Samsung F700

Horrified by the reports of iPhone reliability, I decided to opt for the nearest competitor Samsung F700.

The phone is basically great to use, fantastic keyboard and very simple in operation.  Finger sliding across the screen like the iPhone is how the phone is operated, but the dedicated qwerty keyboard is superb.

Package comes with 1Gig sim tied to the Vodaphone network.  I bought a Pay-As-You-Go model and found that after swopping SIMs a few times and rebooting, I got my Orange sim to work OK on it.  No internet settings though, so using Vodaphone guarantees internet functionality.

Should be noted the phone comes set as default to contract for Internet.  Going into the network settings and selecting PAYG as you operator enables internet and MMS.

MP3 player is great and the speaker on the phone decent.

Only drawback is battery life, it needs charged daily.  Price is also steep at £300.

7/10 - nothing bad apart from battery life and price, much better and reliable than iPhone.

Zen MP3 update

Well, now I’ve road tested this (literally) I’ve found I can start the MP3 player and playback once plugged into a USB car charger.

It has crashed and corrupted twice on me though.  Something to note.  All the audio becomes corrupted and inaudible.

But aside from the odd blip, it still rocks.

ZEN MP3 player

I just recently purchased a Zen MP3 player for use in the car with a tape adapter.

It’s actually very small, nice and robust. 

Sound quality is great and I’ve actually found it to be a loyal companion for me during my gym workouts.

The headphones that come with it are quite nice but I prefer external ear ones.

Additional options it has over other MP3 players is the FM radio which is very handy.

The price is very cheap, about £40 for the Zen Stone.  My only gripe is you can’t use it if it’s charging (via USB).  So if I am in the car, I need to let it charge via cigarette adapter before I can use it.  Playback time is about 6-7 hours.

The best thing about the Zen, is you just drag and drop files onto the unit, no crappy Itunes software or whatever.

I rate this product 8/10.  It loses some marks for the charging problem.

Fleshlight sex toy

 Does this count as technology?  I suppose any sex toy can count as new technology.  The Fleshlight sex toy is in fact a blow-job/vaginal/anal simulator….they come in different sizes/types and well, I have to say - the bloody work!

Not much fun when not lubricated but a good combo of Durex lub + a drop of water seems to do the trick grand.  People have suggested using a clamp to clamp the sex toy to a desk for ‘use’.

The Fleshlight sex toy uses a special material which makes it’s ‘technology’ fascinating.

I do give this device (once you get used to it) a bizarre thumbs up.  As sex toys go, this is pretty much the most amazing one out there. 

You can get the fleshlight sex toy from British Sex Toys online

Asus A6000 laptop

I really like my Asus A6000…..it comes with the usual 15″ screen (which is excellent), touchpad, USB ports, DVD Writer etc. but it has some advantages over other laptops such as 3D card and built in webcam which are excellent additions.

In fact I bought it based on the 3D card which runs games which are 3-4 years old seamlessy but won’t be enough for the latest games.  Still, Hitman 2 and suchlikes run beautifully.

The DVD writer is excellent and reads more discs than my Pioneer dvd writer….useful for backing up scratched discs.

Battery life scores big - supposedly 3 hours, but actually 2 hours.  Spare batteries are around £45 from China via ebay.

Small tip - just use the Asus wireless software to connect, NOT the windows software.  Windows doesn’t as good and the Asus s/ware gives a solid connection.

9/10 - just a great piece of kit.

Ipaw 6515 / 65-series mobile messengers

Ipaq 6515 was what I’ve been waiting for, for about 5-6 years.  A device that is a PDA, phone, GPS, camera, video, bluetooth and MP3 player.  If that wasn’t enough it also does infra-red so you can use it as a remote control. 

PDA functions - all the usual, Word, Excel, contacts etc.  Great diary with alarms that can be set years in the future.

GPS - works OK, you need to download the GPS file daily for accurate location of the sattelites - otherwise it can take 5-10 minutes to find the sats.  Tom Tom crashes here and there, but that is either windows software or TomTOm problem

Camera - rubbish 1.3Megapixel, but OK for an emergency.  Takes OK pics in daylight, useless in dark.  Video OKish but still very basic-mobile phone style.

MP3 - not great sound quality, but it’ll do.  Comes with headphones, which is just as well as it doesn’t take standard phones (you can get an adaptor from ebay for £5)

Video playback - great.  Works good with .avis made for Pocket PC (convert using windows movie maker)

Bluetooth - works great. 

Internet - works fine through mobile sim card.  No wireless but you can buy a small card that plugs in for £40.  The new 6915 has wireless built in.

Downsides - it switches itself invariably.  To fix, turn over the IPAQ onto it’s front and removing back plate.  Where the backing plate slots into it’s how (top right) that is the problem - it’s a crappy sensor…so push in some small pieces of paper into it to force the switch to be on permanently.  It will now not switch itself off (full article on how to do this shortly).

Otherwise, a great device.  The 6915 has a slightly faster processor, ability to hook up with 7 sats and built in wireless.  So only slight improvements.

Sony Ericsson HBH-608 Akono Headset is an excellent piece of kit.

I had to buy a bluetooth because of UK driving laws restricting moble phone use.  Useful to as I have a bulky Ipaq 6515 phone/pda so for a longer call Bluetooth would be just the answer.

The headset communicates easily with my Ipaq 6515, no problems setting it up, just switch on the headset (hold the on button for 5 secs) and it registers via the Ipaq during ‘bluetooth setup program’.

To answer a call, just press the button on the bluetooth once.  To reject a call hold for 2 seconds.

To end a call, press the bluetooth once.

Great - and it comes with a hand neck tie so you don’t have to have it in your ear at all times.

The first piece of technology that wasn’t a headache on install…

Compact travel fan from Marks and Spencer

 

Most pocket fans just suck.  But this one is incredibly powerful and has soft blades that cannot hurt you.

The M&S travel fan is only 3.50 also and has won a design award.  It stands up also for stationary use.

It should be noted it can switch itself on when in a pouch or pocket, so I tend to reverse 1 battery so it can’t start accidentally otherwise the blades won’t spin and the motor will burn out.

9/10 for sure for this product, just awesome.

Technology reviewed…my favourites

Definitely one of my favourite pieces of technology is Showcenter 200 from Pinnacle.

It runs on network, either wired or wireless. Essentially it streams video from your PC to TV, essential for downloads.

It plays back most file such as .wmv (not all types), DIVX, MPEG2, DVD and .avis. It will also stream HD encoded AVIs which is excellent.

I also love using it for MP3 playback - if I hook my PC directly to my amp it blows on PC shutdown with a ‘jolt’ it unless it’s a specific PC amplifier (which are crap).

The Showcenter is just one excellent piece of kit, it also does internet radio. It does have some downsides like it doesn’t play Quicktime files, not all .wmvs and occasionally some DIVX files. the ‘ctu’ encoded AC3 doesn’t play either, but this is rare on downloads.

Occasionally the unit crashes at the software end (PC) and at the Pinnacle end too. Rebooting the PC and/or pinnacle solves this. Otherwise, I love it and use it every day.

More indepth review : http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/article1430.html