GadgetSpeak Articles
GadgetSpeak has close to 5,000 product reviews and other articles. You can use this page to find others opinions on anything from mobile phones to computers to the latest kitchen appliance
Often a tune is inexorably linked to one musician (even if they have not composed it) their style is also unique, so when one pianist can play several styles this is special. Also here the latest offering from a UK musician who annunciates every word, great.
Geoff Eales Jazz Piano Legends Sixteen tracks each well known by different master pianists all played by one man. On at least half of these you would certainly think it is the original master playing them. However this is not an exercise to simply mimic the original.
When looking for a device that is both different and ecological aware you might like to consider Oscar.
USB 2.0 hubs tend to differentiate themselves from the competition by a combination of three main features. There are hubs with different numbers of ports (4 and 7 being the favoured choices); a range of shapes such as rectangular or domed varieties; and colours of varying hues. This divergence has resulted in numerous hubs being available from which users can make a choice to suit their own preferences.
This is far more than just a digital TV as it has a range of connectors enabling HD and perhaps at the size is ideal for connecting via VGA to a PC or notebook, I certainly tried them all.
I find it strange when a 32inch or greater TV has VGA connection as I doubt many would use it as a monitor apart from an emergency. But a 20inch I think is more than likely to be the reverse unless it is utilized in the bedroom. It is 49x38x6.5cm with a stand of 28x15cm that raises it 4cm above the desk or stand.
When walkies are out of the question but a puppy is top of your wish list then maybe a computer can come to your rescue.
While we may be regarded as a nation of pet lovers, not everybody's circumstances allow them to include one of the numerous household pets, especially the ever-popular dog, into their current lifestyle. One possible solution to this "lack of a pet" dilemma could be to take advantage of a virtual pet such as provided by Puppy Luv. This puppy on a PC offering is the number one selling virtual pet range for computer users.
Have you noticed how dust and dirt tends to congregate at the most inconvenient times and places? Perhaps a handheld cleaner is the answer.
One of the more successful examples of recent British ingenuity is that demonstrated by James Dyson and his desire to make things work better. Following his successful development of an industrial cyclone tower cleaner, which removed powder particles through the use of centrifugal forces that were 100,000 times greater than gravity, Dyson put to mind to producing a domestic appliance that used the same principle.
Mio do several units suitable for pedestrians with an average battery life between charges of four to five hours. This could be used handheld but only for occasional use as the battery life is less than two hours, this is certainly an in car unit.
My first question then is why is it called a DigiWalker? However lets assume there is a reason this seems to me to be a rather good unit. Trying to assume the role of someone who has never had a similar unit could I insert it in my car by using the 13 pages in the getting started guide that are in English, answer yes. Could I plan a simple route answer yes.
Yet another digital photo frame joins this increasingly popular category of adding an IT-based decorative addition to your home furniture.
Up until very recently, at the mention of Lite-On my thoughts would immediately focus on the company's optical disk technology. After all I have reviewed a number of the company's optical drives in the past and my own PVR unit is a Lite-On HDD/DVD Recorder that I purchased when my VCR decided it preferred eating tapes rather than playing them.
This is a single unit with a speaker in each end, it can be run from the mains or from an internal rechargeable battery. Connection is by 3.5mm lead or by Bluetooth.
It is 23cm long 8cm tall and a maximum of 8cm deep. Each of the speakers are 5cm round and give a reasonable sound level although the description on the box of 'Portable Wireless Stereo Soundbox' gives the impression that the volume might be louder than it is. Fine when you are within a couple of metres in a quite room but the name of 'Parrot Party' gives the impression of more muscle.
If like me you thought Haynes only did manuals for people wanting to work on their cars, think again as here I am looking at two manuals for those wanting to work on PCs and notebooks.
Build Your Own Computer ISBN 978 1 84425 457 6 The authors of this 168 offering are Kyle MacRae and Gary Marshall. I see this is the third edition. The whole book/manual is interspaced with numerous illustrations and relevant tables. You immediately feel that the authors know their subject. After the introduction you go straight into Section 1 Planning the Perfect PC.
Oral hygiene is often a neglected task so maybe technology can help improve the situation.
Judging by various reports in the popular press, and backed up by the experiences of a couple of my relatives, access to a dentist as a National Health Service (NHS) patient has become increasingly difficult of late. More and more dentists seem to be closing their doors to new NHS patients or even going completely over to the private sector.
Having recently reviewed the i70 that had a superb User Guide this came as a huge shock to have one of the worst printed user manuals I have seen. Shame really as the camera and its abilities are superb should you ever get to know the NV11.
For those who say all small digital cameras are the same I can say they are certainly not. Touchscreen is just coming in to the range, this is not one of those, the mavority of others use a menuing system operated by a five position wheel not this camera. First the dimensions it is 10.5x6.5x4cm the last dimension the width is to the front of the lens this can increase by 3.5 when fully zoomed and the unit weights around 220grams. It is a black beauty.
Streaming your music collection to different rooms in your home is the task undertaken by a Logitech product.
Like many others, over time I have built up a large collection of MP3 song titles stored on my computer. I hasten to add that all the various tracks have been legally purchased. While this is a convenient method of storing a music collection, it does place certain restrictions on the ability to listen to the music.
Not noted for his love of speed, Michael Fereday checks out a street racing game.
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ESR, or if you prefer the full title of European Str
Yesterday in London GE launched a range of Digital Cameras. Here I will tell you about what this new entry into an already crowded market has to offer in the weeks and months to come.
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There are three distinct camera ranges I can surmise where the 'G' and 'E' got there names but am not sure about the 'A' but it is their entry level offerings that are powered by a couple of 'AA' batteries. The other two ranges have lithium batteries.
With several excellent web cam products available, United Pepper has taken a brave decision to release their Fairtrade version of this type of device.
Having recently introduced you to Oscar with its USB 2.0 facilities, it is now the turn of United Pepper's Lili webcam to take centre stage. Like Oscar, Lili forms part of United Pepper's initial launch of Fairtrade and ecological friendly products as the company adds its own slant of normal design concepts for computer peripherals.
You still see a lot of people making calls from their mobile while steering with their other
hand. This is now of course an offence in the UK. The answer is a hands free kit. Until recently these
have involved installation of a wired device and was not cheap.
Recently though BlueTooth - the short range wireless standard - has come to the rescue with a number of solutions. The simplest of course is to use a . These often not geared to car use - and of course you have the problem of looking like a berk. BlueTooth headset The alternative is a BlueTooth speaker phone. There are a few on the market and here I'm reviewing the 'SuperTooth Voice' product.
I first used a much earlier version of this software (that was a shareware product) umty uhmm years ago. Now it bears little resemblance to that early challenger in the photo manipulation field, in fact the interface initially looks very different to Paint Shop Pro Photo XI the previous offering.
It was a long time ago that I learned roman numerals but I'm fairly certain that XI should be followed by XII and not X2, do I assume that next year will be X3 as they did with Corel Graphics just to avoid the number that goes between 12 and 14. First the all important amount of space on your hard disc. I found 940MB taken by the 13 minute install on a reasonably fast PC. This needs to be XP or Vista.
It's that time when I get to tell you about my passion - don't get excited it's not 'X' certificate - it's Jazz mainly that produced from around 1950 onwards. Naim are a company best known for their excellent audio equipment (its expensive though) but they also have both a classical and jazz label.
A superb bass player from the USA is Charlie Haden and he is just 70 years young. This is a two CD offering the first was recorded on his 50th birthday 20 years ago. It was one of the first entries in the Naim catalogue and has been unavailable for many years as it was originally only released as a limited edition that soon sold out. Now as 2008 comes in it is re-released along with another he recorded the following year at a university.
Colour laser printers are now appearing with more economic price tags. However, while lighter on the pocket, they are still heavy to move around.
The Lexmark X502n All-In-One is certainly a substantial piece of kit. Measuring 534 x 482 x 437mm (H x W x D) and weighing 35kg, it is the type of unit that is unlikely to be moved around too much as it provides print, copy, scan, fax and ADF (Automatic Document Feed) capabilities whether connected to a network or local computer using either Fast Ethernet or USB 2.0 connectivity.
Just how good are your observation and puzzle solving skills? An amazing adventure sets out to test these attributes.
New from PopCap Games is Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb. In this game you have been placed in charge of an expedition to search for the Lost Tomb of Egypt. This task will involve solving many puzzles as you undertake 20 missions and visit 22 unique Egyptian locations. The game has two game modes although only the first "Find the Lost Tomb" will initially be accessible.
This is far more than just a Microwave as it also has a grill and a convection oven. If like me you have had a microwave for 30 plus years what is on offer today bears no comparison.
Initially it was hard to think of the LG unit as more than a microwave. I have friends who say they only have/use a microwave, I thought it was impossible but now I begin to see what they mean. It is 52x40x32cm and much to my surprise a large casserole dish I have at 33cm long works inside on the turntable, it does need to be precisely positioned but that would not even begin to fit inside my own unit.
Storing your data and applications in the same location could be a recipe for disaster when trouble strikes. One possible solution could be implemented by this next product.
Partition Manager 8.5 Personal Edition Storing your data and applications in the same location could be a recipe for disaster when trouble strikes. One possible solution could be implemented by this next product.
This is not just another DAB radio. It is small and neat and for good measure it can record onto SD card, not just at the time of playing but up to around 30 minutes after playing.
It is 16.5cm tall and 10cm wide and deep. Mine was black but I know they also do white should that be more suitable for your colour scheme. It has a seven piece (55cm) rod aerial. On first switch on you need to make sure that the aerial is extended and then press the scan button, mine found 51 DAB stations in around a minute. The controls are six push buttons and a large wheel whose job changes dependant on which button you press.
Despite its strong UK presence, some Logitech products are only available overseas.
The Logitech Cordless Desktop LX310 Laser product consists of a keyboard, mouse, USB RF receiver, software CD and the various batteries required to power the mouse and keyboard. As I had been sent the product direct from , I was not too surprised to find that the keyboard layout followed the standard pattern of positioning some of the keys in locations that might cause confusion some users.
This is quite a beefy All In One unit, so it scans, copies and prints via the PC. It can also copy when not connected to the PC and it also prints directly from a range of card media.
The is 46x40x22cm when closed. The output shelf opens automatically at print time and initially this adds 13cm to the depth. Having paper in the rear mounted tray adds 18cm to the 22cm height. Canon Pixma MP970 All the controls surround the screen that flips up in the central part of the top at the front and as this goes to just beyond 90 degrees you can choose the display angle. The screen is 7.5x5.
Some peripherals that connect via USB are pure gadgets and others such as my first offering here have a real use, a USB microscope complete with stand and the ability to magnify between 10 and 200 times.
G Tech Microscope It is 11cm long and around 3cm round, white in colour apart from the bottom 2.5cm that is clear Perspex. It comes with an 8cm chromed stand enabling you to get really steady images of whatever you are studying, of course the main difference between this and a conventional microscope is that the image is shown on your monitor/panel and not to an eye bent to the microscope.
Not everybody can afford the premium price levels of the market leading vector drawing packages. Fortunately there is a more economic offering.
Where "X" use to mark the spot on treasure maps and the like, it is now taking on the role of favoured numeral used by the marketing fraternity to add a touch of style to the version number of certain products. Serif is following this trend with its latest batch of upgraded titles including DrawPlus X2.
This is a true two in one product, a full featured notebook including all you might require in the way of external connections, flip the screen and it becomes a tablet PC.
It comes in a black case with a rather nice discrete pattern on the lid. It is 30x24.5x4cm with the larger battery attached. The biggest drawback for anyone wanting a tablet PC is the weight it's 2.25kilos and as far as I'm concerned that's quite a lot to carry around all day. The front has the on/off slider, twin ear bud sockets (so you can watch DVD's as you travel with a companion) and a microphone socket. Also on the front is a wireless network slider.
Satellite navigation is become more popular with big price reductions and many
competing designs. The basic price though can still be fairly expensive. Here we
look at an alternative that uses the processing power and display capabilities of
your mobile phone to offer an alternative pricing plan.
When you buy ActiveNavigation 6 from Falk what you get is a small 4.5 x 9 x 1cm (WxHxD) unit with curved edges and soft rubberised finished that contains a GPS receiver and a bluetooth transceiver. The unit itself is very compact, looks good and will slip into trouser pocket or hand bag easily enough. There at three lights on the device.
Named after an animal, Dymos latest handheld labeller may not be a beast but it is ready for some heavy duty work.
In the past I have looked at a number of dedicated label printers whether of the handheld or desk-mounted variety. Every one of these models, the Brother QL-650TD apart, have been aimed at the home user or office worker who has a need for labelling facilities for envelopes, folders and general household usage. There is, however, another category of user and that is the industrial user.
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