Archive for 2007

Asus P526 (Pegasus) review

INTRODUCTION

Moving onto our second device from Asus, I’m looking at the P526.

Asus P526

Again, this is, as far as we are aware, a full retail unit, boxed, and with a final ROM.

The Asus P526 was kindly supplied for review by our friends Devicewire.

What’s in the Box?

I’ll not go into too much detail, since Matt’s unboxing video is available for you to look at.

Inside you’ll find:

Asus P526 Specification:

GENERAL

This phone certainly looks the part, and I was very impressed when I first opened the box.

Although this candybar runs Windows Mobile Professional (touchscreen/pocket pc), it looks very much like an average smartphone. The usual phone keypad is present, and there’s nothing to suggest the screen is touch sensitive. It just looks like a normal candybar smartphone.

The screen is of decent, if not outstanding quality, and although the screen isn’t as sensitive as I’d have hoped – it is very accurate, at least in the short time I’ve used it.

Although on the small sizd, the keypad is very nice to type on. It’s very tactile, and it is possible to write a text by feel alone. No wobbly keys, it feels well made and expensive.

Asus P526 Keypad

We also have the regular call keys, a C (or back) button, and the ASUS Launcher button (more later). We can also see a thin row of 4 other buttons. The outer of these are the softkeys, and to the left is the windows key. Finally on the inner right hand side, we have a direct button to the voice control software.

At the bottom of the device, we have a standard mini-USB plug just like the other ASUS device and also exactly the same, a 2.5 earphone jack plug. I’m really happy that ASUS have gone with such common connections. Weirdly I couldn’t get my HTC charger to work with the P526 though, which is even more odd when you consider that the M530w worked fine with it. USB charging worked fine though.

Asus P526 bottom

On the right hand side, towards the bottom is an easy access microsd card slot. Phone shaped/sized devices commonly have these hidden away under the battery – so ASUS get another star from me for sticking it on the side! Above the card slot, we rather strangley have the device reset button, recessed behind the outer cover. You’ll need the stylus to press the button, but its still an unusual place to put it!

Asus P526 right side

Moving up we have the standard camera button, and then – “the switch”. Once the phones in use it’s fairly obvious that this mysterious little switch is a keylock. Not seen one like this before, but I like it. Unfortunely the keylock is a little bit buggy – again more on that in the review.

The left side is fairly barren – just an OK button and the same up/down/click rocker switch as found on the M530w

Asus P526 left side

On the reverse we have the 2mp camera – but no flash, the speaker grille (ASUS must like these!), and a cover. Under that cover? The GPS external aerial connector. Yup, it’s a very small phone, but they’ve managed to get GPS to fit somehow.

Asus P526 camera

Finally moving to the top of the device, as you might expect – nothing but a power button.

Asus P526 top

SOFTWARE

Theres not a lot to be said really. All the regular additions are there – the voice commander software and a JAVA system are both preinstalled. A wireless manager is there too – looking suspiciously like that found on Ubiquio devices. There’s not a lot in there anyway though – just phone and Bluetooth. Remember theres no wifi to be found – or any form of 3G 🙁 .

Highlights:
Looks/Size: This phone looks great. I’ve got an ASUS laptop, with exactly the same colour scheme, and together they look really smart. It’s a good size, it looks like a phone, and a nice one at that.

Lowlights:
Awkward daily usage: No direction pad! OK, it was worth a try – but this should never have got from the design stage. Using the phone is an absolute nitemare. Scrolling through text, or moving menus up and down can ONLY be done using the rocker switch on the side, or the touchscreen. Neither option is natural – and the small touchscreen can be a problem, unless you get the stylus out everytime.

No 3G: Er… iPhone anyone? What a glaring omission. These days this in itself is an absolute killer for many potential buyers.

No wifi: This doesn’t bother me as much, but I know it will put off a number of people – especially considering the lack of 3G.

REVIEW

Well at least with this device, ASUS’ built in internet/mms auto config tool worked!

The first boot again started up ASUS’s custom installer app to install a few “packages” (No reboot required here though), and up popped the auto config tool, which as I said, did actually have the UK networks in the list this time.

The software list on the device does pretty closely match that found on the M530w. It’s sparse, but one nice extra on the P526 is the ASUS launcher software. Think of your standard Nokia dumb phone menu – the launcher is a nice replica of it. It is pretty decent actually – and does make it easier to navigate around the phone and its various settings. I still found things a little clumsy though, due to the missing direction pad.

Internet access is GPRS only, and typing any kind of web address in with the phone keypad is torture. If this device dropped the touch screen and used the Standard version of windows mobile, it would be fine. However, due to the awkward way Professional edition handles input methods makes this phone a awkward to use at times and it’s especially noticeable with website addresses.

Perhaps this can be improved with software updates – but right now its a bit of a mess. Speaking of updates – I hope one is due soon. A couple of nasty bugs have also shown up in the few days I’ve had it.

Firstly the keylock method is very nice – a lot easier than the “device lock” today screen applet. However, it does seem to occaisionally get itself in a mess, at which point the touch screen becomes active, and “touchable”, while the hardware buttons remain locked. The keylock switch is still in locked position, so not exactly ideal if you take your phone out of a pocket to find you’ve called japan for the last hour!

Our second nasty bug is the backlight. It seems to have a mind of its own. The summary would be – if it turns off, it’s nearly impossible to turn back on. The timeouts and settings make no difference, and when this happens, you have to turn the screen off completely (tapping the power button), then back on.

These issues add up to a device that takes some getting used to!

So far then I’ve sounded rather negative. However, being positive for a minute – this phone gets attention. You might struggle to pick it out from the Nokia N series of phones really. Its a nice looking business phone, and here in the office, people seemed to like it.

The GPS also works really well. It doesn’t get a very strong signal, but worked fine in the car using TomTom. Tracking seems to be very accurate and a signal is acquired quite quickly. It’s here that the Asus P526 starts to make sense. A Windows Mobile Professional device, in a candybard form factor that includes touchscree AND GPS!

The problem is that WM Professional OS does not seem suited to a device that will be used as a phone. On a PDA with a qwerty keyboard it’s ideal, but touch screen is not a suitable method of navigating around on the P526 and requires the use of the sylus and the buttons to get anything done. This, coupled with the lack of direction pad, just makes doing anything on this device hard work.

In terms of reliability, bar the silly little bugs, the Asus P526 fairs well. I have been very critical of it but the phone remains stable despite me forcing it to run ActiveSync, TomTom, Google Maps and whatever else I had running at the time. The bugs I’m sure can all be sorted in time – I’m just surprised they weren’t picked up on before the devices hit the stores.

CONCLUSION

Having enjoyed the Asus M530w so muc I have to say I was expecting more from the Asus P526 and was quite disappointed to be honest.

The P526 just wansn’t my cup of tea and I really struggled to get to grips with the lack of direction pad and the WM Professional OS on this style of device. That said, I know that this device will be popular given its form factor and integrated GPS. It’s just a shame that these come at the expense of WiFi and, more importantly, 3G.

However, I’ve seen enough in both devices to be hopeful for future ASUS releases. I’ve used ASUS motherboards, an ASUS laptop for a while now, and I’d like an ASUS phone in the future.

Unfortunately, it won’t be this one.

Review by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Asus P526, Asus]

Asus M530w (Aries) review

INTRODUCTION

For the past week, I’ve been using two phones. Both Asus, both new devices. The first of these is the Asus M530w – a Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone) OS device, with a full QWERTY keyboard. The other is the Asus P526 which will feature in a later review.

Asus M530w

It’s a retail device, with the full retail packaging, and looks rather like a scientific calculator. As you might expect from a (Fat) candybar QWERTY device, it’s not exactly the best looking thing in town, but there are plenty worse as well.

The Asus M530w on test was supplied by our friends at Devicewire, who stock all manor of smartphones and accessories.

What’s in the Box?

Asus M530w Specification:

GENERAL

The Asus M530w has a full qwerty keyboard and but it’s not a slider. That means it’s fairly big, pocket calculator size, and certainly looks rather geeky. However, for the form factor chosen, it’s making the best of things really. It looks and feels expensive, and the black/silver colour scheme look good, if a little unoriginal. At 65 x 117 x 13.8mm, it’s a pocket filler, but because it’s so thin – it really isn’t as bad as you might expect.

The front of the phone is roughly split half and half with the 320×240 screen, and the QWERTY keyboard. Between these areas, we have the common smartphone button configuration, including a direction pad, with OK button, home and back, and the softkeys. We can also see the standard phone controls. The buttons are slightly concave, and feel very nice and tactile.

The screen is good, and very usable, but doesn’t seem quite as vibrant as other latest devices. I’m not sure why – and it’s not really a criticism because it’s not a problem and doesn’t affect the phone.

The keyboard itself seems very good. The keys are nicely spread out and I must admit – it’s easier to type on than my current favourite device – the Samsung i620. Obviously the extra room on the M530w has been put to good use.

Asus M530w keyboard

At the top of the screen, we have an LED indicator, which works the same as any other Windows Mobile Standard device. It is quite bright though – I know this is something that annoys a lot of Smartphone users! To the right of this, is the forward facing camera.

At the bottom of the device, we have a standard mini-USB plug (yay!) and a 2.5 earphone jack plug (Even more yay!). It’s been a while since we’ve seen a device using such open standards.

Asus M530w bottom

The right hand side is empty except for a single Camera button. This is held down to start the app, and pressed to take a picture. More on that later.

Asus M530w right side

On the left hand side, there’s a neat rocker, which includes an OK push button within it, and just below that, theres an up/down combo button. Although all this is useful for is volume, the ‘up’ button does also double as a start command for the built in voice command software.

Asus M530w left side

The reverse side again resembles a scientific calculator. Ok, maybe apart from the camera! The lens is visible, but protected with a non-removable plastic cover. Next to that we have the flash/light. Then oddly a fairly large speaker grille. Although unusual – it’s not actually as bad as it sounds.

Asus M530w back

Moving finally to the top of the device – we find only a solitary silver power button.

Asus M530w top

SOFTWARE

Sadly ASUS haven’t really been very daring when it comes to their ROMs. The M530w have a rather vanilla version of Windows Mobile 6. Asus have modified the menus, and they’ve done that well.

There’s just not much in the way of extra software. The usual suspects are all present – Worldcard Mobile, Voice Command, and Clearvue. It’s all good, and useful to a lot of people I’m sure.

Asus have included a few titbits though. SPB Zip makes a random appearance (though is a very nice addition), and a Remote Presenter tool is also found both on the device, and as PC Software on the included CD. This IS actually quite nice – and works in the same way as similar software available for Nokia phones.

JAVA is also included (bit of a given these days I admit), and a streaming player. This appears to support only Real Audio. I’ll try and get some clarification on that though.

Pocket Internet Explorer is obviously included in the Internet menu, along with Internet Sharing since this is a WM6 device. The auto-configuration app is also hidden away next to it, but does start on a hard reset as well. VERY VERY Annoyingly, it appears to be a bit broken – as there is no way to select your operator. The list is empty. As stated above – this is slightly worrying if this is a retail ROM device.

Asus have grouped and updated the menu well, with most apps where you would expect to find them. It’s a shame though that they couldn’t have included a few more bits and pieces in the ROM.

The Asus homescreens are functional, if nothing special. You may well end up looking for something a bit more usable though.

Highlights:
Keyboard: The large QWERTY keyboard do much for looks of any device – but at least it works well. I type quickly, but couldn’t beat it. The CPU helps here – the device seems rapid in general, and this extends to the keyboard input speed.

Battery life: Seems good. Two batteries are included, which always annoys me, because manufacturers need to realise this is NOT a suitable solution to poor battery life. Anyway moving on… I haven’t used WiFi much, but have used data connections, Bluetooth and lots of calls – and it’s handled it all well. Down to about 50% at the end of the day.

Speed: The clean ROM will probably suit a lot of people, and coupled with the fast CPU, the M530w is very very quick.

Wifi: This device is so slim, it’s impressive that they have managed to not only fit wifi in, but get it working well. I’ve had no problems with signal quality, and I’m pretty impressed with it really.

Lowlights:
No HSDPA: In a rather odd move, ASUS have given the M530w a 3G radio, but not the newer HSDPA standard.

Size: It’s pretty big! It looks like a calculator. It goes with the territory with this form form factor, but its definitely a business phone rather than a ‘cool’ device

REVIEW

Having finally worked out how to install the sim card and battery, I was greeted with a flashy spinning ASUS logo, followed by the more relaxed Windows Mobile boot screen.

The first boot seemed to take a long while, and having got to the start screen, a ASUS branded program popped up and installed some custom programs. At the end of this, the software proudly claimed “Installation COMPLETE!” and rebooted. The second time through was much quicker, and this time I was asked if I wanted to auto-configure my data connections. Unfortunately the software doesn’t seem to have any data settings with it and basically did nothing!

Not a good start.

I’ve seen the same software in action on our other Asus review device – and it does work well there. I’m hoping this is not a retail ROM, because it’s a bit poor these days to have a device that won’t configure itself.

I did consider trying HTC PC application to configure it – but instead I acted like a random customer might – and searched the web for the settings.

Having finally got up and running, syncing contacts and generally getting the device shipshape, I tried the internet. It’s a shame an additional browser isn’t included – but pocket IE does look OK on the landscape screen. It’s about time Microsoft but a bit more effort into improving their default browser. Its limited, but I guess it works OK for a bit of surfing on the train etc.

Typing in web addresses – and in fact texts or emails, is, as you might expect, an absolute breeze with the QWERTY keyboard. The keys are well spaced, and raised away from the casing. It’s easy to type using either two hands, or one. The less common symbols/punctuation appear as a secondary function – and the really commons ones have their own key entirely.

The size is a bit of an issue for me though – you can’t have it totally your own way. The keyboard by its nature makes the device large. However slim it is, it’s still big. I also can’t get away from the fact it looks like a calculator!

I love the Standard version of Windows Mobile. Far more than Professional, so for me at least, this device is far more usable than any of the touch screen units about. Touch screens are NOT good on phones in my opinion. This is a phone over a PDA, so its a good choice to go with Standard in my opinion.

The sound profiles are all pretty much standard – and MP3 ringtones work as well as any other WM device. As stated earlier, it’s a mostly vanilla ROM anyway. ASUS haven’t overly modified it which is a good thing overall.

The camera application is pretty sweet though. Very easy to flick between still and video mode, and options are all within easy access menus. The obligatory link to the standard ‘Photos and Videos’ app is also there.

In terms of reliability, the M530w is doing well. The auto-configuration app was a let down, but that aside, I’ve not found much to complain about. Certainly the phone is very stable (not crashed yet), even when running multiple applications at once.

CONCLUSION

Asus have started well. Its a decent first strike in the Windows Mobile world, and the import stuff like reliability is all there.

The software included is a little disappointing, but hardware wise, there isn’t much to criticise.

I guess the major problem I have is the lack of HSDPA. It wouldn’t be a problem with most devices, but the M530w is (or at least should) be aimed at business, who will probably demand HSDPA. I say that purely because of its size. Unlike the i620 from Samsung – this is not a fashion phone.

The ASUS support forums are very good for my laptop – and I’d hope the same can be said for the M530w and other ASUS phones once the user base is there.

If you are after a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, then this is a good example of one, from a top brand.

The Asus M530w is available now and costs just £195.74 (Ex. VAT) at Devicewire.

Review by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Asus M530W, Asus]

Polaroid 37″ Definia review

Have Polaroid developed an instant success with the Definia?

INTRODUCTION

The Polaroid brand probably isn’t one that you would immediately associate with LCD televisions, however Polaroid have been making LCD screens for some time now. The Definia range is Polaroid’s first attempt at making it in to the mainstream LCD TV market.

Polaroid Definia

It comes as a surprise to many, when you mention Polaroid as an LCD manufacturer. Polaroid have decided not to spend millions of pounds on fancy advertising campaigns, the cost of which would have to be bourn by increasing the price of their products. Instead Polaroid have given their LCD TV’s an excellent specification and have placed them along side the no-name brands in high street stores. The idea is that they will exceed the specification, but not the price, of the own-brand sets that you’ll find in store.

Available in 32, 37 and 42-inch flavours, the 1080i Definia range packs a number of features you’d expect in higher-priced heavyweights, such as detachable virtual-surround speaker bar, subwoofer out and a raft of AV connections, including 2x HDMI’s.

What’s in the box?

There’s a good chance that you’ll have seen my unboxing video of the 37″ Definia so I won’t go into a great deal of detail here. However you will find:

GENERAL

The Definia LCD is housed in a rather unassuming matt black chassis and sits on a large, sturdy, black pedestal. The front of the unit is clean, with no buttons or controls visible. The only thing to be seen from the front is the power LED (more on this later) and the IR sensor.

Definia Matt Black Finish

The right hand side of the screen is where you’ll find the controls. These include Power, Volume, Channel and Menu buttons to name but a few. Having these on the side helps to keep things neat.

Definia Controls

Also on the right hand side, but nearer the back of the unit, you’ll find the two HDMI sockets and next to these a VGA input connector and PC audio input.

Definia HDMI/VGA

At the back of the unit you’ll find the main AV connectors. These include Digital Audio Out, Antenna, Component Input, S-Video, two Scart Sockets and a CI slot.

Definia Main Inputs

Finally, on the left hand side of the unit, just behind the screen, is a proper Power Button. This means that you can switch the Definia OFF rather than leaving if in an electricity wasting Stand-By mode.

HIGHLIGHTS:

LOWLIGHTS:

REVIEW

Unboxing the Definia is a straight forward affair but is definitely a two-man job. Lifting off the top of the box reveals the TV standing upright already mounted on it’s stand and with the speaker bar in place. This means that, unlike other sets that we have used, you don’t have to spend the first half an hour working out how to assemble everything. This we like!

It’s then a simple matter of lifting the TV out of the bottom part of the box and removing the rest of the packaging. At this point the unit is ready to plug in for the first time.

The quick start guide covers everything you need to get the unit plugged in and powered on. The steps are easy to follow (although I didn’t read them until later!). Within about two minutes we had the unit plugged in and turned on.

The first time you power the unit up you are asked to go through the automatic setup procedure which searched for the terrestrial TV channels etc. This process takes about five minutes, long enough to make a cup of tea.

After this you’re soon up and running. The Definia scores well on the ease of setup, I look at it from the point of view that even my dad could do it!

The first thing we try is the TV tuner functions. The analogue TV tuner performance is rather poor to be honest, and was disappointing; noisy and high contrast scenes shimmery. This isn’t down to my aerial or reception as other sets we have are fine.

Switching over to digital TV is a different story though. The picture colour is impressive high contrast scenes detailed and motion tracked more smoothly. With the digital change-over the analogue performance may not be such and issue.

Next up we test the performance with a Blu-Ray film – Spider Man 3. The screen can accept 1080p signals but scales these back to 720p quite happily. The amount of detail in the picture is superb but, despite the Definia’s 8ms response time, fast motion scenes can suffer a little from motion blur which is especially noticeable when switching between very bright and very dark scenes. This is very common with LCD TV’s

Hooking the unit up to a PS3 gives us the ability to easily test 720p and 1080i video sources. Plugging the PS3 in via HDMI is easy thanks to the side facing sockets, there is no need to scrabble around on the floor behind the unit.

Blasting through fairly dark PS3 games such as ‘Resistance: Fall Of Matt’ yield pleasing results at both 1080i and 720i. The contrast is excellent and blacks are, well, quite black. Once again there are times where you notice some motion blurring or lag but this isn’t terrible and is not so noticeable after a while. The more cute and colourful games are rendered in a bright and rich fashion. Gaming is where this TV seems strongest.

Finally we tested the Definia’s performance with regular DVD’s. Here the picture isn’t as perfect as I would like. There is a shimmering effect during some scenes which is especially evident on the trees during the opening battle of Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven. I suspect that this is something to do with the scaling of the picture with the native resolution of the Definia at 1336 x 768.

Time to talk about the sound. Polaroid have spent a lot of time working on the soundbar mounted on the bottom of the of the Definia and it shows! The high end has a bright, sharpness to it, decent midrange and, despite their relatively small size, a fair bass performance. Should you wish to get a better bass performance, there is a connector on the back of the unit for a subwoofer. I connected up my Kenwood subwoofer and there is an immediate difference.

The Virtual surround performance is pretty good. Granted it’s no where near as good as a proper 5.1 or 7.1 system but it adds real depth and width to the audio reproduction. This coupled with an inexpensive external subwoofer will probably be sufficient for most people’s taste.

My biggest pet-peeve with this LCD TV is the power LED. Polaroid have invested a lot of time and money into getting the design of the bezel just right so that you do not get any glare from ambient lighting that would distract you while watching the TV. This works well and even with the bright lighting in our lounge there is little light reflected off the matt black bezel. Where Polaroid have got it wrong then, in my opinion, is in using an excessively bright LED power indicator. When in standby the light is red and when powered on is a bright blue and is VERY distracting and almost negates the effort put into the rest of the design. In fact the LED is so bright that the light bleeds over in to the IR receiver.

Definia Power LED

To their credit, once I commented on the LED to Polaroid they did say that they would investigate this and see if there was anything that could be done to alter things during production. That’s not to say that they will but it’s a step!

CONCLUSION

I think that the Definia range offers excellent features and good value for money. In fact the feature list makes you forget that this is aimed mid-market and you begin to try and compare the Definia to higher end models. I have to remind myself that it’s not fair to compare this unit to the Bravia for example.

If you are looking for an LCD TV and do not want to spend a fortune on it, while at the same time wanting decent features, something easy to set up and the backup of a recognised brand, then the Polaroid Definia is well worth a look.

If you are looking for high end HD performance or you are fanatical about your films and DVD’s then this unit probably isn’t for you, but then you probably knew that already!

The Definia is a good LCD TV if you are a gamer and want a second TV to play your Playstation or X-Box on.

Review by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Polaroid, Definia]