The Canon MX340 is a multi-function device for the budget conscious buyer. It's available for about £90 online, but that doesn't mean they've skimped on the specification.

Of course, the Canon can print, copy and scan, but it also has a fax built-in and an automatic document feeder. In addition the MX340 has Wi-Fi connectivity too. There's no large colour LCD screen, but there is a two line display, which is okay, but in practice a bit restrictive. The automatic document scanner can handle 30 pages at a time at a resolution of 600 x 600, this is increased to 1200 x 2400 when using the flatbed.

There's no built-in paper tray underneath the MX340 as you find on other Canon models, but that's an acceptable trade off. The Canon is well built and though this is at the cheaper end of Canon's range the printer doesn't feel flimsy or cheap.

However, there's no card slots for printing from memory cards though there is a PictBridge Port if your camera supports it. You can also print directly using Bluetooth. As with many recent printers the Canon supports printing from iPhones and iPod touch devices. You have to download an app through iTunes, but when you do the process is flawless.

The Canon has two ink tanks, one for colour and one for black inks. The estimated yields for standard documents, according to Canon are 220 pages for the black tank and 244 pages for colour. You'll get 83 standards sized 6 x 4-inch images from the colour tank. Obviously, this will vary by use.

Print quality is close to the usual Canon standards, but there are some failings. Draft text is good but it's not as crisp as some others we've seen. Best quality text is better with a deeper black and sharper finish.

Photos were good considering there are no dedicated photo inks in the Canon. Some areas lacked detail, but overall the colours were accurate and results very pleasing. They're no match for proper photo print output, but overall they're good enough.

Copies were a bit of a let down in terms of both speed and quality. It took the Canon 36 seconds to chug through a mono copy and 49 to produce a colour one. The final product wasn't all that great either with visible banding and poor detail.

For a cheaper device the Canon has a decent specification and retains Canon's standard build quality. Performance is a bit of a mixed bag with some decent output, but nothing spectacular. We were impressed by the quality of the photos produced from the MX340 considering the lack of extra photo ink tanks.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Canon Canon Pixma MX340

Canon Pixma MX340 all-in-one printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 26 May 2010 12:00:00 +0100

Kodak has been making multi-function devices for a few years now and though its entry into the market was met with some fanfare they've yet to set the industry alight. The latest model from them is aimed more at the small to medium office.

The ESP Office 6150 is a well specified device with Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections as standard. As well as the normal print, copy and scan functionality the Kodak has a fax built-in that can store 100 sheets in memory and has a 10 number speed dial. The main paper tray holds 200 sheets of A4 and can print on both sides thanks to the built-in duplexer. In addition the scanning unit has an automatic document feeder for batch scanning, copying or faxing.

There's no card reader, though you can download an app for both iPhone and BlackBerry to print direct from mobiles. There's a decent 2.4-inch LCD screen to manage settings and help use the printer. The scanner has a 1200dpi optical resolution and can scan multiple sources at once. For example, if you put four items on the scanning bed it can intelligently crop and scan them to separate files.

Cheap ink is one of the attractions of the Kodak system. The ESP 6150 uses an all-in-one ink tank system with one for colour and one for black ink. The colour ink is available for around £11.99 where the black tank is £7.99. Kodak claims that you can save about £50 year using its inks over a similar ink jet from a competitor.

Build quality is decent if not inspiring, the lid slams shut if you don't open it all the way up, for example. Otherwise the black and yellow colour scheme is inoffensive and the buttons all respond well. The menus are simple to get through and options clearly identifiable.

Speed wise the Kodak is quite nippy. A 6 x 4-inch photo in standard mode took just 39 seconds to arrive. A page of draft text was ready and waiting in just 9 seconds and a 10 page document with a mixture of colour graphics and text was printed in a shade under 4 minutes.

Output wasn't nearly as impressive however with some lacklustre text and average image quality. Text wasn't nearly as crisp as we'd have liked and there was plenty of spare ink left around the characters. In draft mode the problem was worse with jagged text and a lack of sharpness. Photographs were ok, but lacked the colour and vibrancy we've seen from other manufacturers. Balance was good as was detail, but overall images from the ESP 6150 just lacked that bit of life. Similarly, the mixed text and graphics document suffered from a lack of punch to the colour and average text quality.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Kodak Kodak ESP Office 6150

Kodak ESP Office 6150 all-in-one printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 19 May 2010 09:25:17 +0100

Canon has a long heritage of producing excellent multi-function devices and it hopes to continue this success with the Pixma MX870. This new all-in-one sits at the top of their small office and home lines.

The MX870 has a massive list of features. On top of the usual print, copy and scan functionality it has a built-in fax, USB 2.0 connectivity and Ethernet port in addition to wireless 802.11n too. As well as the usual options you can download a free iPhone application that allows you to print to the MX870.

There are five separate ink tanks for better quality photo prints and more economic running. There's a digital memory card reader for direct photo printing and a 6.2cm LCD screen to review images and set other options. 

You can store up to 250 faxes in the Canon's memory, letting you choose which to print, and 100 numbers in for when you're sending documents. You can use the automatic feeder to send multiple page faxes too. The scanner captures images at 2400 x 4800dpi and the driver software comes with a host of editing options. 

The MX870 has two paper trays, one concealed underneath and a standard rear feed so you can keep plain A4 and photo paper loaded and ready to go. There's also a 35-sheet automatic document feeder for the scanning unit. The Canon can automatically print on both sides of your paper too with its built-in duplex unit. 

In our tests the Canon produced a range of excellent prints that really impressed. The MX870 was a touch slower than some of the multi-functions that we've tested, but not by any great margin. Besides, the slightly slower speeds were more than eclipsed by the all round quality of the output. 

Text quality is really good even at draft settings and a single page takes just 8 seconds to print. At best quality the time rises to 1 minute 40 seconds, but it is exceptionally good. Solid black characters and sharp edges are repeated across the board. Business style documents with a mixture of images and text over colours are good. Photo prints are, as we've come to expect from Canon, really good too. Fine details are retained and the MX870 produces really well-balanced colours. There was as light chink in the Canon's armour and that was colour photocopies. They lacked the detail and accuracy of the rest of the output, acceptable but not as polished as the rest of the prints. 

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Canon Canon Pixma MX870

Canon Pixma MX870 all-in-one printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:00:07 +0100

The Samsung ST550 is a compact camera with a difference. Instead of one LCD screen it has two. In addition to the 3.5-inch screen on the rear, it has a front facing 1.5-inch LCD too.

In all other aspects it's just like most other digital compact cameras available. It is compact and pocketable, measuring 99.8 x 59.8 x 18.6mm and weighing in at 165g before you add the battery and memory card.

The ST550 has a 12.2-megapixel sensor and a Schneider 4.6x zoom lens, that equates to about 27-124mm in 35mm lens terms. There's a small internal memory of about 50MB and the ST550 uses microSD cards for additional storage. As well as still images the Samsung can capture HD quality video at 1280 x 720 at 30 or 15 frames per second.  

In addition, the Samsung has a host of built-in technologies. There are 16 automatic modes with the usual suspects of portrait, landscape, macro, etc. The Samsung also has face recognition which stores up to 20 people and always focuses on them first whenever they're in shot. Slightly gimmicky, but still useable is the camera's gesture based interface, simply tilt the camera to the right to view images in sequence. You can even select menu options too. 

The 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD is very good, even in bright sunlight we were able to use it to compose and review shots. The controls are very responsive and we liked the vibrating feedback to confirm when you'd pressed a "button". We found focusing very fast with little discernible shutter lag either.

Construction feels solid and the Samsung is clearly built to last. Our ST550 had a dashing purple finish to it, but it's available in other colours for the fashion conscious. You connect the Samsung to your computer with a proprietary USB lead for charging and transferring images. It's not a major fault, but we'd have preferred to see a Mini-USB lead as they're more universally available. 

Image quality from the Samsung is very good, the ST550 gave solid results across the range of our tests producing pleasing images in all situations. Even in tricky lighting situations the Samsung performed admirably producing well-balanced and natural shots.

Colours were accurate and not over-saturated and detail was good. Overall the ST550 gave excellent results across the board for still shots. Video was good, but not as crisp, some test video can be seen here and here. Given that this is a primarily a stills camera this can be forgiven.

The front-facing screen is actually much more useful than we'd originally thought it might be. Children are especially drawn to the images and therefore more prone to be looking directly at the camera when you take a shot. It's not quite a revolution in photography, but we did find that we used the feature quite a lot. Arms length self-portrait instantly become much more accurate and flattering.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Digital cameras Samsung Samsung ST550 12 megapixels

Samsung ST550 compact camera originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:30:00 +0100

The Samsung ST1000 has a wealth of features many of which are similar to many other digital cameras available today. It does, however, have a few tricks up its sleeve that are likely to become more and more popular on compact digital cameras in the next few years. GPS location, wireless connectivity and built-in Facebook uploads are just three features to set the ST1000 apart.

The other features are all fairly standard: a 12.2-megapixel sensor, 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen, still and video recording are all squeezed into the ST1000's compact body. The ST1000 is capable of shooting HD video, at 1280 x 720 pixels at 30fps maximum.

There's a 5x zoom Schnieder lens housed in the slimline body too, offering a focal range of 35-175mm in 35mm terms. Samsung has chosen microSD for the storage format, which seems strange given that the body is certainly large enough (99.8 x 60.8 x 18.9mm) to accommodate a full-size SD card. It may well be the memory format of the future, but it's still a puzzling choice. There is an internal memory of about 100MB to get you going.

The Samsung has a host of useful features, face recognition being one, allowing you to know that the camera is focusing on the right person. It can remember up to 20 people and when it senses them will devote its focus and exposure attention to that area. There are 16 automatic modes to help point you in the right direction and the Smart Auto system will choose the right mode if you're unsure what settings to use. As well as the Wi-Fi connection it has Bluetooth built-in too.

The Samsung's touchscreen is responsive, but we did find the menu system a bit confusing to get to grips with. Once we'd had some time to play around it became clearer, but it wasn’t immediately obvious. For basic photography the ST1000 is a breeze to use and getting quick snaps is simple, as it should be. When viewing a slide show you can swipe through images iPhone-style and it automatically sorts out orientation with a built-in accelerometer.

Uploading images to Facebook over a Wi-Fi network might seem like a trivial feature, but it's interestingly addictive. If you have a Facebook account and use it you'll really appreciate the capability. It's hard to describe the frisson of excitement as you take a shot and almost instantaneously send it to Facebook for the world to see. You can also upload to other online services like Picasa, Flickr, Photobox for still images and YouTube for video.

Video sharing is, however, limited to 30 seconds of 320 x 240 resolution, okay for some candid clips, but it doesn't quite reach the standards that some mobile phones will. Setting up a Wi-Fi network is simple and it happily connected to the two Wi-Fi networks on our house, with no need to type in the password every time after the initial set-up.

Image quality is more than acceptable for a 12-megapixel compact. It's not flawless, but unless you're looking for perfection then the Samsung is more than capable. Sometimes colours were a bit over-saturated for our liking, but not to a wholly detrimental level. Our only real gripe with the ST1000 was a slightly sluggish focus that struggled from time to time.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Samsung Samsung ST1000 12 megapixels Digital cameras

Samsung ST1000 digital camera originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:55:26 +0000

The Siesta Flow is a bedside radio alarm clock with DAB digital radio, internet radio and wireless connectivity built-in, it even has FM too. At around £99 it's on the pricey side for an alarm clock radio, but there are plenty of features included in that price. As with lots of new products recently the radio comes with a touchscreen interface. 

Through the Siesta Flow's touchscreen interface you can log on to the Pure Lounge which lets you sort and organise all your favourite online content quickly. All you have to do is register your radio to use Pure's online service.

Essentially The Lounge is an online tool for organising your favourite stations, Podcasts and other content. It allows you to search by station, language, country, genre or quality. If you've got more than one Pure radio you can manage multiple radios too. You can also use The Lounge service to listen to your favourite radio stations online. It's a nice extra and if you listen to a lot of radio over a number of stations it's a great way to manage your content.

There are 30 DAB memory slots and 10 FM positions on the Siesta Flow. It automatically updates its firmware itself when connected to the Internet too. In addition, there are 4 different alarm settings and should you need a different alarm every day, you can utilise one of the 365 alarm sounds available online. 

The radio itself looks much like any other alarm clock radio you've ever seen. The buttons along to the top of the Siesta Flow are decent and, importantly, the snooze button is by far the largest one.

The touchscreen is another story. We found it to be frustratingly slow and unresponsive; it's really not conducive to a pleasant radio experience. Entering a Wi-Fi password was a real chore and navigating the hundreds of Internet radio stations, podcasts and listen again options just too fiddly.

The audio is fine, but nothing special it's unlikely make you sit up to admire the sonic quality, but then it's not so bad that you have to turn it off instantly. However, most people probably aren't looking for spectacular audio from their alarm clock and by this measure the Flow is more than adequate. Build quality is good and though the screen is fiddly to use it it's bright and clear. 

Tags: Audio Radio Pure Pure Siesta Flow DAB Radios

Pure Siesta Flow DAB radio originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The Elan II is a portable DAB and FM radio from Pure. On the surface the Elan II is a basic beast with a simplistic design. The silver and black finish is a bit retro and belies the modern internals in the radio. There are only five quick access preset buttons, but you can store up to 25 stations.

The two chunky dials control volume and tuning and the LCD display shows you station and signal strength data as well as scrolling text information when tuned to a DAB station. Perhaps, the standout feature is the ability to pause and rewind radio, both FM and DAB stations. In addition there's a 3.5mm audio in jack so you can plug your MP3 player or other audio source should the radio get too much for you.

The build quality of the Elan II really is excellent, while its styling might not be to everyone's tastes it is certainly well made. We particularly like the click-stop nature of the dials which give a good level of feedback. The LCD screen, though basic is easy to read and well laid out too. The recessed buttons give the Elan II a stylish look and feel, in short the radio is a very nice piece of kit. 

You can make the Elan II a truly portable radio with the optional ChargePAK (£34.99), which is a rechargeable battery pack that allows you to take the radio wherever you wish. If you're not bothered about the rechargeable aspect you can use six C cell batteries instead. 

The ReVu feature allows you to easily pause the station you're listening to so if you need to pop to the toilet during the game you won't miss a thing. Simply press the ReVu button to pause the audio. You've got enough memory for about 15 minutes worth of audio. You can rewind the radio too - again it's just the 15 minutes, but it's still a useful feature. We found that we used the feature much more than we imagined and it's a very useful addition that stops your favourite radio shows being interrupted. 

The audio quality is impressive for such a small device and it's particularly good with speech though there are bass and treble controls too should you want to tweak the settings. However, we didn't find the need to use them no matter what the station.

Tags: Audio Radios DAB Radios Pure Pure Elan II

Pure Elan II DAB radio originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:00:00 +0000

The Dell 1320C is a personal colour laser printer with USB and networking connections. It's just £204, which is impressive given the decent specification. A personal laser printer is a great alternative to an inkjet-based equivalent as it will produce a higher number of pages for your money. If you don't print many photographs and find yourself doing more business type documents this might be the printer for you.

The 1320C is a basic beast having just the two buttons and a selection of flashing lights, but to be honest there's not really much more you need. The design is simple too, however the Dell feels well built. The paper tray only holds 250 sheets of A4 at a time it does have a manual feed for envelopes though. Our only minor gripe with the design of the Dell is that the paper tray extends a couple of inches past the rear of the machine, but it's not a major issue.

It's not too large for a laser printer, but you will have to make extra room on your desk if you're replacing an inkjet. The toner cartridges are held in a single caddy-style arrangement, which is removed in one piece. We've seen more elegant approaches, but it does the job.

Where it really matters the Dell is a very capable performer. Print quality is impressive across the board; it's fast too with just 8 seconds needed to print 1 page of text and 57 for 10 sheets. Characters are well defined and we were impressed by just how sharp the output was from this £200 printer. Colour output was just as good; we tested the 1320C with a business document that included the usual graphs images and multi-coloured backgrounds you'd expect. Each page was sharp and colour accuracy really impressive. Even the images, which are usually a weak spot for laser printers were excellent. Again, it took the Dell just under 1 minute for 10 pages. One other aspect of the Dell we were impressed by was noise or more appropriately a lack of it. A small thing, but the 1320C is pretty quite in operation.

When it comes to consumables the laser clearly outdoes the inkjet on the number of pages produced front. However, it should be noted that a set of replacement cartridges for the Dell will set you back £220. That's £20 more than the cost of a new printer. Of course, the replacement toner capacity is higher than the ones shipped with the Dell, but it's worth considering. Also, it's unlikely you'll be able to pop down to PC World or other high street retailer and pick up toner for the Dell in same way you could for an inkjet.

Tags: Printers Laser printers Dell Dell 1320C Dell 1320C

Dell 1320C printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0100

The Canon Pixma MX330 is a inkjet all-in-one printer that’s designed for the small home office and business. There’s no separate ink tanks on this all-in-one, simply two cartridges, one colour and one black.

The black tank contains a pigment-based ink while the colour tank is dye-based, in an attempt to give you the best of both worlds; pigment for better text quality, dye for improved photo quality. Page yields are given by Canon as 220 for the black tank and 244 for the colour.

The MX330 has a 1200 x 2400 dpi scanner a well as an automatic document feeder for batch scanning and copying, it can hold 30 sheets of A4. It’s also capable of collated copies so you can put 2 or 4 on to one page. You can put a memory stick into the front USB port and scan directly to that if you;d like too.

There’s a 1.8-inch LCD screen to help navigate the menus and use the device: it’s smaller than many you'll find on modern all-in-ones, but it does the job. To add to the business aspect of the Canon there’s a 33.6kpps fax too.

In terms of design the Canon is inoffensive enough with a grey and black finish. The build quality is up to the usual Canon standard and the MX330 feels like it will survive the rough and tumble of office life.

The lack of separate ink tanks and the auto document feeder plus the fax, single the MX330 out as a machine aimed at people who do more with business documents than photos. The test results reflected this too. Text quality is very good for an ink-based device - it’s up there with some laser quality prints we’ve seen. Sharp and solid text blocks are in evidence in normal and best modes and even draft quality was very impressive. A page of draft text was out and ready to go in 9 seconds, which isn’t too bad, however a page of best text was a touch sluggish at 1 minute 37 seconds. Hardly an age, but slower than some of Canon’s other all-in-ones.

Ten pages of graphics and text was slow too at 6 minutes, though the quality more than made up for the time taken. The quality of the mixed text and graphics output was exceptional and it’s clear where this printer's strengths lie.

Photographic performance was less impressive, but by no means terrible. An A4 image took just 1 minute and 42 seconds, which is impressive, but the quality was more middle of the road. There was a lack of detail in darker areas, however, colour was accurate and overall the tone was good. If you only print out the odd shot then the Canon will more than likely be fine, but that’s as far as we’d go.

The Canon Pixma MX330 is clearly aimed at people who are printing out more text and PDF documents than photos and it’s very good at this. At £100 it’s excellent value for money, the lack of individual tanks might scare some off though the cartridges are available for about £15 each so it’s not expensive to replace the inks.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Canon Canon Pixma MX330 Canon Pixma MX330

Canon Pixma MX330 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:09:30 +0100

The Canon MX320 is a multi-function printer, copier, scanner and fax with an impressively low price point. At just £75 it packs in a lot of features for the cash.

The MX320 eschews single inktanks and uses a single black and tri-colour arrangement. The tanks are about £15 each and Canon claims that they provide laser quality and speed. The MX320 has an automatic document feeder for automated scanning and copying, it can hold 30 sheets at a time.

There’s a LCD display, but it’s just a text display. The scanner has a decent 1200 x 2400 optical resolution and an automatic mode, which selects the best options for the documents without you having change the settings.

You can scan directly to a USB stick via the front USB port, which is also a PictBridge connection for connecting cameras. Though perhaps a little outdated, there is a fax included with the MX320, which has a 50 page memory and 20 number speed dial. You can use the ADF to fax multiple page documents more easily.

The construction is up to the usual Canon standards with a reassuring sturdy quality to the flaps and doors. The two-tone black and grey plastic finish might not appeal to all tastes, but overall it’s ok. The MX320 has the very useful automatic opening feature that extends the output tray as soon as you press print. It might sound like an insignificant feature, but we’ve found it incredibly useful over the years.

The buttons could be a bit fiddly if you’ve got big fingers as they are flush to the top of the device, but we found them responsive enough.

Print quality is good especially text, which lives up to the claims Canon makes about laser quality. In draft mode the text is clear and sharp, it’s not a deep shade of black, but more than acceptable for everyday use. The best quality text takes things up a notch and although a single page of best text took 1 minute 37 seconds it’s worth the wait.

A 10 page mixed text and graphics document took a hefty 6 minutes though the standard of the output was good. We didn’t expect much from the photo quality, but in the end we were impressed. There’s no way the output comes close to the similarly priced Canon photo all-in-ones available, but the pictures the MX320 produces are passable. There’s much less detail especially in darker areas of an image, but for the occasional print the performance is decent enough.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Canon Canon Pixma MX320

Canon Pixma MX320 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:05:33 +0100

The Canon MP540 offers a lot for the money. It’s an all-in-one device, which has the usual print, copy and scan functionality. In addition there are two paper trays and a digital memory card reader with a PictBridge port for direct photo printing.

Five separate ink tanks supply the print head with standard CMYK and a pigment photo black. There’s an LCD screen to assist with navigating the menus and options too.

The design of this Canon mirrors the rest of the Pixma multi-function line up. It’s a silver and black slab that folds away neatly when not in use. The only connection option is a USB port but at £99 that’s acceptable. The MP540 is up to the usual Canon quality, with robust flaps, doors and openings. One nice touch is that if you start to print without opening the output tray the MP540 automatically does it for you. A small but actually more useful feature than you’d imagine.

The quality of the printer is perhaps the stand-out feature of the MP540, with excellent photos and standard documents. Text was crisp and clean with really good character definition and even in draft mode text was impressive. A single page of text was ready in just 6 seconds and more than adequate for daily use. We also ran a mixed business style document through the Canon and found the results equally as good. Colours were accurate and text over colours and images retained definition and shape.

Photo quality is another strong area for the MP540 with excellent prints. Photos had a truly impressive finish with heaps of detail and accurate colours. It’s a bit slower than some of the Canon printers we’ve tested, but not by much. An A4 borderless image was done in just under 4 minutes, which is by no means terrible.

Scans were just as impressive with a good level of detail and colour accuracy. Mono copying was the only poor performance from the Canon during testing with a final result that was a bit washed out for our liking. A full A4 scan took just 21 seconds and the resulting file was sharp and accurate though the driver might annoy more experienced users.

Overall though, the Canon is capable of stunning image quality especially considering the price.The ink tanks cost £7.99 a piece for the standard C, M, Y and K inks, the pigment black is £8.99. Page yields for Mixed text and graphics in pages are: Pigment black 324, Black 3425, Cyan 535, Magenta 510, Yellow 530. The ink tanks are decent value for money and a smidgen over £40 to replace them all isn’t bad either.

Tags: Printers Canon Canon Pixma MP540 Canon Pixma MP540

Canon Pixma MP540 all-in-one printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0100

The MP630 sits towards the top end of Canon's Pixma range of all-in-one devices. It's got an impressive feature set though at £170 that's to be expected.

The Canon has five separate ink tanks with the standard CMYK plus a photo black pigment based ink to provide better photographs. On top of this the MP630 has automatic duplexing to allow you to print on both sides of a sheet of paper. A memory card reader is included and can read the most popular, and some obscure formats.

The printer can output t 9600 x 2400 dpi and the scanner captures images at 4800 x 9600dpi. There are two paper trays both with a capacity of 150 sheets so you can keep plain A4 in one and photo paper in the other should you wish. There's also a CD/DVD printing attachment supplied with the Canon to create your own media designs. The main controls are kept under a flap on the top of the Canon. Here you'll find the 6.3cm LCD screen and main operation controls.

The MP630 is USB only when it comes to connectivity options and we're surprised there's no Wi-Fi or Ethernet. For the price we'd have liked to see at least a wireless option.

At £7.99 each for the four standard tanks the inks are decent value, the photo black is £8.99. That's £41 to replace all the ink, which is pretty good. Canon quotes the life of each tank in pages for mixed text and graphics as: Pigment black 350, Black 1875, Cyan 505, Magenta 471, Yellow 505. For photographs the estimates are given for a 6 x 4in shot as follows: Pigment black 3160, Black 665, Cyan 205, Magenta 206, Yellow 211.

The photo quality of the MP630 really is outstanding as well as nippy. An A4 shot at the highest quality setting took just 1 minute and 57 seconds. The print was superb with punchy and accurate colours and fantastic levels of detail. Even at the standard settings pictures on to photo paper were very very good. Using the lower quality setting also increased print times too.

Plain old text documents were just as good with a draft sheet ready and waiting in 6 seconds. Even in draft mode the quality of the text was really good, you'd be able to use draft mode for the majority of your needs. In best mode a page of text took a more leisurely 53 seconds, but characters were a rich deep black and really sharp with few jagged edges.

The scanner was just as accomplished as the printer in this combo with detailed and accurate image capture. It took just 12 seconds from pressing scan to having a file ready to go on the PC. Colour and greyscale copies were fast too and impressive in their accuracy and quality.

Tags: Printers Canon Canon Pixma MP630

Canon Pixma MP630 all-in-one printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0100

The Ixos Neo is an iPod and MP3 speaker dock with integrated alarm clock. As well as the iPod dock you can connect any device with a 3.5mm audio jack, standard phono connection or a PC through the Mini-USB port. It’s got an FM radio too so should you prefer to wake up to that you can.

The plastic construction of the Neo is ok, but that’s as praiseworthy as we’d be. The buttons certainly aren’t all that impressive and are a bit cheap looking. The design is nice though, and it sits well on the base, which for reasons that we’re not quite sure of slides backwards and forwards about an inch. At least the design has been thought of and it’s more attractive than some of the iPod dock clocks we’ve seen, however for £109 we’d expect a slightly better finish.

The Neo is very easy to use and skipping between sources is a breeze as is setting the clock and alarm. It might sound simple, but some alarm clocks seem to require a degree in astrophysics to set properly. There are four speakers with a power output of 10W, hardly ear shattering but loud enough. Also, the Neo is supplied with a thin remote control so should you wish to turn the alarm off and stay in bed you can do so without getting up. If the blue backlight is too bright for you there are three level of brightness you can set.

With these smaller audio docks you can’t expect miracles from the audio, the Ixos doesn’t provide any either. With voice and middle of the road pop the Neo provides decent if not compelling audio though anything more demanding shows the limitations of the speakers.

A fair bit of distortion was present when things got loud and as with many systems like this the audio sounds very condensed. This might not matter to you too much if you’re only going to be using it to wake you up at the start of your day. If, however, you wanted to use the dock more regularly than that it’s likely to disappoint.

Tags: Audio Radios Alarm clocks iPod Ixos Ixos Neo

Ixos Neo iPod dock originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0100

The SX415 is an all-in-one printer, scanner and copier from Epson. For about £100 you get a printer with a print resolution of 5760 x 1440dpi, using Epson’s Resolution Performance Management and a 1200 x 2400dpi scanning unit. The SX415 uses four separate ink tanks with DURABrite ink meaning the results should last. The Epson has a digital memory card reader and an LCD screen as well as a PictBridge port so you can print from nearly every digital camera ever made with ease.

The low-slung profile of the SX415 means it takes up the minimum amount of space, but in use the paper trays have to fold out so when you’re using it it’ll be a bit larger. With a shiny black finish to the plastics we have to admit that the SX415 is a more attractive device than most all-in-ones that said it’s hardly a thing of beauty. The buttons are a touch plastic for our liking but they do the job.

We tested the Epson with a range of documents and in the main it performed well. Probably the best of the bunch was a mixed text and graphics document whose 8 pages were ready to go in just under 3 minutes. Colours were accurate and text sharp enough. We’d have liked to see a bit more punch to the brighter colours in the document, but overall the result was good.

A page of best text took a fairly pedestrian 1 minute and 15 seconds, however, it was worth the wait as the results were excellent. Sharp and deep black each character was excellently defined and pretty impressive for an inkjet like this. Draft text was a bit poor by today’s standards as it lacked any degree of sharpness and was very, very gray.

In its defence it only took 4 seconds to make it out, but we’ve seen better results from similarly priced and as speedy all-in-ones. Photos are very good for a device that only has four inks and the pictures we chose stood up well against dedicated photo printers with specialist photo inks. They’re not quite up to the highest photo standards, but you’ll not be disappointed by the results.

A colour copy at A4 took 30 seconds exactly and the results were poor with colour accuracy suffering. Bright colour was almost entirely washed out and overall the end result was only just acceptable. A scan of the same image took a couple of seconds more than the copy, however, colour accuracy was much better with a much more realistic capture. It wasn’t all good news though, as detail was lost and sharpness not up to our standards.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Epson Epson Stylus SX415

Epson Stylus SX415 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0100

The Sennheiser CX 550 II is a high-performance earphone with noise isolating capability. They’re designed for the listener who wants a little more quality than is provided from the standard sets you get with most MP3 players. At about £80 they push the quality up without entering the realms of the very, very, expensive sets which are available.

In the box you get a selection of ear canal attachments and a case. Also included is a clip to enable you to keep the cable from getting in the way too much. The CX 550s feel like they’re worth every penny of the £80.

The CX 550 are made from a hybrid metal/composite and are clearly well put together, not all in-ear headphones have the same reassuring construction. Though, by their very nature, in-ear headphones are a very personal thing when it comes to comfort we found them comfortable even for longer periods. The stalks where the wires meet the body of the speakers stick out a bit, but it does mean that the wires don’t touch your outer ear.

As with all more expensive headphones you get plenty of detail about their construction. The CX 550s have a frequency response of 17-22,500Hz, a sound pressure level of 114dB and total harmonic distortion of less than 0.2%. They weigh about 12g and have a 60cm cable; this can be extended to 140cm with a supplied adaptor.

The audio provided by the CX 550s is clearly a step-up from the cheaper options and so much so that they’re worth the extra cash. We listened to a range of audio and were never disappointed by the quality. Bass was good though not so much it made your ears hurt: it was a balanced and listenable performance by the CX 550s.

The in-ear isolating nature of the Sennheiser headphones does mean that all the ambient noise is filtered out, however that does bring some issue with it. We found that sat still audio was fine, but on the move we could hear every footstep. The shorter cable and clip helps to minimise this, but as the cable is short you need to keep your device close to your ears.

With the cable extension plugged in you can hear anything that rubs against that too. Perhaps, we walk with a very heavy gait, but it’s still worth considering.

Tags: Audio Headphones Sennheiser Sennheiser Style CX 550 II

Sennheiser Style CX 550 II headphones originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:00:00 +0100

Jargon is an inevitable by-product when describing a technology, but manufacturers of audio equipment really seem to excel at making things sound complicated. Take the Sennheiser PXC 350 headphones, for example, they have adaptive baffle damping, which works in combination with the patented Duofol diaphragms. This combination prevents unwanted partial oscillation. Not only that, but Sennheiser's NoiseGuard actively compensates noise, based on the physics principle of sound and counter-sound.

So, what does all this mean? Well the PXC 350 are a set of noise cancelling headphones from one of the world's foremost audio experts, Sennheiser. Available for around £150 this is a pricey set of cans for the casual observer at least. The NoiseGuard technology was originally developed for pilots and plane cockpits. It works by using tiny microphones to listen to the ambient noise and then creating a signal that is identical but inverted 180 degrees to cancel the external noise out. All this is powered by two AAA batteries.

The active noise cancelling part of the PXC350 isn't the only way they get rid of background noise. The ear cups are designed to cover your ears completely, meaning that even without the active technology, external noise is kept to a minimum.

Other than the noise cancelling features the PXC 350 come with a case and adaptors for airline use and also have a 2-year warranty. There's an inline volume control and sensible wire length too. In addition the ear pads can be replaced as can the cable, so these are built to last. The headphones are designed to be travel friendly and although they are large, they fold away neatly as the ear cups twist and lay flat.

Audio quality is the be all and end all of headphones and we tested the PXC 350 with a range of audio and through a selection of output devices. It's always great when a product lives up to your hopes and the Sennheisers certainly do. No matter what type audio we were listening to the PXC 350 were fantastic. Loud heavy music was detailed and, as required, deafening in a good way. Classical was light and breezy chat was clear. In short these are really good headphones.

The headphones work with or without power so there's no need to worry if the batteries go flat. The audio quality was better with the power on but not so much that you'd be disappointed.

Tags: Audio Headphones Sennheiser Sennheiser PXC 350

Sennheiser PXC 350 headphones originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0100

Not a great deal has changed with multi-function devices since the first scanner was bolted to the top of an inkjet printer. Essentially you still get the scan, copy fax capability, but now there are plenty of extras thrown in to the deal. The design has been rounded off a bit too.

The Canon MP620 is a multi-function printer from Canon with an impressive feature set and a decent price too. £150 gets you a scanner, printer and copier with wireless, Ethernet and USB connectivity. The printer has five separate ink tanks and a resolution of 9600 x 2400dpi producing images that will last 100 years or so.

The connectivity options mean that you'll be able to share the Canon with more than just one PC easily and wirelessly. It might not seem all that important if your PC is sat next to the printer, but it's great if you have a laptop or computer in another room. If you do have a wired network you can set it up that way too. Essentially there's not much you can't connect the Canon to.

The five separate ink tanks include cyan, magenta, yellow, black and photo black the last of which improves the depth and quality of photo prints. Each tank costs about £12 and is easy to install – idiot-proof in fact. When an inktank is empty a red LED flashes to indicate exactly which one you need to replace.

For a device which packs in so many features, the Canon still manages to look quite sleek. The curved lines and silver-black finish all add to the aesthetic. The main control is hidden under a hinged flap. Here you'll find the main controls and an LCD screen. Those of you familiar with an iPod wheel will instantly feel at home using the device as a very similar device is used here to navigate the on-screen menus. The MP620 is very easy to use and the driver software clear enough for most. Getting to know your way around the Canon is a simple process too.

In use the Canon is very good. It handles text especially well from draft mode to best. In fact, draft mode is more than good enough for general everyday use. It's fast too with a page of A4 standard quality text ready to go in a shade under 9 seconds. Results were just as good with mixed graphics and text with accurate colour and clear, well-defined text.

Photo quality was good too with plenty of detail and accurate saturation to images. Some of our photos had a slight red cast to them, but it's a minor complaint. Scan quality is very good with well detailed and accurate colours captured. Copies were particularly good too and speedily produced.

Tags: Printers Canon Canon Pixma MP620

Canon Pixma MP620 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:19:27 +0100

The TH1 is aimed at those on a budget who still want to benefit from HD recording. It’s 720p rather than Full HD, but that’s still more than adequate for most applications.

The 3in widescreen LCD screen is impressive as is the 30x optical zoom. The TH1 uses SD or SDHC cards though it does have an internal memory capacity of about 40MB, which should be enough in an emergency, for images at least. That internal storage will give you 38 seconds, 57 seconds and 1:49 in the three video modes.

The top resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 frames per second isn’t bad, however the only other resolution available is a 640 x 480 option at 30 or 60 frames per second. You can capture still images at 1600 x 1200 pixels, which makes this a rather unimpressive 2-megapixel camera. Sanyo bill the TH1 as a dual camera, suitable for both video and still photography, but with just 2 million pixels you’ll probably want a regular stills camera too.

The short body of the Sanyo might not appeal to everyone, but it’s not too bad to use. At first we found the button placement a bit odd, however, over time it became less of an issue. The menus are a simple affair, however, you can put the camera into super simple mode if you so wish.

The Sanyo has a mini sized HDMI connection for you to hook-up directly to an HD TV or amp though the cable isn’t supplied with the camera. The supplied cables will allow you to connect to a TV with a Composite connection.

Rarely does a camera do so badly that we’d warn against using it, but sadly the idea that you might be able to use the TH1 as a stills camera as well as a camcorder is a poor claim. The stills shot with the Sanyo are terrible. Five years ago we’d have been disappointed with quality like this: today it is inexcusable. Rather than suggest you can use this as two cameras in one, Sanyo should have left off the photo function altogether.

Video was better than the still performance, but to be honest that wouldn’t be difficult. Here the Sanyo provides much more acceptable results, but they are only that, nothing more. Video was a touch soft and colours ok, but we’ve seen similar performance from cheaper camcorders.

This is essentially a stripped down version of the Xacti VPC-FH1, which offers more options and Full HD recording. Importantly the VPC-FH1 has a 1cm CMOS chip wile this model has to do with a 0.4cm version. If you’re not bothered about the true HD capture or can cope with a smaller range of features then the TH1 is certainly a nice camera to use. However, the real problem for the TH1 is that it sits uncomfortably in the middle of a range, neither one thing nor the other.

It’s more expensive than the Flip Mino HD and Kodak Zi6 yet cheaper than its full HD brother the FH-1. It doesn’t offer a massive step up in video quality from the budget models and isn’t close to the quality of the full HD version.

Tags: Cameras Camcorders Sanyo Sanyo Xacti VPC-TH1

Sanyo Xacti VPC-TH1 camcorder originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 21 May 2009 12:00:00 +0100

Sanyo has been steadily building a reputation for excellent quality video cameras recently and the new Xacti FH1 looks like continuing that trend. The headline feature of the Sanyo is Full HD recording. You can capture 1920 x 1080p at 60 frames per seconds onto SD or SDHC memory cards. With an 8GB SD card you’ll be able to record about 44 minutes of footage at the top resolution.

The Xacti can capture still images too with top resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels giving it a megapixel rating of 12. A 16x zoom lens and 3-inch LCD screen round off the most important specs.

But Xacti has much more up its sleeve, however, and there are a slew of other interesting features, which add to the camera’s arsenal. Two high-speed recording modes are available with 240 and 600 frames per second. Though the resolutions are restricted to an adequate 448 x 336 pixels in 240fps mode and a barely useable 192 x 108 pixels at 600fps. Still, experimenting with these super slow motion options is lots of fun.

The Sanyo has a slew of manual modes allowing you full control over options such as focusing; you can choose between the 9-point auto mode or spot focus. There are three metering options: spot, multi or centre-weighted and ISO options from 50 to 3200 and, of course, auto. There’s an image stabiliser for both video and photo modes and you can choose to have both on or off individually.

There are eight automatic scene video recording modes to suit various circumstances. Perhaps the most intriguing option is one called Face Chaser, which, sadly is simply a face detection mode whereby exposure will be biased for better results when the Sanyo detects a face. And if all the menu options are too much for you simply switch to the simple menus and let the camera decide on what to do for the best.

The controls are all mounted on the rear of the camera with the exception of the zoom toggle, which is on the top. At first we found that having the controls on the rear was a bit of a pain, but after a while you get used to it and shooting becomes easier.

You can connect directly to an HD TV with the mini HDMI port on the side of the camera, however you’ll have to supply your own cable though a Component cable is provided. You can output to a non-HD set with standard connections through the AV socket.

It’s easy to be really impressed with HD footage as even the lower-end video produced by the likes of Kodak’s Zi6 is notable: however the Sanyo really did make an impression. The clarity of the video and range of colours captured is excellent and, importantly sound wasn’t bad either. Obviously, without a tape mechanism constantly whirring the Sanyo has an advantage, but even so the captured audio was excellent.

Tags: Cameras Camcorders Sanyo 12 megapixels Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1

Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 camcorder originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 14 May 2009 09:00:00 +0100

The CG10 from Sanyo is a 10-megapixel camera and HD capable camcorder rolled into one. Its 1280 x 720 resolution should be more than good enough for the enthusiastic amateur. The zoom lens is limited to a 5x optic, however the 3-inch LCD screen is really impressive. The Sanyo has a flash too cementing its dual camera claim.

One of the more interesting features of the Sanyo is built-in video editing capability. It’s a bit limited, but if you wanted to create video on the go it’s actually quite useable. You’re not going to give Spielberg a run for his money but still it’s a nice feature.

Of all the features we thought would soon become annoying it was the talking assistant that came top of our list. Open the LCD screen out and a voice informs you which storage option you are recording to; either the internal 40MB option or an SD card. In reality it served as a welcome reminder and was surprisingly useful.

The design is sure to split opinion as the pistol-grip styling gives the camera an odd look and feel. There’s no doubt it’s comfortable to use for longer periods and operating the camera is made simple with all the buttons just under you thumb. However, no matter how you prop it you’ll not be able to use the camera on self-timer or for longer exposures without a tripod to help. There’s no way you’re resting this on the nearest wall to get an impromptu group shot.

Also, we found that putting a finger on or near the lens was quite easy, though obviously this will depend upon the length of your fingers. The Controls on the rear look a bit cheap too, but they work well enough so it’s a minor grumble.

Using video is simple enough and the large LCD is very good, but photos are another matter. The camera suffers from an incredibly long shutter lag as the display first switches to show the 4:3 image and then focuses and shoots. It took roughly 3 seconds from pressing the button to image capture, which is far too long. You’re going to miss plenty of shots this way and often we had images of people moving or turning away. Recording video clips is a much simpler and faster process, but that still doesn’t excuse the poor stills performance.

Image quality was a bit of a mixed bag though not terrible. We’d have liked to see slightly more from the still images, but overall colour accuracy was good and exposure generally correct. The images weren’t as sharp as we’d have liked and suffered from a lot of noise. In general, however, keeping to standard sized prints or web content you’d be unlikely to be disappointed with the pictures.

Video content was much better with impressive colour accuracy and decent sharpness. Focus was speedy and sound wasn’t too shoddy for such a small device either.

Tags: Cameras Camcorders Sanyo 10 megapixels Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10 camcorder originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 06 May 2009 16:26:07 +0100

The latest high-end compact from Canon is the IXUS 990 IS. It’s aimed squarely at those users who demand a high megapixel count, good zoom capability and yet a body that’s small.

If you’re going to consider the IXUS 990 IS as your compact camera of choice you’ll have to be serious about your photography as it retails for around £379, hardly a credit crunch friendly camera. It’s not a big step up to an SLR or bridge camera so you’re paying a premium for the smaller design.

The 12-megapixel sensor produces 4000 x 3000 pixel images while there’s a 5x zoom included too. That equates to a 35mm lens equivalent of 37–185mm, a hefty range considering the dimensions of the Canon. This IXUS can also record HD quality video footage at a resolution of 1280 x 720 and 30fps. The 990 IS outputs directly to your HD TV through a HDMI connection too.

As the name suggests the 990 IS has a built-in image stabilisation for better low light performance and it’ll help at the long end of the zoom range too. Automatic scene detection and face detection technologies are also present. There’s no viewfinder, however, so you'll have to use the 3in screen exclusively to compose shots.

Canon cameras are usually strong in the ease of use department and this one is no exception. The only reason you’ll need to use the instruction book is if you need a flat surface to rest the camera on while you take a self-timer shot. The camera is well designed with one exception. We found the dial on the rear of the camera a bit fiddly, it’s not a major drawback, but it took a bit of getting used to.

The LCD screen is marvellous, bright, crisp and clear it’s everything you could ask for in an LCD. It’s very impressive and probably one of the best screens we’ve seen on a compact. For the more adventurous there are a good set of manual controls. Spot, centre weighted and evaluative metering options are available as is an impressive range of ISO options: Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600.

One of the problems inherent with small cameras and large megapixel counts is the increased noise in images. The Canon coped well in our testing and we were very impressed with the images it produced. Images were sharp and colourful though in some pictures the greens were a little over saturated, that said it was only in a handful of shots. Skin tones were natural and even with the flash on, detail was good. Across the range of shots we took with the Canon results were very good. The HD video capability of the Canon was impressive, though sound quality was a bit flaky.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Canon Digital cameras 12 megapixels Canon IXUS 990 IS

Canon IXUS 990 IS digital camera originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0100

If you’re running a small business then you’ll be aware of your legal obligation to keep records of all your invoicing. You can use Excel and Word to do this but it’s hardly a joined up system. Keeping track of clients, income and expenditure can be a pain. Luckily, there are a selection of accounting and invoicing applications available for Mac.

MacFreelance is one such application; it costs £39 and is designed to integrate easily with existing Mac applications such as Address Book and Mail.

MacFreelance is managed from one window: clients, projects and invoices can all be seen from the simple interface. Adding clients is done by manually entering the data or by having the information copied across from Address Book. Automatic individual options can be made for each client such as invoice numbering, payment terms, currency and discounts. If you run multiple small companies you can invoice from each all within MacFreelance, even restricting which company can invoice which clients.

The software allows you to set a number of projects for each client and within those projects create as many invoices as needed. So, if you’re invoicing a company for the same work over and over you can put it under one umbrella project or simply create a new project for each billable item. To be honest it took a little getting used to and it would be simpler to just create invoices without first creating a project. This system does offer you a great degree of flexibility, however, and allows you to split down your earnings and see who’s paying you and how much work you’re getting from each client. You can also assign expenses to a specific client showing you how much it’s cost you to do the work too. If you wish to use MacFreelance to track all your outgoings you can simply create a new project and put them all in there.

Though MacFreelance is aimed at the person with little time for deeply integrated invoice tracking software you can create a useful set of reports to see where you are with your cash flow. The flexibility of the system and the simplicity of creating custom reports also means that you’ll be able to manage every area of your business no matter how niche your requirements might seem.

We have to admit that on occasion we were a bit lost in the interface and at times, when we wanted to change an invoice status for example, it wasn’t immediately obvious what was happening. However, this was an infrequent occurrence. The shear number of invoice editing options also meant that there’s good scope for making your bills that little bit more personal and, perhaps most important of all give your company a professional appearance.

There are plenty of other small but useful features in MacFreelance too. You can backup to your iDisk or a local volume of your choice in either native or XML formats. You can choose to default to fixed cost items rather than bill on an hourly rate or vice versa. Four different taxation options are also available.

There’s also integration with iCal to help you track expected payments and make sure you’re paid on time. If you are billing by the hour MacFreelance puts a handy icon in the menu bar so that you can easily track the time you spend on a project.

Tags: Software Mac software MacWare MacFreelance

MacFreelance - Mac originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0100

Standalone scanners have dropped in popularity since the all-conquering multi-function device came along, but there’s still a market for scanners. The LiDE 700F, the latest flatbed scanner from Canon, is a compact device with loads of features.

The 700F boasts Canon’s CIS technology, which allows the scanner to be more compact and it’s very slimline. With an impressive optical resolution of 9600dpi for negatives and slides and 4800dpi for other materials the 700F is capable of output for a variety of purposes.

The 700F has an ingenious stand arrangement, which allows you to have the scanner almost vertical and still scan. Obviously, you can use the scanner in the standard flat to the desk arrangement. The space saving element of the vertical stand is a bit gimmicky but it does mean the scanner takes up less space so if you’re really stuck for room it’s a worthy additional feature.

Powered over the USB cable, the 700F doesn’t have an external power brick, which keeps the size down considerably; perhaps, a more useful feature than a vertical stand. The 700F also has a separate 35mm film scanning attachment which is not permanently attached to the device. It handles six frames at a time, but you have to move the backlight attachment manually. Not a hardship but if you’ve got plenty of negatives to archive it’ll take you some of time to get through them.
The Canon scanning suite is impressively easy to use and if you’re after a simple click and scan unit the LiDE 700F won’t disappoint. It’s clear and easy to use without hiding the most useful features.

Scanning was pretty fast too with a full colour A4 300dpi document ready to edit after just 40 seconds. A 35mm frame at 1200dpi scan was ready in 39 seconds. Text was speedy too at 25 seconds. The Canon driver software has OCR built-in and it was fairly reliable but not quite as accurate as we’d have liked. The 700F can scan multiple images from the glass and produce separate files, which speeds things up too.

The advanced driver options are impressively complete so if you want a bit more control there’s plenty to go around. The driver has dust and scratch removal but in auto mode we found results a bit underwhelming. We didn’t expect miracles but for better results it’s best to use the manual control.

Tags: Hardware Scanners Canon Canon Canoscan LiDE 700F

Canon Canoscan LiDE 700F scanner originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0100

Running a Mac is meant to be a problem-free, simple, process that requires little input from the user. As always however, the reality and the marketing don’t always meet. Keeping the Mac operating system in tip-top condition can be a pain, especially for new users who might not know where to look. MacTuneUp is a software utility that’s hoping to bridge the gap and make Mac OS X optimisation that little bit simpler.

The application is spit into five housekeeping sections and there’s also access to other useful resources like Unix commands and system information such as error codes and keyboard shortcuts.

The Settings tab really doesn’t bring anything to your Mac that isn’t already there in various system preference panes and other preference options. However, it does put them all in one place and makes the job of managing your Mac slightly easier. Some of settings, like enabling the debug menu in Safari, are for the more experienced user so in some ways redundant. If you don’t know how to get to the debug menu you’re hardly likely to really need it. The Settings tab does have its uses though. If, say, you’re setting up a small group of Macs for the family or office then it would make the process keeping the machines identical easier.

Things begin to get a bit more involved under the maintenance tab. Mac OS X runs a number of repair tasks automatically, however MacTuneUp allows you to force the scripts to run when you choose. The false hope that is Repair Permissions can also be run as can System Optimisation. In addition MacTuneUp can cleanse your system of log archives and browser caches along with a selection of Mac application caches.

You can also do a mass reset of file types so any documents that have decided to open in Word instead of Photoshop, for whatever reason, will be reset to the default application. The force empty trash option is handy but again it’s not wholly essential. There’s a simple network optimisation tool, which speeds up all Internet traffic by managing buffer sizes. In addition there are tools for managing network sharing and a backup tool with plenty of scope for managing your Mac disaster recovery process. MacTuneUp also has a Firewall to replace or enhance the Apple one.

The whole application is managed from a single interface and this does make it simple to get to all the different options available. It’ll not take the novice user much time to learn how to navigate through and select some of the options. However, this ease of use also poses potential problems, as many of the things you can do need further explanation. The MacTuneUp interface does remind you of this as you edit options and we strongly recommend reading about each setting before putting them in to practice, especially if you’re unsure of the benefits.

We saw modest speed gains after running the suite of tuning options but this application isn’t really claiming to speed your Mac up vastly - just keep it in order. If anything MacTuneUp straddles the gap between experienced Mac user and total newbie well. There’s enough to keep your Mac running smoothly and give you access to features you might normally have to open the Terminal to get to.

Tags: Software Mac software MacWare MacTuneUp

MacTuneUp - Mac originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0100

The Pure Digital Avanti Flow is more than just an iPod speaker dock and at £270 though it has to be. The Avanti flow combines DAB digital radio, media streaming service and Internet radio in one low-slung and compact package.

Construction is especially robust: the unit is clearly well manufactured and built to last. Though the Avanti Flow comes with adaptors for most of the more recent iPods there’s no iPhone adaptor, which seems a bit strange. You can still attach one to the docking connector it just won’t sit as neatly on the top.

The Flow is a bit of an odd shape in that it's not all that tall but it is quite deep. The curved front houses the LCD screen and speakers. There’s a downwards-firing subwoofer on the base of the device to add some depth to the audio. The unit weighs much more than you might imagine.

The shiny black finish does add a touch of class though it is prone to showing off smudged fingerprints. The design is functional rather than daring and some might find its styling a touch retro. The LCD screen can be programmed to show all sorts of information in most of the listening modes and navigating through the menu options is simple enough.

The remote control is RF rather than infrared so you can use it without having to point it at the Avanti Flow but it is a touch slow to respond. We found it all too easy to skip two or three tracks at a time thinking that the remote hadn't registered.

Setup is a fairly easy process with the built-in Wi-Fi connecting to our network first time with no hassle. Entering passwords with the remote is a bit fiddly, especially with the short delay after pressing the relevant button, but you’re only likely to do this once in a while. Once the Avanti Flow was connected to the Internet it updated itself and was ready to go. The whole process took about 10 minutes.

Navigating and tuning DAB stations is a breeze but the shear number of Internet options available makes it a touch more difficult to find online radio content. Stations are listed in alphabetical order and unless you know your KDAX from you KPTY you’re in for a long case of trial and error. You can search for stations by name, genre, country, language and quality but again this can still leave you with a lot of chaff to navigate.

Pure’s solution to this problem is the Pure Lounge, an online service where you can add favourite internet stations, listen again and podcasts from the comfort of a web browser on your PC rather than the LCD screen on the Avanti Flow. The Pure Lounge then syncs with the Avanti Flow making it easier to get to your preferred stations. It’s not an ideal solution but it works.

Once you've found your content the Avanti Flow really comes into its own. The quality of the output really is exceptional. This is no bandwagon iPod speaker dock, plenty of thought and engineering has clearly gone in to the Flow, as the sound it produces is great. Even with speakers that are very close together, music of all kinds is well handled.

The large sub makes the most of rap and RnB bass lines but it’s still subtle enough not to muddy delicate classical compositions. Speech is a real strong point of the Avanti Flow and if you’re an audio book aficionado or prefer the likes of Radio 4 the Flow won’t disappoint.

Related links:

• News - Pure launches high-end Avanti Flow

Tags: Audio Radios DAB Radios Internet radios Pure Media streaming iPod speakers iPod Pure Avanti Flow

Pure Avanti Flow DAB radio originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000