm wide and 6cm tall without and iPod inserted. The sub woofer is more of less round at 19x19cm and around 25cm tall. The woofer is of course down facing a few centimetres above the base.
This is far more than an average web cam, to start with its 2mega pixel and it has a Carl Zeiss lens. It works well in poor light and it has a great auto focus capability.
The camera is quite small it can sit on top of a monitor, clip over a panel or even clip over a note. However they do an either smaller model (with the same 2MP resolution) especially for notebooks that I hope to tell you about later in the year. It is 10cm long between 3cm and 4cm (at the lens end) wide and around 3cm deep if you ignore the gripping arm that swivels to different combinations to suit monitors, panels or notebooks. There is a 1.
This is an updated version of the All Tests product I reviewed last year. The driving Theory test has recently been made harder and now you need to answer 50 rather than 35 questions.
Yes it is now harder to pass the theory test, the questions to answer have increased from 35 to 50 and the cost to take the test has risen from £21.50 to £28.50. All the changes including the new questions are contained in Driving Test - All Tests - 2007/2008 edition. You can now learn on the move as the theory test questions can be downloaded to your iPod or other portable media player.
Having recently looked at a DSLR from Olympus this is the other end of the scale however not only is it small and has a decent zoom but it is also close to waterproof.
The Olympus μ780 weights under a 150grams, will fit in the palm of an adults hand. It is 10x5.5x2.5cm and is made of aluminium. The right side has a dual slot for DC input and USB AV out. The left side is blank while the base has insertion point for the solid battery and the same cover covers for the optional XD card, the base also has screw fixing for a tripod.
This is a full featured PDA a phone and of course a GPS unit. However unlike some other PDAs with GPS abilities this is firstly a GPS unit and it has the ability to make phone calls and to be a PDA. Of course being a PDA you only have a soft keyboard.
It is 9.5x6x2cm and weights only less than 150grams. The viewable screen is 5.5x4cm. As a GPS unit it works exactly the same as other recent Mio units reviewed.
This is a DAB/FM stereo radio, an alarm clock and it also has a CD player. It has a creamy white rubberised material covering the front and top.
Certainly not a tiny unit and perhaps not the easiest to move around. It is mains operated and has a wire aerial that in some cases I found was not really that great. It is 19cm deep, 15.5cm wide and 15cm tall, while it is not that heavy there are no hand holds so you need to hold it in the palm of your hand, still it's not designed to be moved.
Heavy both in weight and content as the subject they both cover is one of the most full featured software products around Adobe Photoshop the latest CS3 version and the CS3 Design Premium.
Photoshop CS3 Bible Certainly not a light read in fact you may need to build some muscle to pick it up as it is 1200 pages. As regular readers will know I enjoy a good read in the 'smallest room' this I made an exception as it needs to be adsorbed near a PC as a lot of what it says needs to be tried before the thought process goes. It comes with a companion CD-ROM containing tutorials.
This annual event takes place at a very early hour, unlike the Toy Fair the items of show here are available now, and, there are items that are already getting hard to find.
Here I will tell you about just ten items that if promises are kept I should be able to give you a full review of them all before Christmas. Firstly the only producer that I have selected two items from Mattel (Fisher Price brand). First a puppy that over a period of four days grows into a dog. You have the option to return it to a puppy or keep it at any stage. A nice idea that I look forward to seeing how well it functions.
This is the ideal system for a childs first system, not too many features no great bells or whistles but a good solid offering at a not too large a price. Alternatively it could be a backup unit.
So what do you get in the 23x18x8cm unit. A CD Player, FM/AM radio, Clock with Alarms, external connections so an MP3 player can output through the external speakers and of course the all but obligatory remote control. The speakers are 24x8.5x2cm and can either be wall mounted or sit on a fold out stand (deck chair like). Each speaker has a 3.5mm jack plug on the end of a 60cm lead.
Silver and grey this is a multi function unit (it has fax) and it is described as an office product so unfortunately however nice it may be it will be expensive.
First the all important dimensions it is 44x34x18cm rather different than what is stated in the HP link, mine include the inserted power lead. All the controls are in a panel in the centre of the face with the exception of the on/off switch that for some reason is at the bottom left of the front.
Here I am looking at superior luggage for you and for your notebook (up to 17inches) nothing gaudy or flashy just quality luggage.
Laptop Attach This looks somewhat plain it is soft to the touch but everything is in the design. Take the shoulder strap it goes from a point 5cm from the edge of one side of the top zip to a similar point 5cm from the edge of the other side, so perfect balance even if the zip is not closed.
These days with phones being able to do almost everything it is nice to find a phone that is easy to use and setup it does also have extras like an FM radio but they do not intrude.
The Fly SL600 is a small lightweight slide phone, with camera, FM radio plus all the other normal abilities of a phone but most of all switch on dial the number and speak. To receive a call open the slide and listen. Nothing fancy and this 'Fly' phone is available from Woolworth's. It seems to be tied to Vodafone but like most mobile companies choose your tariff to suit the way you use your phone.
This unit is tiny, it will easily fit in the palm of your hand but that does not stop it having a decent display and lots of memory that can be further expanded by adding an SD card
This Alba 4Gbyte personal MP3 player is 5.5x4.5x1.5cm and the weight with it's single 'AAA' battery inserted is less than 50grams. The front has a 3x1cm LCD display that does not stop it having a very readable three line display that appears black on pale green (with backlight off) and black on pale blue (with backlight on). The unit is black with a sort of silver/grey border around the LCD display and joystick.
This is a dual tuner model, that means you can watch one Digital channel while watching another. Its size and shape make it something different from all other units I have seen, it only has LEDs on the face and is stated to use only 2.4watts in standby this is stated as much less than most other similar units.
It is a black box that works equally as well horizontally or vertically (cradle provided) The face is 18x6.5cm with around 23cm of depth required for cables etc to be plugged into the back. All the connections are on the back, there are two SCART connectors, the DC power input and an 'X' arrangement where top left is the aerial input, bottom right aerial outlet (if required) and the top right/bottom left being the externally connected pass through (RF-Loop).
This is quite a large parrot (larger than life size at 45cm) and it talks but in the time I have had him he has so far refuses to swear. It talks and moves but as yet he has not pooped, in fact all its habits are hygienic so a perfect pet.
This is a beautiful bird that loves being stroked it talks, sings and any child would love it. The one I was sent has blue wings, a yellow front, green top of it's head with a black and white face. The fur/feathers are really tactile and all in all this parrot is a 45cm joy. It comes with a perch but it can be easily removed to be held and it even has a biscuit to chew on.
A lot of people think of a surge strip as a gang socket and little more. There is a vast difference as anyone who has had an electrical surge will know to their cost.
However until now most surge strips looked like gang sockets even if they sometimes had extras like Ethernet and phone protection, I remember one where a couple of the sockets rotated to allow for power bricks that were above and below the actual plug.
Here however are two strips from Belkin that are a totally new design and format.
Belkin Compact 6 socket This unit is an upturned 'T' with three sockets either side of the base this could sit on the floor or a desk or other flat surface and the plugs allow for both above and below plug power bricks of a reasonable size as the actual plugs are mounted mid way. A cable management clip is supplied in the box allowing all the leads to be kept safely together.
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