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The first is something that will probably be appreciated by others and the second is something to possibly save you money or maybe an accident.
Wireless Audio If you want to listen to music in another room to your stereo you could turn up the volume and perhaps annoy the family - or the neighbours - or don a wireless headset such as this one supplied by Gizoo. The whole thing is amazingly simple to use. Basically turn on the Bluetooth headset and it flashes - would you believe it - blue, then turn on the sender unit initially it flashes green but when it links with the headset it flashes blue.
Winter finally arrived to coincide with the press day for 2007 Toy Fair. Unlike Dream Toys the Toy Fair is a trade and press event to display items available for the sale period up to next Christmas.
The headlines will be made by a £250 Dinosaur called Pleo that devolves over a three hour period it can tell when it reaches a table edge - built in camera - and according to how it's treated it can be nice or nasty. I looked at a number of items in a more affordable price range and hope to bring you individual reviews of them in the coming months. First something certainly not for the kids, a drinking game, based on a round of golf.
I must admit that my mouse and hand/eye coordination has been put under considerable pressure recently. The cause of all this activity is a new game.
Following on from its Jewel of Atlantis title, Enkord has now turned its attention to a period of history even further back in the mists of time. Instead of ancient artefacts, it is prehistoric animals that form the centre of attention of the company's latest puzzle game. Entitled Jurassic Realms, this game is built around tiles embellished with distinctive icons.
Probably something to appeal to ladies as it is pink. This unit looks like a portable radio of a generation ago with the exception of the LCD display on the top.
It is 29x15x8cm it is pink and silver so as stated probably suitable for only 50% of the population. It can be run from 6x 'C' cell batteries but this would substantially add to the weight and of course the cost. Unlike some other DAB offerings it cannot be run from a battery pack that can be charged in situ. So mains use will be the main use. It can be used as an Alarm Clock (when run from mains) and there are a number of other useful features.
Now I must admit that exercise is not one of my favourite subjects but Im not averse to taking my mobile phone for a walk.
Mobile phones come in a variety of styles with collections of specific features that are designed to appeal to a particular market sector. For example the Nokia 5500 model, also known as Sport, is aimed at the more energetic and health conscious members of society by the addition of some exercise based features. That is not to say that the other types of features associated with mobile phones have been neglected.
I would call it a personal navigation unit as not only can it be fitted in a car but it has a pedestrian mode that lasts a reasonable time between charges.
The unit is small at 10x6x2cm and weights only around 120grams, it easily fits in the palm on my hand. Doing basic things is easy, however making changes to the defaults is not, the PDF manual may be helpful for those wanting to use it as an MP3 player, Photo viewer or even viewing your Contacts. However for changing settings when in Navigation mode it is not good.
One reason for an underperforming system could be the result of file fragmentation. The solution is to defrag.
In the normal course of events, Windows writes data to the first available space it finds. As a result files will be broken up into parts that will fit into whatever spaces there are. This fragmentation of files can, over time, seriously affect the performance of your system as it will need to access the fragmented files from different locations before loading them into memory for your use.
For a colour laser and a AIO (All In One) this is small in fact it fits under my desk in the same place that inkjets get reviewed. Often lasers even mono cannot fit in.
So size first, it is 47x39x32cm - remember this is an All In One - and is easy enough for an adult to move at around 22kilos. The top has a landscape lid that you place items to be scanned under and to the right of this 15 buttons and the five position joystick as well as a 4x3cm TFT display that can either sit flat or lift up to any position to around 85 degrees meaning that the viewing angle can suit either desk or floor use.
Apple Airport Express...wireless music client. Be patient, very patient. Worth the effort though.
Image courtesy of Apple I was recently planning a 50th birthday party do for my wife, and part of the evening was a disco. I had put together a playlist of dance tracks on my Windows powered PC using iTunes 7, the music management software that comes with the iPod (itunes review published 7/1/07), but wanted to stream the playlist to my 5.1 set up in the disco room without having my laptop on display and wired into the stereo.
I doubt whether they will feature as a buy one, get one free offer but software titles are being stocked by Tesco and include a personal finance manager.
Tesco Personal Finance, as distinct from the numerous financial services currently on offer from the UK's leading supermarket conglomerate, is a software product. Licensed from Reilly Technologies (a new name to me), this title is one of the six products that make up the initial release offerings from Tesco.
Really small in size, it will easily fit in a shirt pocket without appearing in the slightest bulky. Is it however reasonable in zoom and good in mega pixel, could this be another Canon winner?
First the size it is 10x4.5x2cm and weights less than 150grams. Silver in colour part shiny and part matt. The unit is supplied with a dock that can be used to transfer images to the PC and must be used to charge the solid battery. There is a 4x3cm TFT display on the rear that is easy to read in all but the strongest sunlight, there is - not surprisingly - no viewfinder and I can see that taking images in strong sunlight could be a problem.
When road-testing a product, it helps if you can take it out on the road as with a SatNav device.
Adding to its family of SatNav devices, ViaMichelin (a wholly owned subsidiary of the restaurant and hotel guide producing Michelin) has released its top -of-the-range (Global Positioning System) model. This product takes in Europe as it covers 20 countries down to street number level and has full UKK postcode search capability.
I first saw a prototype of one of these over three years ago at an annual Innovation event held at Cambridge. Now a year after the first model was launched I can review one.
This is a mass market offering from Bush but it uses the technology and chipset I first saw three years ago. It is 25x7.5x15cm it runs on mains only, however it requires a wireless connection to the Internet. This means you need a broadband connection but no PC need be turned on or even connected only the router.
When using your computer to watch DVD movies, the experience can benefit from specialised software.
While Windows has its own media player, this particular feature is not everybody's favourite nor is it as feature-rich as some of the competition from third-parties. One alternative, with a long pedigree, is WinDVD. The latest version of this InterVideo product is WinDVD 8 with both Platinum and Gold versions being available. This review is based on the Gold edition.
As yet I do not think Tesco do funerals except perhaps for their competitors this is an Office suite of software that originally appeared on the Ability label.
The stated price of Tesco Complete Office is £19.97 and it should be available in most larger Tesco stores or online at There are four full applications and three applets within the package and all in all while there may be some things it cannot do most people only use 20% of the features of a package like Microsoft Office and unless you need something special this could fulfil your needs at a tiny percentage of the cost of Microsoft Office.
Don't stick with supplied cables, get the most from your audio source and upgrade.
Like anybody who knows anything about getting the best from their equipment I learn't a long time ago that cost cutting in the cable and wiring dept will cost you in terms of sound reproduction. The long held mantra is to spend at least 10% of your kits value on cables, I would go even further and say 15%; even the most modest of systems will benefit from speaker wire and interconnect cable upgrades.
Always keen to remain on the right side of the law, we can now bring you a review of the latest Maxfield product.
Up until recently you could have walked into your friendly computer retail store and purchased a device that allowed you to wirelessly connect your iPod or MP3 player to a radio, HiFi or in-car entertainment system. While the manufacturing and selling of such a product was entirely legal, you would have broken the law if you had used this product.
This is a six ink printer, it is by no means small in fact many All In Ones are smaller but despite the width and depth the lack of height can make it suitable for a strong shelf.
The above may sound confusing so it may become clearer when I say it's 46x40x16cm and as this includes the plugs into the back and the paper tray in the base to extra height is ever required. Many multi function unit are smaller as far as width and depth are concerned. This is a six ink unit with two shades of red and blue, a yellow and a larger black.
Some problems are not immediately obvious as happened with this particular device.
In my house there is a constant fight ensuing between various items of computer equipment and living space. I hate to admit it but it is often the former that wins the day in these battles. Sometimes, though, a compromise can be reached as in the case of a KVM (Keyboard, Video and Mouse) solution.
This is a Satellite Navigation unit that specifically mentions a pedestrian mode so a lot of my tests were conducted while walking to various places.
It is 11x8x2cm and weights only around 150grams. If you are going to use it outside a vehicle size and weight are both important. One of my first walks was perhaps my most eventful. It was raining so I of course had the unit well protected in a plastic bag and this meant that I could not use an umbrella. I ended up very wet and due to a glitch rather lost.
Sometimes software code gets a packaging make-over and reappears under a different branding as has happened with burning software available from Tesco.
As part of its branded range of software titles, Tesco has released Easy Record which is a product that was originally developed by Sonic Solutions who are also responsible for Roxio Easy Creator software. Easy Record, as you might suppose from its title, is software designed to create and copy various forms of optical media.
Its a long time since I last reviewed a mono laser printer and for anyone who prints textual pages and does not need colour then this is a quick and efficient way of printing.
The main difference between a laser and an inkjet is that almost all the time the claimed print speed is met. This unit claims 22PPM and while this is for letter mode I got very close to 20PPM for A4. It matters not if you have a couple of sentences on the page or 50 plus lines of small text. I can assure you that any inkjet would produce vastly different speeds if given those two pages.
Apples much maligned music management system...worth a look?
Over the last few years I have owned a few different digital audio players (DAP) , ranging from Rio, Sony and most recently Apples iPod. Manufacturers usually supply music management software (MMS) with their players, or the player acts as a mass storage device and works with Windows Media; so whatever player you choose it is a given that you must become fully conversant with the software supplied.
Like print speeds, data transfer rates sometimes promise more than they deliver as I discovered when testing some Netgear kit.
While wireless is generally accepted as the preferred option for home networking, it is not always the most suitable method for some users. A wireless network may remove the need for unsightly wires between devices and be relatively easy to set up in the ideal environment but complications can get in the way. Often thick walls and metal mesh encased in structures will interfere with wireless signals and cause communication problems.
This looks and feels like a very substantial camera, the zoom is good at 12x optical and the image size is 7.1 mega pixel, This is one of two cameras in the Kodak Performance range
It is 10x12x8cm and weights around 450grams, there is a 5x3.8cm TFT display that dominates the rear of it. When the lens is fully out it increases the width of the unit by 3cm to 15cm. For those who prefer to take images using the viewfinder this protrudes from the rear by a centimetre meaning your nose is not jammed on the TFT.
It is a sad tale that caused several problems and had me crawling about on the floor.
As prices of computer systems continue to fall while specifications increase, the temptation grows for users to upgrade their computing capability with a new purchase. The problem can then arise as to what to do with the old system. If you do not wish to get rid of an old friend and space considerations are an issue, then you might like to consider a KVM (Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) solution.
Dell All In Ones tend to look amazingly bland a cream box, but then this could well get access to the lounge that grey units may be banned from.
Image courtesy Dell Inc.
Unlike most modern units the connection of the USB cable is almost at the beginning of the installation process. Ten minutes later it is completed and I am 606MB of hard disc space down. As soon as it prints the on screen indication reminds me of the software used by Lexmark - this is not derogatory - as their indicators are one of the best around.
As a Nokia virgin, I put aside my regular mobile and made a date with a member of the Nokia family.
When the conversation turns to mobile phones then it isn't long before the name of "Nokia" pops up. After all the company does have every type of phone you could imagine with regards to style and functionality (and maybe some that are so advanced and futuristic in concept that they have yet to see the light of day). A quick check of the company's UK website revealed that there are 79 current models available from all good stockists.
Not really toys but they both came from Dream Toys. I can see these being useful for anyone who tends to find their mind cant function as quickly as it used to. Of course it can help children as well but how will you bribe them to use it? Still what better products to cure those New Year hangovers.
Brain Trainer The box is emblazoned with 'Winner Gift of the year 2006' Inside the box is what is designed to look like a small book. It is 11.5x9x2.5cm. Open the front cover to reveal what looks like a calculator with 14 keys under a 6.5x3.5 LCD screen. The keys and screen surround are a bright orange as is the background of the covers interior with the basic instructions standing out in black type on it.
The advantage of Skype communication can be enhanced with the use of an appropriate product such as a cordless handset.
VoIP (Voice over IP) technology has been around for a good few years now but it has taken initiatives such as Skype to really kick-start its popular acceptance. Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrm and Janus Friis in 2003. Distributed as free software, this product provided users with the ability to make superior-quality calls using a computer connected to the Internet.
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