Archive for August, 2008

By August 19, 2008 Read More →

Toshiba Satellite U400 review

I remember when laptops were the preserve of well-heeled business men and my first laptop was a Texas Instruments DX400-100 with 8MB of RAM. It cost £3500 back then and was state of the art. Fast forward a few years and the £480 that the U400 costs buys many times the power. Laptops are now so common place that they are becoming almost disposable items in the way that portable TVs are. Such is progress. In a market place saturated with any number of competing models how does a manufacturer stand out and how does the U400 fare?

Toshiba Satellite U400

The Toshiba Satellite U400 (click to enlarge)

Introduction

The U400 is one of a new range of variations upon the same chassis. Depending upon which model of U400 is selected there’s differing specifications so I will not go into too many specifics here. Suffice to say, it comes with a hardware specification that would have been inconceivable just a year ago and I doubt any normal user would ever stretch its capabilities. There now so many laptops now on the market with what I would consider to be very ample performance that performance is no longer such an important issue as it once was – how many of us realistically need 3 gigs of RAM and a dual core processor for web surfing and e-mail? It is now more a case of how good does it look and how much does it cost.

What’s in the box?

  1. U400 laptop.
  2. Mains AC adapter.
  3. Drivers/utilities/restore CD.
  4. Manual and documentation.


General

It’s probably fair to say that Toshiba are one of the leading brands of laptop manufacturers. They make a wide range of machines to suit business and consumer needs and, in my experience, they are solidly made, reliable and come with decent performance. This machine does not disappoint.

There’s enough ports and options to meet most expansion needs. The designers have obviously put some thought into layout with some neat little touches all around such as locating most of the USB ports together and away from the DVD drive door to avoid snagging. This might seem trivial, but believe me it’s not when the DVD pops open, snags a cable and drags your portable hard drive off the table. Other nice touches are the bright white LEDs illuminating the softkeys and the “Satellite” logo on the fascia. It all helps to create the feeling of a machine that has been designed rather than thrown together as is the case with some of the competition.

Controls and layout:

· On the left: VGA out, cooling vent, HDMI port, 2 USB2.0 ports, PC Express card slot, FireWire port, headphone and microphone sockets.

Toshiba Satellite U400 left side

Toshiba Satellite U400 left side

 

· On the right: modem jack, Ethernet port, USB2.0 port, DVD-RW drive bay

Toshiba Satellite U400 right side

Toshiba Satellite U400 right side

 

· On the front: SD card slot, volume control

Toshiba Satellite U400 SD card

Toshiba Satellite U400 memory card and volume control

 

· On the screen: 1.3Mp webcam

Toshiba Satellite U400 webcam

Toshiba Satellite U400 webcam

 

· On the keyboard surround: On/Off switch, left/right speaker, various softkeys for media playback and application launching.

Toshiba Satellite U400 keyboard

Toshiba Satellite U400 controls

 

· On the back: access to the battery

Toshiba Satellite U400 bottom

Toshiba Satellite U400 bottom

Highlights:

  • Speedy performance
  • Bright and sharp screen
  • Ample connectivity
  • Good hardware specification
  • Elegant design

Lowlights:

  • Glossy black finish shows up fingerprints
  • Glidepad was not always easy to use

REVIEW

The U400 uses Microsoft Vista Business Premium with an option to “downgrade” to XP. In use it was very fast and I noticed no lag at any time despite the reputation Vista has for this. I consider myself to be a power user, editing music and video, and encoding the same – used for these tasks the little Toshiba never broke into a sweat. Only the most demanding of users would test its mettle and it’s not aimed at them anyway.

The glidepad took some getting used to because it’s slightly unconventional in the fact that it is ultra-low profile, on the same level as the facia and quite small. There is no distinct edge to it so, I often found myself trying to move the cursor without success because my finger tip was on the facia and not the glidepad. No doubt with more practice it would be less of a problem.

Toshiba Satellite U400 trackpad

Toshiba Satellite U400 glidepad

 

The keyboard performance was acceptable. I can’t say much more than that. I was less impressed with the glossy black finish though which very quickly ended up looking terrible – it’s a magnet for greasy fingerprints and reminds me that I must stop eating greasy burgers! I think a conventional matt black finish would have been better.

Toshiba Satellite U400 closed

Toshiba Satellite U400 closed

 

I was surprised to find that there was no screen latch locking the lid down. Although the screen hinge action was stiff and secure, making it unlikely that the screen would be opened accidentally, I consider the lack of a latch to be a bit of an omission for what is a portable machine. The 13.3” screen itself was fabulous. Capable of WXGA resolution up to 1280×800 pixels it was bright, bitingly sharp and capable of displaying photos and video with great clarity. I’ve always been impressed with my own Toshiba laptop’s screen, but the U400’s was better again.

As you would expect with this level of hardware specification the little Tosh had no trouble at all with video playback whether it was DVD or MPEG-4 so, it makes a fine portable entertainment centre. MP3 playback through the built-in speakers left a bit desired, but this can be said about virtually all laptops. By contrast, playback through headphones was just fine. To assist with media duties there’s a row of white led illuminated softkeys below the screen fascia for functions such as play/stop/pause/fast forward etc.

The machine was equipped with a 3700mAh battery, but I was not able to properly test battery life because the review machine had trouble holding a charge. Previous experience has taught me that most Toshiba’s have good battery life as they have some excellent power management utilities so, I have no reason to believe that the U400 would be any different although 3700mAh does seem to be a bit on the light side.

The 250GB 2.5” SATA hdd was fast and quiet, this level of storage should be enough for even the largest mp3 collection and Toshiba have done well to include such a large disc that provides some level of future-proofing.

Networking is taken care of by a gigabit Ethernet card or 802.11/g wifi. There’s no Bluetooth built-in, but as small low profile USB Bluetooth adapters can be bought for less than £10 this is not a deal breaker. The inclusion of the gigabit Ethernet is somewhat curious though given how few consumer switches and routers are available that can make use of it. I would have rather have traded that for Bluetooth.

I was pleased to see a built-in memory card reader capable of a wide variety of formats including SD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard and xD-Picture Card. This is ideal for backing up PDAs or transferring photos from cameras. Having a card reader also means being able to use a relatively large capacity and low-cost SDHC cards for the routine backup of important documents.

Software

As already mentioned this machine comes with Windows Vista. You either like it or you don’t, but if you don’t then Toshiba thoughtfully allow a downgrade to Windows XP. Toshiba also bundle a number of extra utilities for power managements, CD burning etc.

Toshiba Satellite U400

The Toshiba Satellite U400

Conclusion

At this point I will own up to having a preference for Toshiba laptops. Whenever anyone asks me for a recommendation then these are on the tip of my tongue and for good reason. Toshiba support is excellent, the quality is decent and the performance usually dependable. The U400 is no different in this respect. It’s fast, compact, light, looks good and is more than powerful enough to handle any computing task thrown at it with perhaps the exception of games (I don’t play games). I found few faults with it and I would be happy to own one as my everyday computer. The size is a halfway house between the ultra-portables like the EeePC and the more desktop oriented machines with 15.4"-17" screens. In this respect it meets all the requirements of a good general purpose portable computer which, is all one can ask for. You can do a lot worse for a lot more money.

 

Review by: Nigel

Posted in: Reviews
By August 19, 2008 Read More →

Mobility Today review the HTC Touch Pro

image Dave over at Mobility Today has just posted his video review of the HTC Touch Pro, good to see that he agrees with our review over the usability, speed and power of this HTC phone. You can check out Dave’s video after the break and also our review right here.

Posted in: Phones
By August 18, 2008 Read More →

iPhone Software version 2.02 now live (Updated)

image The latest iPhone software update version 2.02 has just gone live on iTunes. The usual detailed description has been provided by Apple, "Bug Fixes". Here’s hoping that this will address the well reported problems iPhone 3G users have been experiencing. One thing I have noticed is the signal strength has improved and the Modem Firmware has definitely been upgraded. Pics after the break

Posted in: Phones
By August 18, 2008 Read More →

T-Mobile to launch first Android handset

image T-Mobile said today that it plans to launch a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software, making it the first operator to do so and posing a direct threat to Apple’s popular iPhone. A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s German parent, declined to comment on the launch date for the device which is made by mobile phone maker HTC.

Posted in: Phones
By August 18, 2008 Read More →

Iris Web Browser hands on video

image WMExperts have posted a quick look video at the Iris Web Browser that runs on the WebKit rendering engine which powers the iPhones Safari browser. Unfortunately it looks a bit slow for prime time use but does render pages very nicely which is a big plus on a Windows Mobile device. Check out the video after the break.

Posted in: Phones
By August 18, 2008 Read More →

The most ridiculous iPhone 3G accessory award goes to…..

image Brando, who have just launched this 6x Zoom Telescope for the iPhone 3G. Now I am not being funny here but who is going to want one of these or for that matter risk being laughed at for using it. Apparently you can overcome the short comings of mobile phone cameras and now take some great shots. More pictures after the break.

Posted in: Phones
By August 18, 2008 Read More →

Get your free EeePC today!

If that’s not enough to get us sandbox’ed as spammers I don’t know what is.  However, it is half-true.  Orange UK are giving away the brand spanking Eee PC 900 16gb for absolutely nothing.

There is the downside of a two-year £25 a month contract, but for that you get 3GB data transfer and 100 text messages a month, and a free HSDPA modem.

Obviously the stonking £600 total cost of the contract is a little eye-watering, but if you were going to go for a mobile broadband contract anyway, maybe this will help you part with your money, and in my opinion and personal experience, Orange offers the most reliable coverage and quality of any network I’ve used.

Laptop: Asus EeePC 900 16gb

Modem: Option Icon 225 USB 3G Modem w/HSPDA

More @ Orange.co.uk

Posted by: Mark

Posted in: News
By August 17, 2008 Read More →

Samsung i900 hitting UK Networks

image Various reports are popping up about the impending availability of the Samsung i900 Omnia on Orange and Vodafone in the UK. According to Coolsmartphone Orange have it in stock now and Vodafone will shortly follow. This is good news as this looks like a really great Windows Mobile device. We should have one next week for review and maybe this device will sway me from the iPhone 3G.

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Posted in: Phones
By August 17, 2008 Read More →

Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Cancelling Headphones Review

Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Cancelling Headphones
Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Cancelling Headphones
GENERAL

Do you find that as soon as you get on a bus, train or plane that you have to turn the volume up on your MP3 player because the surrounding noise is too loud? Maybe you can not ever get a long enough sleep on the train because you have that person making plans with there friends sitting next to you. Well doing the long commute to work everyday I’ve come across this and a lot more. This is where Sony’s Digital Noise Cancelling Headphones (MDR-NC500D) come in. If you have never heard of noise cancelling headphones the easiest explanation I can give you is a microphone is placed near the ear, an anti noise sound wave with the opposite polarity of the sound is created and arrives at the microphone and this cancels out the external noise (and that was the simple explanation).

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Excellent build quality
  • Very comfortable
  • Great range of accessories
  • Better for your hearing
  • Nice styling
  • Built in battery
  • Good sound production

LOWLIGHTS:

  • Expensive
  • Size of carry case
  • No way to turn the noise cancelling off

TECHNICAL SPECS

Open Air Type

NO

Closed Type

YES

Capacity (W)

1.5

Driver unit (mm)

40.0

Frequency response (Hz)

14-22,000

Sensitivity – POWER ON (dB/mW)

102.0

Sensitivity – POWER OFF (dB/mW)

100.0

Magnet

Neodymium (360kJ/m3)

Impedance – POWER ON (Ohm)

40.0

Impedance – POWER OFF (Ohm)

100.0

Noise reduction effective range

40 – 1,500 Hz

Noise reduction rate (at 300 Hz)

17 dB

DC power source (V)

1.5

Battery power source

AAA

Battery life (h)

30.0

Power switch

Manual

Noise cancelling ON/OFF switch

YES

Cord type

OFC single sided

Cord length (m)

1.2

Plug

L shaped stereo mini plug (Gold)

Weight (g)

225.0


REVIEW

2

Headphone Case

 

I will start with a few of the disadvantages of those headphones, firstly the biggest complaint I have is that you cannot run the headphones with the noise reduction turned off. You might ask why you would want to turn it off! Its not necessarily you that wants it turned off but if you are on a long train journey and the battery dies you cannot use them anymore I had this happen to me once whilst testing them and it is very annoying, not to mention the really loud set of beeps that the headphones emit just before the power runs out.

The next is the size of the carry case, now there is keeping your headphones safe and then there is this. I have seen laptop bags smaller, if you where going away on a business trip for a couple of days you would have to take a large case just because of the headphones, although it does come with a shoulder strap.

Now I’ve had my little moan I have to admit these are the best headphones I have ever used. To start with when you open the case up you can see that everything has its place, even the aeroplane converter(which is included) has a little pocket.

You can either power the headphones using the internal battery which Sony claims 16 hours of usage or you can use an additional two AA batteries and this takes it up to 28 hours. From my first charge I only got around 11 hours but I am sure once the battery had been used a few times this would increase.

Once you put the turn the headphones on its very hard to explain the feeling, I passed them around at work to see if anyone could describe the sensation and after I managed to get them back the best description we could come up with would be when you go diving and your ears block the water out. If you’ve never been diving then it could also be when you take off in an aeroplane and the pressure builds in your ears (but without the uncomfortable feeling). Its very weird your ears are working but don’t hear anything. I was wearing these headphones for 2 hours at a time and they are so comfortable that you forget you are wearing them, well apart from the flat line across the top of your hair. They feel very sturdy and are finished to an excellent quality, even the carry case has a good finish.

I tried these on in the office and on the train, in the office they took out the noise of the air conditioning and most of the chatting. On the train most of the noise was reduced by a substantial amount and made it a pleasant journey. Just a warning to all you train commuters, because the noise is reduced this also means the station announcements are reduced as well and if you happen to fall asleep then you are most likely going to end up waking up at the end of the line. I had a few lucky escapes waking up just before I pulled into the station. Also walking to and from the station all the background noise is taken away this means that where ever you go wearing your headphones you can have the volume on your MP3 player lower. This is great when reports are showing slight deafness in younger people due to loud music. Finally there is a ‘monitor’ button which while held allows you to turn off the anti-noise and mutes the MP3 player and listen to the surrounding noises whether it is a train announcement or to listen out for cars if you are about to cross a road.

3

4 

 

CONCLUSION

These are the best headphones I have ever put near my ears. The build quality and style of the MDR-NC500D is second to none and they come with all the accessories you could ever want.

5

Would I buy a pair? Unfortunately not, to me the £200 price tag is to expensive for a pair of headphones, even if they are as good as the MDR-NC500D. If you do a lot of travelling and money isn’t so much of a decision maker then you’ve got to have to buy these headphones.

 

Review by: Russell

Posted in: Reviews
By August 17, 2008 Read More →

Twitter on the … DS!?

nintendo-ds-twitter A 1.3 version of the DSTwitter has been released. Where did it come from? Its only been a couple of months since the first incarnation hit the net. Mashable has directions for installation. Of course you will require one of the R4 style cards that are now under threat from Nintendo.

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Posted in: Phones
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