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The PCTV T2 290e Nanostick supports both ordinary Freeview and Freeview HD. Connected via a USB2 port it is a convenient way of adding TV and PVR facilities to a PC. Being both small and light it is ideal for those with limited space who would like their PC to double up as a TV and as a PVR.
The kit, which is designed for light weight and portability, consists of the receiver, remote control, a simple telescopic rod antenna and the installation disc the total weight of which weigh less than 200g. The receiver itself is a somewhat bulky USB stick 6cm long. It is connected to a USB port on the computer using the provided special 34cm cable which has a metallic braid screening. At the opposite end to the USB connector there is the micro-coaxial antenna connector.
In the past the things I have looked at from Oregon have been medical and or Weather Stations. Here I suppose the first the Slimfit 3DPedometer is medicalish. The second is pure entertainment as it is a Wireless Speaker but you could exercise whilst listening to it.
Exercise and me are not the best of buddies, the nearest I get to a run is a trot the last 50metres to a bus stop or train station if it will avoid a long wait. I do walk a good bit but again not often at a pace that would be deemed 'rapid'. The unit is 5x3.5x1cm without the belt attachment fitted. Unlike a lot of other such units it can count your steps without it being fitted to you your bag or purse will work just as well as it tracks movement in three dimensions.
Adding wireless capability to your SD memory cards and USB flash sticks is just one feature found in a device from Kingston.
Like many others, I struggle to fit my favourite music, video clips and photos on the limited storage capacity offered by my smartphone and/or tablet. No matter how hard I try to squeeze this content into my mobile devices, I always end up with several items waiting in a queue for space that never appears. However I do have a number of flash sticks and memory cards that are generally underused, being tucked away in drawers or gathering dust on my work space.
It is only when I test a TV or PVR that I tend to see the various product advertising channels while I flick through to test reception, here I found a product that has been given regular use in my kitchen over the past weeks.
The recipe book and manual makes the bold claim of ‘10seconds’ quite often and indeed from preparation to finish for certain chopping jobs it is possible. However unlike most demonstrations people do not tend to have everything nicely prepared and within easy reach however this is certainly a good way to chop and prepare vegetables and fruit and indeed I have never made a smoothie or other types of iced desserts so quickly.
Every so often, and it does seem to roll around far too frequently for my liking, I have to venture into the cupboard under the stairs and remove the various house-keeping paraphernalia that can only mean one thing. It is time to face up to the pile of freshly laundered clothing and bedding by making use of the ironing board.
With its extensive range of white goods, it is not surprising that our friends at Bosch have a number of irons within their product catalogue. Included in this particular product range is the Bosch Sennixx’x DA50 EditionRosso model. My review sample of this steam iron is predominately black in colour with red highlights and flashes to embellish the product.
Over the years I have played, and enjoyed, a large number of games that belonged to the Match 3 genre. In the most part, these games took various approaches as they set out to make the playing experience as challenging and enjoyable as possible. Unfortunately sometimes there were exception and this next Match 3 title was one such offering as it failed to engender any semblance of enjoyment when I was checking out the product for this review.
Match 3 Mega Pack, as its titles indicates, brings together a collection of Match 3 titles. In fact there are eleven games in total. I almost wrote “eleven different games” but thought better of it. What the title of Match 3 Mega Pack does not make clear is that all the eleven titles making up this collection have all come from the same source. The development team at Anawili Condento Medino were responsible for all these games.
Kingston are a large supplier of memory, here I am looking at a large capacity micro SD card, but first a card reader for a range of cards. A lot of people do not know that certain versions of Windows will not read USB3 card devices.
In fact Windows XP will need a new driver to be able to read the larger capacity – over 8GB – devices. Today with huge file sizes 8GB is often too small, a word that was popular a few years ago when things fitted in less than 1GB was bloatware, now of course its large video files that are the main culprit. Externally this Kingston product looks like a lot of other multi card readers.
For those looking for a large widescreen television, but lack enough space to accommodate the 55-inch UE55F8000 model I reported on recently, the Samsung UE46UF7000 product may be a viable option.
As with its larger sibling, the 46-inch UE46UF7000 SmartTV is not the kind of device that you could hide away in a corner. It will tend to dominate any normal household room in which it is sited. Although it is possible, as I proved despite the protestations of my back, to unpack and set up this widescreen television on your own, the operation is recommended to be carried out by two people.
A small but powerful Digital Camera, ideal for a pocket or handbag for those who want more than that normally on offer from the camera in a phone or smartphone but without the size and weight associated with most DSLR units.
The Canon PowerShot S110 measures 9.5x6x2cm and weighs less than 200grams. It can take images up to 12MP and has an optical zoom of up to 5x. The face has only the 5.2-26mm lens, the right side has a rubberised bung over the A/V and HDMI out ports. The left side is clear, the base has a tripod screw and a door behind which the solid battery and any SD card you use goes. The top has the automatically raising flash module that is above and to the left of the lens and never closer than 4cm.
Having looked at several security/surveillance cameras this offering by D-Link seems to offer a lot more out of the box and not only can you view from any PC but also from iPad/iPhone and Android devices and data can be stored in the cloud.
The D-Link DCS-5020L web camera can be fitted on the supplied holder or used flat on a surface meaning it is a lot easier to move from place to place. Without the fitment it is 17cm tall, 12cm wide and 11.5cm deep with power lead inserted. Unlike most other fixed units that you adjust to view at a certain area this can pan and tilt, in fact it can also zoom in all from the ‘i’ device or Android controls on the viewing screen.
Taking advantage of the latest USB technology, Lexar has released a range of flash drive devices with the promise of speedy operations.
Lexar, a leading company in the development and manufacture of award-winning memory solutions, has recently added two new offerings to it JumpDrive range of flash drive products. Both of these products support the latest USB 3.0 technology. These recent additions are the S23, which is claimed to be one of the smallest USB 3.0 flash drives currently available, and the P10 which comes with the tag line of being one of the fastest USB 3.0 flash drives available for purchase.
These items seem to develop as the first one I saw was a very basic offering, then a rather nice solar one that even works through the winter with no external power, here an offering that gives barometric readings as well as a UV option.
As we finally seem to come to the end of the longest hot and dry spell for a very long time perhaps a weather station will start to give useful advise rather than hot and dry. It is 17.5x9.5x1.5cm the exception is that it sits on a circular base so for the first 1.5cm it is 9cm round. The base contains three ‘AAA’ batteries which are there to maintain readings when power is not on however the unit will not display anything when mains power is not available.
Well known for its audio products, Creative has developed a 2:1 speaker system with a difference.
While the Creative T3150 speaker system has the familiar look of your standard 2.1 speaker system, it does possess a feature that I had not normally associated with such a product. This combination of a subwoofer and two satellite speakers have gained an attribute that I have been advocating to be included for a number of years.
Real characters, ghostly apparitions and live jigsaw type videos all come together in a Mystery Case File title.
Shadow Lake, part of the Mystery Case Files series, is a Hidden Object Adventure game. Originally published by Big Fish Games, this title is now available from Focus Multimedia in Collector’s Edition format. Usually when a game is released in this type of format, most of the bonus items, apart from the immediately available Strategy Guide, are locked until the main game has been completed. Shadow Lake is, in some ways, an exception to this rule.
The first is a rather nice shower proof Bluetooth speaker set at a not outrageous price. The second is a method of saving your USB device be it phone or tablet from having a flat battery when you are away from power.
Any Bluetooth speaker unit that can play for 18hours and 11minutes between charges is certainly worth a second look. It is small and easy to walk around, it does have the ability to play via a 3.5mm lead, but the main focus of this unit is as a Bluetooth device. It is 17.5x6.5x5cm. My unit was black and as there are no open paws and everything being rubberised their claim of it being splash resistant or even showerproof should be true.
As one of the original market leaders in the mobile phone sector, Nokia is now facing a massive battle from the forces of iOS and Android. As part of the Nokia offensive is a new Lumia model.
Like other models in the Nokia Lumia series, the Lumia 620 smartphone offering is a Windows Phone 8 device. This latest model is being targeted at the more youthful, fun-loving market sector. To this end, the Lumia 620 will be available in a range of colours that could include, depending upon your location, lime green, orange, magenta, yellow, cyan, white and black. My review unit was the white model.
Step by Step and Plain & Simple are two Word 2013 books from the Microsoft Press. As well as teaching the new user how to use the program, they each also cover new features which increase Words versatility especially in the areas of cooperation. They each adopt a different approach and so one can choose the one that best suits ones needs.
As one would expect from its title, the former adopts a structured tutorial approach with the first part covering creating, printing and distributing standard documents. While this part includes columns, tables and simple graphics, one needs to go to the second part for enhancing the document with diagrams, charts and other visual elements as well as well as saving documents in various formats. Part 3 deals with the aspects that will be more important in a business context.
The first is a device that other halfs will love as the cables are kept out of sight. The second is something most people need a device to keep those cords untwisted. The link they both work in the home or office environment.
This is described as a ‘Docking station displays and charges your gadgets’. Rather than having items such as phones and other devices lying around and chargers hanging out of power outlets now you can keep everything in one place. It is cream 30cm long up to 13cm deep at the base and a maximum of 10cm tall this is 10cm from the front. It has a 24cm long rubberised slit 4.5cm from the front, in the centre of this is also rises by 4.
The first item will charge devices that are gasping for power it will also via a Free app allow you to transfer and play items via Wi-Fi. The second item the PocketCell Duo does exactly what it says but will allow simultaneous charging of two devices.
Around a year ago I told you about the Kingston tiny Wi-Drive. This is about the same size but does a range of other things including being a mobile charging point for anything that takes charge by USB however it is far more than that. First job is to charge it up via the supplied micro USB to USB lead, while this is happening go to the Android or iDevice store and select Kingston and then Mobilite and download the App which is free.
Not only does this next product add speaker capability to your smartphone but it can also act as a backup battery.
Before moving on from the summer aspect of this product I have to state that the appearance of my review sample could hardly be considered summery, and I hope it is not an indication of what might be in store for us in the coming season, with its totally black and splash resistant casing.
The number 13 and some peoples idea that it is unlucky means they go from 12 to 14 or as more than one company has done go from 12 to XIII. Whatever you feel a software package that has had that number of incarnations must be mature.
Looking at past notes I see its 13 months since I saw a version of Power DVD from Cyberlink it is far more than just another device to play and convert video. The installation took five minutes after which you have to enter a 30 character serial number before you can run it. Perhaps now is the time to drop ‘DVD’ as most will download it and while I still managed to get a unit on physical media it is becoming more difficult.
Continuing my look at various Canon printers, it is the turn of a model more suited to an office environment.
The PIXMA MX925 product is another model in Canon’s family of All-in-One devices. One look at the overall size of the product should be enough to convince the casual observer that this model is more suited to an office environment rather than for use in the home. It is not that this unit is particular large but it does have a substantial and impressive presence.
When the words Happy and Nightmare occur in the same title, you could be forgiven for wondering just what you were letting yourself in for.
Farm Mystery The Happy Orchard Nightmare is a Hidden Object Adventure game that is available from Avanquest’s GSP catalogue of titles. Firing up this game gives you the opportunity to create your game profile. You can adjust the volume level of the background music and sound effects plus select whether to use a custom cursor (its green in colour), play in full screen mode or not and make use of a tutorial.
The Pentax Q10 is probably the smallest removable lens camera I have ever reviewed. It is smaller than most digital cameras but is still a very powerful unit that gives rather good JPG or an option to save your images in RAW format.
The Q10 measures 10x5.5x8.5cm the latter with the lens fully in, fully extended add another 2cm. It weights only 300 grams without attaching the near superfluous neck strap. It is capable of capturing a 12MP image. The lens supplied is a 5-15mm offering and while this may sound ‘tame’ compared to the more standard 18-55mm offerings it takes rather good images.
Now part of the MAGIX family, Xaras flagship graphics photo and designer product has reached version 9.
I first came across Xara when the company so impressed Corel, with the rate at which its software handled tasks that tended to be time consuming when run on CorelDRAW, that the Canadian Graphics company licensed the UK software to release under its own banner. Ever since this event, which took place at an early Windows show, Xara has continued to emphasise the speed aspect of its graphics software over numerous releases.
The most recent notebook I reviewed had Windows 8 sadly without touch it also had a Gigabyte motherboard. This is an All in One PC from HP with Windows 8, touch and it has a Gigabyte motherboard and even a TV tuner.
Windows 8 no longer contains Media Centre, so here the card required for TV is provided by Aver Media and of course the remote control to make channel changing easier. Here ‘All In One’ means that the screen contains the PC as well as being a touch flat panel. The external parts are only the Wireless Keyboard, Mouse and Remote Control. The screen is 57x40cm and the stand is attached to raise this by 7cm above your desk.
A rather large remote controlled car that some children may find difficult to stop their parents using, it is stated at 8+. The Second a reaction testing device designed for children or almost any age and even those of pre-school seem to love trying it.
This is a 1:18 scale car that works by remote control on the 2.4GHz band. It is 29cm from back to front and 14cm wide at the rear wheels, the maximum height is 9cm. It weights 550 grams. Apart from the car you also get a rather large remote, a charger unit for the cars battery and a plastic coin that allows you to turn the screw on the battery bay to remove it for charging.
One-eyed stone heads, a town that is only visible for a short period every 300 years and a missing boyfriend are all present in this next game.
The Cyclops was not, as we have been led to believe, a one-off monstrosity found in Greek mythology. The Cyclops was, in fact, a race of visually restricted beings that were based in a town located not too far from Skye. In case you are wondering why this fact is not common knowledge then I should explain that this Cyclopean town was, and is, in the grip of a magical force which caused the town to be visible only for a short period every 300 years.
First a handheld vacuum to get where the normal cleaner cannot like behind central heating pipes and into those congested corners. Second a very bright LED torch to see into those corners that always manage to hide the dirt from sight.
This is a handheld cordless vacuum, unlike a lot of other units that often get consigned to cleaning out the car this has a place in any home or office. It is 42cm long, at either end it is less than 2cm thick this increases to around 10cm for the central 20cm of the unit and it is 7.5cm in the same central area. The weight is 612grams. It is equally useable by those like me who are left handed as the on/off button is on the top and can be controlled by either thumb.
Monitors are increasingly becoming multifunction devices as can be seen with a Philips model with a built-in USB 3.0 Hub.
If memory serves me correct, which does happen occasionally, my first dedicated monitor had a single connection on the rear. Not only did this single input provide the conduit between the display and computer for the video signal but also the power needed to drive the monitor. Now computer displays have started to spout various physical connections to offer users a choice of facilities.
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