Archive for 2007

UMPC Group Test (Part 1)

I’m sure that I have mentioned this before on the blog but I commute to and from London every day and try to get some work done on the train. As I’m doing more on the blog these days I need to use a laptop more and I need my internet access.

At the moment I have a small Dell Latitude D420 which I carry everywhere with me. It’s light and fairly powerful and there isn’t much wrong with it. I even have a built in 3G card. The problem I have isn’t with the laptop as such but anyone that uses trains regularly and takes their laptop will know (probably) that the space between seats coupled with the tiny seat back tables makes using a laptop pretty awkward, even with a fairly small laptop. There are also few tables on most trains.

Pocket PC mobile devices aren’t quite powerful enough for the job and they also do not run the software that I need to use. But now that UMPC devices are becoming more common I thought that one of these might solve my problem as most of these are designed for hand held operation.

Luckily my friends from eXpansys were kind enough to lend me a few devices (the UBiQUiO and the OQO) to test for this purpose.

So over the next few weeks I’m going to be ‘real world’ testing and reviewing three UMPC devices. I’ll be letting you know which one I think’s best.

The devices I shall be reviewing are:

The UBiQUiO 702

The OQO Model 01

The Samsung Q1

Specification of each device:

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, UMPC, OQO, Samsung Q1, Ubiquio 702, Laptop, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk Sansa e270 MP3 player review followup

I just wanted to offer a quick follow up to the SanDisk Sansa review that i posted last year.

I’ve been using my Sansa e270 every day for the past three months and one thing that has amzed me above all else is the battery life. I use the player for 2 hours each day in the three months that I’ve had the device I have have only charged it about a half dozen times. It is averaging 20 hours of playback per charge!

I don’t think there are many other MP3 players out there that can boast the same sort of battery life.

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Sansa e200, media player, SanDisk Sansa e270]

Parrot SOUND SYSTEM review

Introduction
MP3 music can be found everywhere – on your MP3 player, your mobile phone and your PC. The Parrot SOUND SYSTEM is a new wireless hi-fi concept. Say goodbye to those cables when listening to your favourite tracks: stream by Bluetooth to the Parrot speakers.

The Parrot SOUND SYSTEM consists of two independent speaker units. Each speaker contains a built-in digital two-channel Class-D amplifier with a 60W output. The speakers are linked together by Bluetooth. Each unit also has its own set of volume controls and a pairing button.

First Impressions
I was initially surprised at just how heavy these speakers were, then I remembered that each unit had its own power supply and amp. I like design of the speakers which come in a white lacquered cabinet. The black fabric speaker covers can be removed and automatically snap in place via magnets.

Usage
The initial set up of the speakers is very simple. All you have to do is plug the speakers in to the mains and press the pairing button. Then it’s just a case of discovering the speakers with either your PC or Mobile Device.

You can also use the speakers with non-Bluetooth devices with the supplied line-in cable. This is a pretty neat idea as you can connect your device to one of the speakers and the audio will also be output to the other speaker as they communicate with each other over Bluetooth.

I did experience some issues with the speakers when reconnecting to them via Bluetooth with both my laptop and HTC TyTN. The first time I establish a partnership and connect they work just fine but if I disconnect and reconnect again later I cant get them to work again, I have to delete the partnership and recreate it to make it work.

This issue may well be more to do with a problem with the Bluetooth implementation on my laptop and mobile device rather than a fault with the speakers but this does illustrate a way in which Bluetooth technology can let you down!

The speakers sound quite impressive. The weight added by the internal transformer and amplifier make for a good bass response while the top end is nice and bright.

Conclusion
I use my Parrot SOUND SYSTEM speakers all the time. My laptop, like many these days, has tiny built in speakers which sound awful for anything other than system sounds. With the Parrot Bluetooth speakers I can simply connect to them when I want to listen to music and I don’t have to worry about cables. They offer a decent solution for anyone wanting wireless audio from their PC, Mobile Phone or Bluetooth Capable MP3 player. The independent speaker units mean that you can plug the speakers in to the mains at opposite ends of a room and still experience stereo sound.

Parrot SOUND SYSTEM specification:

More Wireless Speakers available at Maplin

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, Parrot, Parrot SOUND SYSTEM, Bluetooth, Tracy & Matt]

HTC P4350 (HTC Herald) review

The HTC Herald was first announced towards the end of 2006 and the device generated a lot of interest. One thing that seemed to ‘excite’ people about the device was the size. At 59mm x 109mm x 17mm the Herald is a lot slimmer than the Hermes which measures 58mm x 112.5mm x 21.95mm. The Herald is also about 16g lighter than the Hermes.

HTC’s own commercial arm released the HTC Herald as the HTC P4350 (catchy name!) and the device is now available from a number of UK retailers for around £380. So far the P4350 is not available on contract from any UK operator. Despite this the P4350 is proving to be popular.

There have been several other reviews of the HTC P4350 so I hope mine will serve as a summary.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The first thing I noticed about the P4350 was the clean lines of the device and the neat arrangement of of the main navigation buttons below the screen. However the Email and Internet buttons present above the screen on Hermes devices are missing from the P4350.

The other thing you notice is the new keyboard sliding mechanism. On the P4350 the keyboard mechanism is spring loaded and snaps open or closed smartly. This change to the keyboard mechanism is a welcome one and this is similar to the action of the keypad on the Samsung D900. The other nice thing about the sliding keyboard is that opening it turns the screen on but closing it will not!

The keyboard on the HTC P4350 is opens the other way to all of the previous HTC devices. Being a HTC TyTN user it does take a little time to get used to the device opening this other way but it now suits me better as a left hander.

USAGE
A very welcome addition to the keyboard area are the two indicator LED’s. These LED’s indicate the Fn and Caps lock status. I find this very useful!

I also like the fact that you can access the microSD card externally and that the slot is hidden behind a rubber flap which helps to stop the memory card flying out if you should drop the device.

The HTC P4350 has a full size stylus. This is a welcome change as recently HTC have included telescopic styli with their devices. Being full sized might mean that I stop using my fingers so much!

The camera on the back of the P4350 is your usual HTC 2.0 mega pixel unit but the P4350 does not have a ‘flash’. The quality of photos from the camera is pretty average and there is no front facing video conference camera, however as the P4350 does not have 3G this would be impractical anyway.

On the bottom of the P4350 you’ll find an Enhanced miniUSB connector. This type of connector has become standard on HTC devices lately. When HTC first added this connector to devices it was really annoying! It meant that you had to use the headphones the shipped with the device rather than your own decent headphones. I even provided a headset modding service for a while. However there are a number of manufacturers are now selling adapters.

CONCLUSION
I’ve been using the HTC P4350 for a few weeks now and it’s currently my main device. I initially thought that the lack of 3G would be annoying and hold me back. However I have not missed the 3G service at all. I really like the new keyboard mechanism and find that the P4350 is extremely easy to use one-handed. I do miss the jog wheel which has been replaced with a slider on the P4350.

The battery life on the P4350 is great lasting much longer than my TyTN. This is probably due to the lack of 3G which does suck power. I fond myself charging the device a lot less often.

The WiFi on the P4350 is very easy to use and set up and one thing that is great about AKU3 is that you can paste the network key in to the box. This is extremely useful when your network key is 63 digits long! With previous AKU versions you were expected to type this in!

I really like the HTC P4350, it is definitely my favourite device at the moment. I would like the device to the 3G and HSDPA but this isn’t a huge problem for me. Being slimmer than the HTC TyTN is good as it fits in my pocket that much easier.

Thanks to HTC for letting me borrow the device, I really wish I could keep it!

Here are some more photos of the HTC P4350:

HTC P4350 (HTC Herald) Specification

See the full specification on the HTC product page.

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile Blog, Dopod, HTC P4350, HTC Herald, HTC Excalibur, Tracy & Matt]