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By Gareth November 21, 2016 Read More →

Logitech M330 Silent Plus review

There is no shortage of good mice on the market at the moment. One of best wireless input devices out there is Verbatim Wireless Mini Travel Mouse. What we have is a plethora of almost perfectly accurate input devices adding and subtracting features to try to achieve the perfect balance of price, quality and accuracy. One of the most reliable names on the market is Logitech, having produced mice for a great many years, they know what they’re doing.

Enter the Logitech M330 Silent Plus. According to the ReviewsCon Guide the budget/travel mouse that promises both high accuracy and the complete lack of “click.” The second of those features will be particularly enticing for anyone who travels or perhaps uses a laptop in bed with a partner sleeping beside them.

The mouse itself is almost all plastic, making it light and easy to pack. There is a layer of rubber to add durability, comfort and, most importantly, grip. Between the two buttons is a scroll wheel, with a push button function and sharing in its surrounding buttons ability to be almost silent. Behind this, jsut about the Logitech branding is a little LED indicator.

On the bottom are two plastic pads, smooth to the touch and designed to glide across any flat surface. The mouse runs off one AA battery. Logitech have informed us this battery should last 18 months. Having had the mouse for one month I cannot comment on what the full range of the battery life is, however, I have lost one-third of the battery thus far and I’m not using the mouse as my daily driver. Instead, it’s paired with a laptop and only used for a few hours, two to three times a week.

However, anyone coming to this mouse is not coming for battery life or perhaps comfort, these are secondary bonuses. Instead they’re coming for the lack of noise. It’s almost surreal, it feels like there’s something missing when you click a button or roll the scroll wheel. There is the smallest, lightest thump a two bits of rubber inside the mouse collide and the scroll wheel has a tiny, plastic click emitting from it and is virtually silent when used for scrolling. You will not be disturbing anyone with this much, the Silent aspect is beautifully realised.

As for accuracy, it’s difficult to measure on a common consumer computer, however, I did have a go. Facing off against a Logitech MX master, the M330 came in with a faster lag time, by 10ms. Whilst the M330 is a great deal lighter than the MX Master, it does appear to be highly accurate.

Where the M330 could be improved are the features. With only 3 buttons in operation, I only wish that there was a simple back button above the thumb grip two concrete this is one of the best mice on the market. Some will disagree the back button is not necessary, however, it would be better to have the option even if there were to add another couple of pounds on the price tag.

All in, the Logitech M330 Silent Plus is an almost perfect travel match. Robust enough to survive a few days at the bottom of your back. The battery is easily replaceable in the event you do run out of charge. Using it on a plane will not upset the person beside you. It’s comfortable enough that periods of use will not result in a sore wrist. And as the name suggests, Silent.

You can grab the Logitech Silent Plus For £29.99 here.

Posted in: Accessories, Desktop Computing, Laptops, Reviews
Tags: Featured

By Gareth November 20, 2016 Read More →

Whats New On Netflix 14 Nov – 20 Nov 2016

Let’s take a look and see what appeared on Netflix for the week of the 14 November – 20 November 2016.

Posted in: Streaming Services, Videos/Unboxings
Tags: Featured

By Gareth November 18, 2016 Read More →

Aibird running a video making contest

We took a look at the Aibird Uoplay back in July and we were very happy with it. AiBird are running a video making contest about the theme of ’Take Your Gimbal home.’ For those Uoplay users who participate in could have chance of winning the Uoplay2 and Uoplay 2S. Here’s what you have to do to win:
1. Like the Facebook homepage and share this post to your FaceBook.
2. Upload your videos onto your Youtube channel and share it on your social medias.
3. After finishing your video, please send the links and a copy of your video to [email protected].
4. 1st prize will be Uoplay2, 2nd prize will be Uoplay 2S, 3rd prize will be coupons of $100 which can be used on Aibird’s amazon store.

About videos
1. Videos should be taken using a Uoplay gimbals, you can take whatever you like in your life. For example a review, tutorial, DIY. Creative videos would be appreciated. Remember to briefly introduce Uoplay gimbal in the videos .
2. When uploading onto your youtube channel, the title should include words ‘AIbird Uoplay’. Besides our link should be put in the description box.
3. Video should last for more than 2 minutes
*This contest runs for 1 month from November 19th to December 19th
*The prizes cannot be exchanged for cash or other services from AIbird Uoplay company .

Posted in: Accessories, Competitions, News

By Paul Stevenson November 18, 2016 Read More →

Strike Alpha Cradle for iPhone 7 Review

Back in 2015, the nice folks in the Australian company Strike sent us one of their Strike Alpha Cradles (DIY version) to take a look at. They have sent us another one, this time designed and sized for the iPhone 7.

I must confess to being at something of a loss when it comes to this device. There is just so much about it that just doesn’t make sense to me. Sometimes you get a swanky new gadget to review and you don’t immediately see the utility or value of the thing, but as you use it, the merits start to shine through. It’s that old sales line – “the gadget you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.” I was hoping experience would bring some insight here.

The Strike Alpha Cradle is a beast of a phone holder/charger. It’s massive and feels extremely solid. Its featureless black plastic and obvious heft gives it a utilitarian air. The plastic does not flex or creak and appears to be of good quality. The arm it’s attached to feels similarly well engineered with a clear plastic suction cup for attachment to your windshield or dashboard. There is a handy plastic disc included if you dash is rounded or textured. The cradles are model specific and sized accordingly to fit your phone. This ensures a very snug fit and there is no chance of your phone falling out as you bounce along the rough, pitted roads of the outback.

One reason for the size of the cradle is that it houses an internal passive antenna function to actually boost the reception of your phone, which would be extremely handy if little Timmy falls down the well in a remote area and you need to call for help.

I can’t fault the quality of the device, it does what it was designed to do very well, I just can’t get my head around the purpose of it. The cradle holds your phone and charges it, but only that phone, and only if it isn’t in a case. If you want one that supports your phone plus a standard case, you have to buy a different Alpha Cradle. Want one that supports your phone with a thick, rugged case, you have to buy another Alpha Cradle. Change handset brand when your contract is up, or the new version of yours is a bit bigger….you see where I’m going here. Why they couldn’t make the cradles a bit more universal, I do not know. It couldn’t possibly be cost effective to produce so many variations.

The reception boosting function is an excellent idea, but in order to take advantage of it, you have to plug the non-detachable male FME cable to an external antenna or built-in GPRS function. If your car doesn’t have built-in sat nav and you don’t fancy taking your dash apart to wire it in, this cable simply dangles impotently from the bottom of the cradle. I’d imagine the amount of people in the UK who would make use of this feature is tiny. But even if you did hook it up, the Alpha has no Bluetooth function and no microphone, so unless you want to resort to yelling at the phone and using its built-in speakers for the reply, the benefit of extra reception is somewhat wasted. If it had Bluetooth, I could maybe see taxi’s having this mounted on their dash.

I mentioned previously about the size of the cradle, it is actually about the same height as my iPhone and considerably wider. Once inserted, the phone does stick out above the unit by about an inch, so it does take up a significant chunk of windshield real estate and it really does remind me of one of those old school cradles when mobile phones were like house bricks. The charging cable is integrated so if it doesn’t reach the socket, or there is too much cable left over, I’m afraid you are stuck with it as you can’t replace it with one of a more suitable length. Curiously, the USB charger that plugs into the 12V socket of your car is a pretty cheap looking unit, a stark contrast to the rest of the assembly. It too is oversized, looking oddly like a gear knob.

So you see, I can’t really see what purpose this 90’s revival serves, especially when it offers such limited practical functionality and costs an eye-watering £85! More if you want to the professionally fitted model (fitting not included). But then again, this is an Australian company, so if you put the Alpha into that context, perhaps having it mounted to the dash of a utilitarian works vehicle that may need to travel to more remote areas, the construction and external antenna direction perhaps makes sense. Perhaps. But at AU$150, and no built-in Bluetooth there are bound to be better options available.

Posted in: Accessories, Reviews

By Gareth November 16, 2016 Read More →

Tech Addicts UK Podcast – 16th November 2016 – A Return to Form

Gareth Myles, Jay Garrett, Gavin Fabiani-Laymond and Leila Gregory

RSS Link: http://mobiletechaddicts.libsyn.com/rss

Show Notes

Listener feedback:

1) Any idea on the UK release date of the new Mi Box?

Andrew Rodgers

Import works only in mainland China, nothing is working: PPTV is blocked, LETV is blocked as well, so you can not see any programs or series, even those, which you are allowed to watch abroad.

2) what is Thunderbolt 3? Is that a Mac connection and will it be compatible with USB-C?

Raj

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/thunderbolt-3-guide

What have you been playing with?

Gareth

VENTURER UPGRADES ITS AFFORDABLE 2 IN 1 MINI WINDOWS NOTEBOOKS
CHOETECH £23 SWEATPROOF SPORT WIRELESS BLUETOOTH V4.1 HEADPHONES UNBOXING
WRAPS WRISTBAND EARPHONES UNBOXING (review of the cheap ones here)

Gavin

Groov-e Portable Karaoke Bluetooth Boombox with CD Player

Oppo HA-2 SE Portable Headphone DAC Review

Polk BOOM Swimmer Duo Waterproof Shockproof & Dustproof speaker review

Jay

Amazon Echo Dot

Noble Savanna IEMs

HyperX Cloud gaming headset

Discussion: Star Wars Battle Droids

Discussion: HUAWEI MATE 9 IN A NUTSHELL

Discussion: Designed by Apple in California – Apple’s £249 Book

Main Show URL: www.techaddicts.uk

Join the Discussion: https://goo.gl/spaces/6FF6jraF9KHiPUyA6

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @garethmyles ; @gavinfabiani ; @GadgetyNewsCom ; @JayGarrett ; @swanny

Web: http://gavinsgadgets.com ; http://GadgetyNews.com ; http://swanny.me/

Google Plus: +garethmyles ; +gavinfabiani-laymond ; +JayGarrett

Posted in: Podcast
Tags: Featured

By Gareth November 16, 2016 Read More →

7 Essential Tips for First-Time PC Builders

Building your own PC means creating a device tailored to your very own needs. It’s easy to upgrade, often cheaper and can perform much faster than traditional models, you can also opt for refurbished laptops that are a very good option.

So, if you’re going down the DIY route and it’s your first time custom-building your own machine, here are 7 essential tips to consider, provided by German online electronics retailer, reichelt.

Get clear on what you want from your PC. Make a list of all the programs, videos and applications you want to run on your PC. This will help you map out the components you’ll need – for example, if you’re a gamer, overclocking your Central Processing Unit (running it at a higher speed) may be important and requires a more effective cooling system. It’s also important that you get the best power supply when building your PC as this is the most important part in making sure your PC can handle overclocking and so that it’s also upgradeable in the future.

Plan before you build. Every build is unique, so take the time to visualize how each part will fit together, before buying and realising components aren’t compatible. Does your power supply prevent access to the motherboard? Is there enough space for your cabinet? Asking questions such as these will save you time in the long run!

Test the connection. Always do a simple test-run before installing the components in your cabinet. This will save you the hassle of dismantling everything in case a component doesn’t work. Simply use your motherboard box as a framework and if all functions properly, you’re ready to build in.

Keep thermal paste to a minimum. A small, pea-sized amount of cpu paste in the centre of your CPU (Central Processing Unit) is perfect. Too much and the thermal compound could behave as a conductor and stop your system from functioning properly.

Don’t force anything. If it doesn’t fit, don’t force it. Most components attach together only one way, so simply try another method if it doesn’t work. Computer parts tend to be very fragile, so be careful not to damage your components in the process.

Ensure good airflow. Cooling your PC properly contributes to the overall performance and lifespan of your device. You can choose to cool your system with air or water. The air cooler is cheap and performs well, however, if you are planning to overclock (run your processor at a higher speed), a water cooler allows fans to run slower and quieter.

A little maintenance goes a long way! Once you’ve built your computer, ensure that you open up the device and clean it regularly. Keep dust levels to a minimum and your machine will continue to operate at an optimum level.

For high-quality components to build your PC, reichelt can provide you with everything you need, with many products up to 20% cheaper than elsewhere in the UK.

For gamers, we recommend the ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming 6 Motherboard, a high-value, feature-packed board which delivers outstanding performance. Processors, RAM and storage functions are also available; as is a great range of external hardware, such as the Denon HEOS 1 WS 2 Wireless Speakers with WiFi and optimised sound quality.

Posted in: Desktop Computing, Editorial, News

By Paul Stevenson November 16, 2016 Read More →

Griffin iTrip Clip Bluetooth Adaptor Review

Not long ago, those evil people at Apple stole our headphone sockets and forced us to use their proprietary headphones or one of their adaptors. There was fighting in the streets, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Or at least so the media would have you believe. As it turned out, most people just got on with it and the fact that Apple provided both a set of headphones and an adaptor in the box meant it really wasn’t much of an issue after all. Now, to say that it didn’t present a few little logistical grumbles would be fair. For instance, you cannot charge your device whilst listening to music unless you have a different adaptor or Bluetooth headphones. Then there is the fact that you have to always have the adaptor with you if, like most people, you have multiple sets of headphones – one in your bag, maybe one in the office and one at home. Apple would tell you that the adaptors are only £9 each, so you can buy more. Of course, they would.

Then comes along the Griffin iTrip Clip (no apple accessory can start with anything other than an “i”), an absolutely genius diminutive device that solves a problem simply and tidily. The iTrip allows the user to plug in any regular old headset and instantly convert it into a Bluetooth set, complete with handy-dandy controls for media playback and volume up to a range of 15m. It also has a built-in microphone to allow you to make your headphones into a Siri-compatible hands-free kit. Want to plug it into your car’s aux socket and stream music and calls from your phone? It’ll do that too! And the joy of it is that the device itself is very small and neat, it weighs almost nothing and has a clip for attaching to your clothing so you can even carry it to a gala in your Faithfull Dress. There is no display on the device, but red and blue LEDs indicate its status and helpfully lets you know when the 4-6 hour active battery life is coming to an end. So how much is this do-it-all-dolly? You’ll find it for under £20! Bargaintastic!

Now the device is by no means perfect, I noticed immediately that the volume was much louder than when the headphones were plugged directly in. Normally I’d have the headphones volume sitting around half way, but through the iTrip, I get the same volume at about a quarter of the way up the scale. Not a huge deal, but if like me, you like to listen to music at night just before you drift off, the very first volume point is about the right volume for me, but if you wanted it any softer…..unlucky. When turning on, off or connecting to a device there is an electronic voice that confirms the action. Handy, but watch out, this is loud too! In saying that, I’d rather have to turn the volume down than have to max it out just get any sound out.

Music streams perfectly clearly through the little Griffin, the responsiveness is spot on and there is very little lag time between pressing the button and the reaction on the device, but I did notice that when I was watching videos, there is an ever so slight delay between the video and the sound. This delay isn’t present when the headphones are plugged directly in, but it is consistently present when using the iTrip. It’s only slight, but it’s enough to throw the lip synch off just enough to make everything looked like it’s been dubbed into English.

The clip used to attach the device to your clothing is somewhat stiff and is moulded into the unit. Personally, I would prefer something a bit less snappable if you are trying to push it onto a heavy coat etc, maybe a spring clip or similar. This is a very minor issue though and for £20, if it snaps, you aren’t going to be in floods of tears, mourning its loss.

I’m amazed that Griffin can produce this device in the £15-20 range and at this price point the functionality it delivers dwarfs its few little niggles. Sure, I’d like a longer battery life, but then the device would probably have to be bigger and the price would definitely go up so it’s a good balance. This is an easy recommendation for anyone with an iPhone 7, but beyond that, it will also work with any phone or tablet, making it a versatile little gizmo that anyone could use. Thumbs up from me.

Posted in: Accessories, Gadgets, Headphones, MP3 Players & Accessories, Reviews
Tags: Featured

By Paul Stevenson November 15, 2016 Read More →

32nd iPhone Case Shoot Out

Phone cases have become a massive industry in recent times and with good reason. They are a physical insurance policy for your expensive handset. Some folks are brave/foolhardy enough to risk carrying a naked phone while others take the opposite approach and encase theirs in super over-engineered Iron Man like exosuits. For those left floating somewhere in the middle, there is a mind-boggling variety of options to choose from. 32ndshop.com specialise in very affordable phone cases, covers and holders and accessories. They recently sent us a sample of their wares.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from cases costing market stall prices, but I was genuinely surprised when I opened the basic, bare bones packaging. Rather than getting some cheap, tacky plastic offering, these appeared to be very well put together products in a soft, thick leather, nice stitching and the designs are far from garish. Remember to have a good and affordable iPhone back glass repair contact in case you need it.

The first of the three cases we received was a deep purple, (excuse me….”Aubergine”) coloured wallet with magnetic closure. The phone cradle itself is a fairly rigid plastic, but it holds the phone securely. The inside cover has slots for credit cards and has a soft finish in the same deep purple Aubergine as the outside and the 32^nd logo is stamped on the bottom inside cover. Simple, straight forward, but well executed, especially for the price of £12.99. It even came with a screen protector for crying out loud!

Next up was one of those slip cases which always remind me of the sort of thing my Grandfather used to keep his glasses in. Rather than being attached to the phone, it’s more of a holster type idea which protects your phone when it’s in your pocket. I prefer a protective case myself, but if this is what you are after, it’ll certainly do the job. It’s again, a good thick “Premium Italian” leather, this time in dark brown, and there is a simple pull tab to help you get your phone out. This is magnetically held in place to stop it flapping about, which is a nice touch. At £20, this is one of their most expensive iPhone covers, but is still very reasonable. Again, it is not over-engineered, not over-designed, but it does what it is supposed to do simply and elegantly.

Last up was a rather cheerful floral print wallet, same design as the purple one except, this time with a tab closure. The interior is a nice tan colour which complements the outside well. It also came with a screen protector. Not my personal taste of course, but the quality produced at this price point is hard to find fault with.

Overall, there really isn’t anything particularly special about these cases, they are neither innovative nor original, they are not feature laden or flashy. But what they deliver are solid, well-constructed, good looking cases that do exactly what you need them to do for the same price as the flimsy Chinese knock offs on eBay. Certainly worth a look.

You can check out the full range of iPhone 7 case here: www.32ndShop.com

Posted in: Accessories, Reviews
Tags: Featured

By Gareth November 14, 2016 Read More →

CHOETECH £23 Sweatproof Sport Wireless Bluetooth V4.1 headphones unboxing

Choetech has chosen to include the latest Bluetooth V4.1 Technology, featuring much lower power consumption, more stable signal transmission and clearer sound production in there sports headphones. A built-in microphone supports hands-free calling. The IPX4 sweat-proof design is well suited for running, exercising or listening to music on the go. A vast array of ear tips and ear hooks of different sizes have been included to ensure a comfortable and secure fit for you.

Importantly these Choetech headphones feature Multi-point Pairing, meaning they can pair with up to two devices via Bluetooth with voice prompt. Easy and fast pairing with your phones/tablets such as iPhone 7 Plus, 6 Plus, iPad, LG G2, Samsung S6 or other Bluetooth-enabled devices.