Videos/Unboxings

Sony Ericsson Elm Unboxing video

The Sony Ericsson Elm is from their ‘Greenheart’ range which means it is eco friendly being made from recycled plastics etc.

Not being a top end device I really don’t know much about the Elm but I don’t imagine there is that much to know. I get the impression that the Elm is one of those phones which people would really want for phone calls and texts and none of the smartphone features we have grown so accustomed too in recent times. We must not forget that a phone is primarily a phone and millions of users still only use a device for that alone.

Although I say the Sony Ericsson Elm is not a top end device it has got a few secret weapons in its Arsenal. Built in Sat Nav for starters. Maybe it is time those ‘phone users’ started getting a bit more out of there mobile devices?

In this, my first unboxing on tracyandmatt.co.uk, I give you a brief look around the device and also a sneaky peak into what the software offers.

James demos the iPad

I was lucky enough to get myself an iPad at the weekend. Apart from the obvious games and web browsing that we all know is fantastic on the iPad, I thought I would demonstrate how I will also be using the iPad for my day job.

Although it is early days with the iPad I have discovered that it is a superb device for presenting PDFs and pictures which is something I often do in my job. Whipping out the iPad not only looks better than taking a product catalogue or brochure out of a briefcase, but it also delivers great quality images which hopefully will impress. The iPad allows you to have pretty much as many PDFs, pictures and office documents as you need, all in one compact device. No need to boot up a laptop or notebook anymore. The iPad is good to go in a split second.

Check out the video below. You never know, it may be a handy tool in your job too?

Freedom Pro Bluetooth Keyboard Unboxing Video

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a Freedom keyboard but it has been a long time since the last one. I’m putting a bit of an iPad slant on this unboxing video and will do with the review, mainly because I have the iPad at the moment but also because I know that a number of people may indeed be looking for a Bluetooth keyboard for their new gadget.

If you don’t have an iPad though, don’t turn off just yet, this Freedom Pro keyboard isn’t exclusively for the iPad. In fact, with SPP and HID Bluetooth modes the Freedom Pro keyboard should work with a huge variety of devices from Blackberry’s, Windows Mobile devices, Android and Symbian to Laptops and even the Playstation 3!

The Freedom Pro offers a full sized full-QWERTY layout in a relatively small folding package and although on-screen text entry has come a long way on many mobiles and some also have a physical keyboard too, there is no substitute for a proper keyboard when you have a lot to type. Just thinking of the iPad again for a moment, one of the things I dislike about the touchscreen QWERTY is that there’s only four rows of keys, no numeric keys on the top row where I think there would be room if they were just a little smaller. So for typing a lot of stuff a real keyboard will certainly help.

Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5 unboxing video

Some time ago Sony announced a new range is compact HD camcorders calling them the Bloggie range. One assumes that they got the name from the fact that they support YouTube recording modes and files that are compatible for direct upload to YouTube.

We’ve reviewed quite a few of these small form HD camcorder in the past from the TG3E to almost all of the cameras from Sanyo’s Xacti range. I continue to be impressed with the quality of video footage that you can get from such small cameras these days.

The Bloggie also boasts a unique feature; included with the MHS-PM5 model that we are reviewing here is a clip-on 360 degree lens. This actually allows you to record a full 360 degree panorama video! You’ll have to use Sony’y bundled software to process the recorded footage but you can then export the 360 video in a variety of formats.

As always I’m going to try the Bloggie out over the next week or so but for now you can take a look at the unboxing video below.

3M MPro150 Pocket Projector unboxing video

Quite some time ago we reviewed the Pico pocket projector which I believe was the first of its kind. Since then we’ve been hearing about how projectors are getting smaller and smaller and that they are even finding their way in to mobile phones and digital cameras now.

3M recently launched their MPro series of pocket projectors and we have the MPro150 here to review. It’s a little bigger than the Pico that we had all that time ago but it’s much more feature rich, has a larger native resolution and greater brightness.

One of the really cool features of the MPro is that it has 1GB of built in memory or can accept a MicroSDHC memory card from which it can read and display content for stand-alone PC-free presentations! It supports not only Powerpoint files but also Word, Excel, plain text, MP3 and MP4 video files. So you can in fact watch a movie from this little thing if you wanted to!

I’ll be using the 3M MPro150 Pocket Projector over the next few weeks as I do have some presentations to give. I’ll come back and let you know how it fairs against the not-so-portable projectors available too. Have a look at the unboxing video below for a tour of the unit and a quick demo of the user interface and playback of stored files.

iiView Vpad unboxing video

I’m pretty sure that 2010 will go down as they year of the tablet computer. Since well before Apple made the iPad official we know that something tablet-like was on the way and may speculated over the eventual name and format of Apple’s tablet.

So we’re already starting to see several other manufacturers coming up with their own tablet computers and the likes of HP have their tablet out there.

SO this week I have a tablet PC from a little-known company called iiView. We have their Vpad tablet here at the moment and we’re going to be testing it out. The Vpad is more like a full-blown PC in that it runs Windows 7 and has a 320GB hard drive, Atom CPU and a 10.2″ 1024×600 display.

So if the iPad isn’t what you are looking for and you are after something with perhaps a little more power and flexibility to run anything you want under a ‘real’ operating system then perhaps the Vpad or other tablet might be worth considering. In the video below I’ll show you around the Vpad in terms of the connectivity and what’s in the box. Not too much of the OS itself as it’s a pretty standard implementation of Windows 7.

HTC HD mini vs HD2 video

I hope that by now most of you have had the chance to take a look at our recent review of the HTC HD mini.

As I mentioned in the review there are a few differences between the HTC HD mini and the HTC HD2 both in terms of hardware and software.

I thought I would follow up Matt’s earlier unboxing and demo video with another just showing you some of the differences between the HD mini and HD2 so you can see for yourselves and hopefully if you are considering buying either device this video may help a little.

HTC HD mini unboxing and demo video

The HTC HD mini is the last of the ‘big three’ handsets to be announced by HTC at MWC earlier this year. Hot on the heels of the HTC Legend and HTC Desire the HD mini is the smallest of the three handsets and also the only one that has Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the others sporting Android.

There aren’t too many Windows Mobile handsets being released at the moment but we have seen a few lately. The HD mini follows in the footsteps of its bigger brother, the HD2, and offers a very similar experience albeit within a smaller package.

James is putting together the full review of the HD mini for us as he was was the one to review the HD2 we thought it was fitting that he follow up with the HD mini!

As the recent format of our unboxing videos has proven to be quite popular we’re going to stick with it for now so below you will find the normal unboxing followed by a demo of some of the key features of the device. This is probably the first final retail unit to be reviewed and unboxed!

Apple iPad unboxing and demo video

I’m sure that by now you will be only too aware that Apple’s latest product, the iPad, went on sale in the USA last Saturday. According to reports 300,000 units have already been sold. If true that’s certainly an impressive number!

Thanks to our friend Ching-Yao Yu from Maryland my iPad arrived here yesterday lunchtime. Impressive service from Fed-Ex as it was posted on Saturday morning so took only three days to get here, and it was a holiday weekend.

The iPad, like many Apple products, seems to be falling in to the Marmite category, either you love it or hate it. After just a few hours using the iPad I can tell you that I am definitely in the love it camp! I’m pretty sure that the iPad will be one of those pieces of technology that will never be far from my side.

Early adopters here in the UK should be aware that the Appstore isn’t yet ready for us and an attempt to sign in using a UK iTunes account will generate an error and a warning that the Appstore is not supported in your country. There is an easy work-around for now and it’s just a matter of time before Apple open this up to us in the UK anyway.

I have the 16GB model here, I thought I would keep things as inexpensive as possible to begin with as I am sure that I’ll be wanting the 3G model when that becomes available later this month.

As ever I have an unboxing video for you and a bit of a demo of a few of the features of the iPad. I’ll come back later with a longer demo video showing off more of the features once I’ve had a chance to get in to it a bit more. Feel free to post your questions on the forum too!

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 unboxing video

Well I finally got my hands on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 last week. This is a handset that I’d waited a long time to review as it’s one we’ve known about for months but for some reason the actual release seems to keep being pushed back. However, I understand that the X10 will go on sale any day now and is already available on O2 and the white version will be an Orange exclusive.

The X10 is a large Android powered device and with a 4″ capacitive touchscreen it is of a similar overall size to the Toshiba TG01 or the HTC HD2 although just a little smaller. I believe that it’s currently the largest-screened Android phone available at the moment.

Having had the handset for a few days now there are some things that really impress me about it. First of all the 4″ screen is really good. At 480×854 pixels it’s of a high enough resolution and of a large enough physical size to make watching videos and using the web browser a pleasurable mobile experience.

The camera too is great. Sony Ericsson are known for having good quality camera-phones and the 8.1 megapixel shooter in the X10 is no exception. I think this too is that highest resolution camera in an Android handset at the moment.

So it’s unboxing video time and below I have a slightly lengthy one for you. As the Desire videos I recorded last week seem to have been popular with a combination of unboxing and brief demo I thought I would stick to that format with the X10. Check it out after the jump: