Standing out is hard enough in the often predictable and increasingly overcrowded world of PC peripherals, and when you focus upon the particular genre that is the portable hard drive the task becomes even more Herculean. But that has not stopped Prestigio from having a damn good crack at doing something different with data storage devices. Welcome to the art of hi-tech, to steal the Prestigio brand slogan.

Open the silver (well, OK, silver coloured cardboard) outer box to reveal the inner packaging consisting of two chocolate brown leather (well, OK, shiny brown cardboard) trays which slide in opposite directions to present you with the contents and you are immediately introduced to two concepts: Prestigio has gone for a feeling of style and glamour, but they have done it on a budget.

There is nothing actually wrong with the Data Safe II, in fact it is rather a decent little USB powered hard drive. We tested the 80GB version but for an extra £25 you could double that capacity. Whichever size you opt for you get the same tan leather enclosure and matching carry case. Unfortunately the latter is inexplicably enormous and more then doubles the width of the device, which means it most certainly no longer fits comfortably in the average pocket.

Without the carry case it measures just 62 x 101 x 12mm and weighs only 110g, and is certainly slim enough for your trousers. The former looks good though, if not exactly a million dollars, but it does stand out from the crowd. Which is more than the specs do, as this is a USB 2.0 powered, 4200rpm, 2.5” hard drive with a 2MB cache that is sitting under the cow skin.

We liked the discreet on/off switch and button marked "copy". We liked that copy button a lot because it is what you can press to initiate a one touch data backup simultaneously on your PC and on the Prestigio courtesy of the supplied software.

We like the fact that you can use the Prestigio with almost any computer, it works with Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP/ Windows 2003 Server/Vista, Mac OS 9.x and 10.x or higher (FAT32 format only) as well as Linux 2.4 or higher (FAT32 format only). We even quite like the public and private partitions, one of which can only be accessed with the correct password, should you opt to set it up in this secure fashion.

We are not so sure about the longevity of that posh looking enclosure though, it has to be said. The silver coloured metal banding that forms a band around the sides of the device feel very flimsy on our unit, squeeze the sides and they flex, pop and squeak rather a lot. The leather covering itself looks good from a distance, but doesn’t feel very thick nor luxurious once placed firmly in the palm of your hand. However, for just over £50 the Prestigio does represent pretty much the poshest looking external hard drive you are going to find...

Tags: Hardware Storage Prestigio Prestigio Data Safe II

Prestigio Data Safe II portable hard drive originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:00:00 +0000

If you have moved to the light-side, as in dumped your desktop in favour of a portable machine, then you will probably already be missing the ability to use all those essential peripherals without having to worry about plugging things in and out, or the vagaries of Bluetooth/Wi-Fi printers and the like.

One answer is to opt for a really big laptop; I have one on my desk with a 20-inch screen which, to be honest, very rarely gets moved anywhere.

As a result everything is permanently connected and the keyboard is big enough to meet the requirements of a professional writer.

But this is not a laptop in the accepted sense in that it is not really portable - unless you include a hernia on your list of essential peripherals that is.

Which just leaves you with that old favourite (shudder) the laptop docking station. These used to be as big as the laptop itself and designed with all the panache and style of a slab of grey plastic can muster.

Things have changed, thankfully, and not only have laptop docks got small and better looking, they also do a lot more than just provide a permanent home for your printer, keyboard and mouse connections.

Take the new Toshiba Dynadock DVI for example. Not only does the sleek (well, OK, fairly sleek at 45 x 78 x 222mm) and vertical gloss black unit look good, I would be happy enough to give it some desktop space without worrying what the neighbours think, but it has tons of functionality built-in.

How about an external display port, UXGA 1600 x 1200 resolution and DVI to boot so there is no loss of colour quality as you might experience when using a cheap and inferior VGA product? Or what about the six, yes count them, six high-speed USB ports for attaching all your gadgets and gizmos?

Let’s not forget the serial port (9-pin D-Sub RS232) or the microphone input (3.5mm) or the headphones socket (3.5mm) or the Ethernet connection (10Base-T/100Base-TX) or the 7.1 surround digital audio output (SPDIF) either. Have I mentioned the MIDI/Joystick port? Well I have now.

Once you install the required software on your lappy and plug it in via USB it simply works. That is it, it works and you forget that it is there and more importantly you can forget you are working on a laptop until the time you unplug it and hop on a train.

Yes it is expensive, but if you are the kind of person who demands the best from your computer system and want to be able to use the same high-end laptop machine wherever you happen to be then the Dynadock has little competition. Indeed, the fact that it is not tied to just Toshiba laptops is a major selling point.

Tags: Hardware USB gadgets Docking stations Toshiba Toshiba Dynadock

Toshiba Dynadock laptop docking station originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:25:22 +0000

Data has exploded in this digital home era, from music to video to games and just general computer stuff – we have ever increasingly large amounts of data and ever decreasing space upon which to store it.

The 100GB or so of hard drive storage on your desktop or laptop PC soon fills up, and before long anyone who is serious about their digital lifestyle starts looking to external drives.

These are readily available, fairly cheap, provide huge amounts of capacity, and precious little else. But there is certainly much more to the Thecus N299 than just being an external hard drive, just another data box.

The clue is in that Network Attached Storage tag, something that business users have known about for the longest time. The first real hint of this being something different for the home user, the first hint of additional functionality on offer is evident even before you get it up and running: not one, but two Ethernet ports; not one but three USB ports. Truth be told, the Thecus N299 puts most NAS boxes to shame when it comes to connectivity.

And connectivity is ultimately what NAS is all about. That’s where the N299 really shines, with a front mounted quick-copy button that links to the front mounted USB port, which allows you to dump data from a memory stick to the NAS box with a single press for example. But getting data onto the device is one thing, the ability to access it whenever, and wherever, you need it is quite another.

Again, the N299 does not disappoint, with internal software that operates as an easy to configure and use HTTP server. Business class stuff, but with a menu system that makes it easy for the average home user to add additional users, stream media including the ability to use it as an iTunes server to throw music at any PC with iTunes installed. This storage device even comes with an integrated download manager bringing scheduled BitTorrent transfers, sans PC, into the mix if so desired.

Additional functionality can also be found in the shape of those other USB ports which will happily work with USB printers or webcams to stretch the boundaries of this network attached device even further. So if you want to use it as a print server, no problem, and implementing a home CCTV security system is child’s play with a webcam or two.

In the configuration we played with, you get a couple of 500GB Samsung hard drives in a RAID configuration, and these proved speedy enough to cope with the biggest of file transfers around the network at a rate of 5Mbps and streamed high quality video content without hesitation.

It also worked happily enough with Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X and Linux, which was nice. It won’t win any prizes for looks, and is not the smallest box on the block at 8.5 x 20 x 16 cm but you can easily hide it away out of sight if you opt for a wireless connection via a USB adapter.

There is plenty of flexibility on offer with the N299, allowing the consumer to choose the right balance between cost and capacity for their own particular needs – and we like that. A lot. Although the entry level device may sound expensive at £100 when it comes with, well, no capacity at all it does mean you can source your own hard drives to populate it.

A good choice for the technically competent user on a budget. If your need for space beats wallet protection every time, then the range topping 2TB at around £600 will fit the bill nicely. For us though, this 1TB unit is pretty much the perfect "one size fits all" device with more than enough storage for most normal folk and without doing too much damage to the bank balance.

Tags: Hardware Storage Networking Thecus Thecus N299

Thecus N299 NAS drive originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:33:40 +0000

Gaming input peripherals have a habit of looking like they have been designed by a teenager after one too many alcopops, and the Zalman FG100 is no exception.

Although given the soubriquet of FPSGUN, we would venture that it looks more like the amputated foot of a robot than any gun we’ve ever seen.

It truly is bizarre to look at, and the strangeness continues as you get to grips with using it.

Literally getting to grips in this case, as you have to grasp the rear part of the FPSGUN as if it were a joystick while the mouse buttons get transposed to beneath and in front of your index finger and the scroll wheel ending up side-mounted for thumb usage.

Of course, being aimed at the teen game player market this wheel is illuminated in blue, or purple and sometimes red. At first we couldn’t figure out what was going on with the different colours but all became clear as we discovered it was dependant upon the sensitivity setting we had configured.

We found the glow rather distracting during gameplay it has to be said, and would prefer such pointless design cues are omitted on what is meant to be a serious bit of gaming kit.

There is no denying that, when compared to a standard keyboard and mouse combo on a PC, the FPSGUN brings a certain visceral edge to the gaming experience. When you need to fire you don’t feel like you are pressing a mouse button, you feel like you are pulling a trigger and that is really rather satisfying.

The super fast 1ms response with a 1000Hz polling rate, that adjustable on-the-fly sensitivity right up to a cool 2000dpi, a total of five programmable buttons and even the gold plated USB connectors and Teflon coated quiet feet all show real attention to detail.

Indeed, if you can live with the design, and get to grips with the button placements which we found a tad clumsy for our big fat middle-aged hands, then the FPSGUN isn’t actually bad at what it does but what it does is pretty limited. The horizontal control is superbly crisp and precise, way more so than a standard PC mouse, courtesy of the forward optical sensor placement.

Unfortunately, the Yin Yang effect quickly kicks in and you discover the same sensor placement makes for less than precise vertical control. This, coupled to the quirky design, really does rule it out as anything other than a FPS game controller.

Try using it to navigate around your desktop, browse the Web or God forbid a touch of graphic design work and you will soon discover the true meaning of frustration.

Truth be told, the lack of vertical precision means that it is best suited to particular first person shooter games, namely those which fall into the "tactical" genre where headshots are the order of the day.

Speedy and precise horizontal control comes into its own here, and so does the FPSGUN. But that’s a pretty precise niche group of users to target a peripheral at don’t you think? You can change the vertical sensitivity using the supplied software but it is far from intuitive and far from ideal.

Our biggest gripe is also our smallest: the FPSGUN is just too small for most adult hands which leads to it becoming uncomfortable with prolonged use. As responsible types we really do have to worry about the potential for strain type injuries as a result

Tags: Gaming PC games Gaming hardware Mice Zalman Zalman FPSGUN

Zalman FPSGUN originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:26:36 +0000

There is one compelling reason to opt for the Trust Ultra Small device if you need to add Bluetooth 2 capability to your computer, and it’s a small reason at that, literally: size.

All wrapped up in a unit which is pretty much the size of a USB connector plug alone, you get all the Bluetooth connectivity you need. It really is worth stating just how small this thing is.

Sure, you can get an idea of scale from the photo of it next to the 10 cent euro coin, but what absolutely matters is knowing how much it adds to your notebook because that’s where you are going to stick it, right? How about the truly amazing fact that when Trust say ultra small they mean it and this baby only sticks out 6mm from the surface once plugged in (we reckon that is smaller than a hamsters privates, although we are not getting the tape measure out to prove it).

In fact it is so small and works so well that once installed you really can just forget all about it and never remove it again. Which takes care of the "it’s so small I’ll lose the bloody thing" argument. If your notebook does not come with integrated Bluetooth then this will give you all the basic functionality you could want, including handsfree and audio profiles.

It worked faultlessly with every Bluetooth peripheral we threw at it from mice to keyboards, PDA to headset, camera to mobile phone. Don’t forget that this is a Bluetooth 2 adapter, which means if you are using Bluetooth 2 compatible peripherals you get connections speeds around three times as fast as the original standard.

Of course, many notebooks these days do come replete with Bluetooth connectivity built-in which makes the Trust Ultra Small obsolete. However, if your computer is sans Bluetooth then the chances are that it can be filed under either "long in the tooth" or "budget model" category, and in both cases you are not going to want to spend a small fortune on a small device to boost your small range connectivity. Which brings us nicely to the other compelling reason to go for the Trust option that we forgot to mention earlier, and that’s cost.

Truth be told the retail price is almost as diminutive as the dimensions, and you’ll not be paying more than £10 for one.

So there you have it, small on the outside, small on the bank balance but big on performance. When this arrived at the office we never expected to be blown away by such a tiny and ostensibly boring bit of kit, but blown away we were.

Tags: Hardware Bluetooth Trust Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2 USB Adapter

Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2 USB Adapter originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Accompanying D-link's revised collection of media streamers is the compact and portable DSM-510, an Intel Viiv oriented media streamer designed to offer access to digital content through a wireless or wired network, local USB storage or Viiv's online media servers.

It's orientation towards Intel's service means that the 510 isn't nearly as adaptable as others in the range, such as the DSM-330 which offers more generic access to online content regardless of the hardware specification of your PC.

This pigeonholes the device somewhat, but we're not going to get too sidetracked by its requirements to begin with and decided to take a look at its capabilities as a conventional media streamer.

The 510 takes a bit of a no-nonsense approach, cutting straight to the chase by offering an HDMI port on the back or alternatively an A/V composite cable and Scart adaptor for older connectivity. You'll also find optical digital audio, and a full sized USB 2.0 port for connecting USB storage for local playback.

We were pretty impressed by its basic operation, the unit starts up quickly and once you've configured a server, which requires you to organise your digital collection via Windows Media Player 11, it connects quickly and offers fast access to your digital content. D-link uses a standard remote control across its new range, and while capable we've always found it a bit unresponsive and not overly well designed. This aside you'll find operation quite straightforward, and will find you have a pretty good degree of control over how your media is browsed, organised and played back.

One area in which the 510 excels is in its performance, namely the fast and consistent streaming of video, even 720p encoded high-resolution content, from a computer to your TV. We were very impressed by not only the speed at which it allows you to browse and play back files from your collection, but the responsiveness of playback controls: fast forward, rewind and pausing. Streamers often fall down in this area, particularly when you're talking about wirelessly streaming HD content, so we were pleasantly surprised to see this work so smoothly.

Format support and image quality are both very good, although you won't be able to handle full-quality 1080p resolutions. We tried a range of different files in an attempt to find out if the 510 would slip up, and aside from some more obscure formats found that in the majority of cases things went very smoothly.

Of course if you have a Viiv technology processor you'll find a range of additional features that includes content from partners such as ESPN, Yahoo, Napster and Virgin Records. With a growing list of supports, the platform gives the DSM-510 an impressive edge over many rivals in this market, particularly when you take into account its performance and adaptability as a streamer. Without this it does lose some appeal, but being reasonably priced and in offering such a portable solution it still gets credit for being a decent all-rounder.

Tags: Hardware Networking Media streaming D-Link Intel D-link DSM-510

D-link DSM-510 media streamer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Don’t mistake an Epson Picturemate for a photo printing workhorse, that would be to miss the point. This is hardware for the casual digital photographer, not the professional or even the prosumer for that matter. If you fall into the category of someone with a camera who wants to print off a few pictures every week, rather than a few dozen every day, and without hassle or even a PC then Epson has pretty much got you covered.

The print quality is nothing short of superb, which to be honest is what we have come to expect from the Epson Photomate range. What is fairly surprising is the speed with which this particular printer can throw your photo onto paper: around 40 seconds from cold for a 10 x 15cm picture is no mean feat for a truly portable unit. And that is full colour, full bleed, fully lab quality prints as well.

We really liked the fact that despite the relatively small size of this printer, 250 x 231 x 165mm and weighing in at 3kg, it still comes fully pimped: a 9.1cm colour LCD, integrated image editing, even a built-in CD/DVD drive. Yet it really is a portable, right down to the neat fold-away handle to carry it around by. The memory card reader covers SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo, CompactFlash, SD card, Memory Stick, MultiMedia, IBM Microdrive, xD-Picture Card and there is USB connectivity as well. Bluetooth finishes things off nicely and means you really do have all bases covered when it comes to the no-PC-printing experience.

We also rather liked the clever auto-optimisation process which ensures every photo is printed in the best possible colour quality, without having to enter edit mode if you just want quick and crisp images every time. If you do want to get your hands dirty and be a little creative, then you can, but only a little. Editing options are limited to cropping and zooming, printing in sepia, adding borders, producing different sized output, red-eye reduction and that’s pretty much it. But hey, that’s pretty much all you need in a portable lab isn’t it?

No? OK then don’t forget the built-in CD/DVD drive which gives you an instant archiving ability to save your images from memory card to DVD. Now that’s what we call really handy in such a small package. What’s more, everything is really easy to use. From the moment you turn it on and lift the LCD open and are confronted with helpful tutorial animations, you know it is going to be a joy to use and you are not disappointed.

It’s Vista compatible, can reach a resolution of 5760 x 1440dpi, has a print speed of 1.62ppm and utilises the Epson Micro Piezo print head for four colour inkjet printing that produces near lab quality results courtesy of the advanced variable sized droplet technology.

Tags: Cameras Printers Epson Epson Picturemate PM290

Epson Picturemate PM290 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:00:00 +0000

GEAR4 has, in essence, attempted to make a Mini-Me version of its stunning looking Bluetooth BlackBox stereo speaker system.

In that regard we have to say it has succeeded in pretty much every department from the bling look of the minimalist piano black gloss finish with hidden LEDs that spring to life during use through to the all important wow factor when someone sets eyes upon it for the first time.

Size-wise the Mini almost lives up to the name, it is portable but not really pocketable unless you are happy with people approaching you with "is that an energy drink in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me" comments.

The BlackBox Mini is pretty much the same size as such a can of Red Bull, which is a shame because we like to be able to pocket our portable kit rather than have to use the little case it comes with or carry a bag to carry it around in.

Of course, you cannot expect a portable speaker device to match a standalone in-your-living-room one when it comes down to the real nitty gritty and that’s the audio performance.

Despite the clever design with speaker drivers mounted at each end so as to fire sound sideways and the promise of 24W of power, the sound itself was disappointing. Loud, but disappointing.

You need to tweak treble and bass adjustments on the audio device you are connecting, as there are none on the BlackBox Mini itself, which is fine if you are talking MP3 player but probably less so when it comes to most mobile phone music output.

The bass remains poor whatever twiddling you do, although in fairness it was possible to get some crisp and balanced mid- and high-range tones eventually.

Connecting via Bluetooth was fairly painless, thanks to a firmware upgrade function that downloads the right profile for your mobile when you connect the BlackBox Mini to your PC. This does assume that you have an A2DP Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone to connect it to though.

The 3.5mm audio input comes into play if you want to hook-up to an MP3 player sans Bluetooth, and iPod fans might baulk at the cost of buying the accompanying GEAR4 Bluetooth adaptor which costs nearly as much as the BlackBox Mini itself!

We did like the ability to opt for either mini-USB driven power or shoving some AA batteries into it, as well as mains power of course: very flexible and sure to satisfy most situations.

We also liked the overall minimalist look of the thing, with touch-sensitive volume and pause controls (no skip or fast forward though), but the LED lights get very annoying, very quickly, especially in the dark.

Tags: Audio Speakers GEAR4 Bluetooth Phones BlackBox Mini

Gear4 BlackBox Mini speakers originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:00:00 +0000

The Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000 costs twice as much as the previous 7000 version, but what does the extra 1000 give you? We get typing to find out.

Well, there’s the keyboard itself which has been slightly tweaked to make it rechargeable via the included all-in-one charging dock which it, and the mouse, plug into; and the space-age backlighting - more of that in a moment - with the application of a quick burst of silver spray paint to the keys. This is, we are reliably informed by Microsoft, the first ever rechargeable mouse and backlit keyboard solution to emerge from the company research dens. As in the first with a specially designed charging hub that enables both keyboard and mouse to be charged in-situ, in the one place.

You get the usual things that are expected of any self-respecting media keyboard these days, which means a total of four integrated USB ports, built-in navigation pad just in case you don’t fancy using the mouse that came with the keyboard (doh!), quiet touch keys and backlighting. OK, perhaps those last two are not the norm.

The quiet touch keys we could have done without in all honesty. Call us old fashioned but we like a bit of feedback when it comes to keyboard use, a reassuring click is handy in this regard whereas a "quiet touch" combined with not the greatest of spring in the key action itself left us feeling a little numb. The keyboard itself didn’t though, thanks to the ultra-thin "comfort curve" design which has been cleverly built with ergonomist approval to place your hands naturally and comfortably so reducing the chances of strain.

The intelligent backlighting is a little bit gimmicky, coming on automatically when you approach the keyboard and then turning off when you move away. Sure it saves battery life, but we would prefer a simple on/off switch to disable it completely which would save even more. The way the light dims according to the brightness of the ambient light in the room is impressive in a big kid in the techno candy store kind of a way though. Oh, and for your £150 you also get lots of dedicated buttons including one to access your Windows Live Messenger contact list, select an online contact and initiate a video conversation – assuming you use Windows Live Messenger that is. Or how about the gadgets button which, er, gives instant access to your Vista sidebar gadgets – assuming you use Vista that is. And then there is the Media Center Start Button which brings one-touch access to Windows Media Center – assuming, well you get the idea by now.

We don’t like the lack of a dedicated numeric keypad, yes, it keeps the keyboard size down, no, it does nothing for the real-world functionality of the thing. Very few people are going to use a keyboard just for media control and nothing else we would argue. If, as intended, this is meant to bridge the divide and be a one-for-all type device for lounge lizards and home office types alike then is has failed miserably because of this one significant omission.

The addition of a battery status indicator is a nice touch, at least you get to know when the unit is about to fail. The mouse itself is pretty slick though, what with the four-way scrolling and tilt wheel technology, superb laser tracking for extra high definition precision, and a rather nifty intelligent power delivery system which adjusts the battery life depending upon the performance needs of the user.

The recharging hub itself seems to be the big selling point here, at least Microsoft is firing all the big marketing guns in that direction. We are not totally convinced though. You connect the recharging dock to a power supply and also to a USB port on your PC, a rather clunky solution upon which you then rest both keyboard and mouse. The dock also forms a USB hub and acts as home to the supplied Bluetooth adaptor. All in all, it becomes something of a wires everywhere, things sticking out mess with very few options for finding somewhere comfortably pleasing to situate it in most living room scenarios.

The wireless Bluetooth connection worked well, managing a respectable 8 metres before the signal failed to hold. To be honest, you’d need pretty darn good eyesight to be able to use either mouse or keyboard at that sort of distance anyway, so we are not too concerned about it. We are concerned about that price tag though, it just sits there banging you on the forehead and saying "I sure hope the wife doesn’t find out how much I paid for this".

Tags: Hardware Keyboards Microsoft Mice Entertainment Desktop 8000

Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 keyboard and mouse originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Wireless broadband routers are coming thick and fast, and differentiating between one model and another is becoming increasingly harder as far as the average buyer is concerned.

After all, if it gets the data from the Internet to your computer and back again in a reliable and speedy manner from anywhere in the house that’s pretty much all you can ask of it, right? Well, yes, and that’s why Buffalo has gone for the speed and range jugular with the release of the new AirStation Wireless-N Nfiniti Router or WZR2-G300N to be precise.

Appreciating that more and more people are relying upon their router to literally be the hub and heart of the family multimedia system, streaming video and audio around the home and bringing on-line gaming into even the smallest room (not that we have ever played World of Warcraft whilst on the loo, oh lawdy no).

To this end Buffalo has developed a router which promises to deliver data up to 12 times faster than "standard" 802.11g wireless devices while at the same time getting that signal up to 4 times further.

Bold claims, but our testing here tends to suggest that they are justified to a degree. Certainly the Nfiniti proved to be one of the fastest routers we have seen, easily sustaining 90Mbps. Of course this is somewhat short of the "up to 300Mbps" claim on the box, but then the real world has a habit of breaking these lab condition perfect specs.

After all, have you ever got anywhere near the claimed fuel economy figures for your car unless you happen to be a professional test driver cruising around a test track at a constant 52mph? The range was equally impressive, covering every nook and cranny of our rambling offices, including many of the Wi-Fi shadow spaces that other routers have been unable to reach.

HD video streams were handled with ease, as were our online gaming sessions. Talking of which, we were delighted to discover that the WZR2-G300N proved an absolute doddle to get working with a Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection, seamless just about sums it up perfectly in fact.

Seamless and easy applies to the overall set-up of this router, and that includes security thanks to the wonderful Air-Station One-Touch Secure System (AOSS) that Buffalo have designed to make securing your network a one button press process. If you want detail, then the router supports WPS, WPA2, WPA (TKIP/AES) and 128/64-bit WEP security as well as coming with a NAT/SPI firewall and intrusion detector.

Overall setup is a breeze, and the web browser configuration as good as any other to be honest, with full support for Vista users.

Darn it, the thing even manages to look good in a somewhat admittedly geeky "I do what I say on the box" kind of a way. Measuring just 152 x 150 x 33mm it is no giant, and can be positioned horizontally for tight spaces without losing signal range as the three antenna setup is highly adjustable.

Tags: Hardware Networking Routers Buffalo Buffalo WZR2-G300N Nfiniti Router

Buffalo WZR2-G300N Nfiniti Router originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Some ideas sound really cool on paper, and with the right headline can make your jaw drop for a second or two at least. So it is with the AirBox CM3 mobile router which promises to bring broadband into your car even at 100 miles per hour.

Wow, you might be thinking, a proper full speed internet connection while I'm on the motorway. Double wow, you could be contemplating, Xbox 360 Live for the kids in the back, how cool is that?

But put your foot on the brake for a moment and let your brain catch up with the reality of the situation. What the AirBox actually does is deliver the Internet by way of a 3G/HSDPA mobile phone data connection, if available, and dropping down to whatever is left where one isn’t.

This means that you could be lucky and get something approaching 1.8Mbps by way of a connection, although tests tend to suggest that something under 1Mbps is more realistic and if you happen to be driving through a rural area then your internet experience becomes more akin to the good old days of dial up.

The device itself is small enough at 18.3 x 15.5 x 3.2cm and weighs much the same as your average paperback book, which means it can be stowed away out of sight when not in use although obviously you will need to slap it on the dash or parcel shelf and fiddle around with positioning to get the best signal when you are using it. An optional antenna is highly recommended if you intend to make serious use of such a device, it has to be said.

You can connect pretty much anything that you can to a bog standard router courtesy of the two Ethernet jacks, and the 802.11g Wi-Fi brings wireless into your car if you prefer. The CM3 supports multiple simultaneous connections, limited only by the available bandwidth of course, so you could be checking your email (not while driving at 100 miles per hour on the motorway as that would be wrong on so many fronts) while the kids kill each other in the back, virtually speaking.

Because it has been specifically designed to be used in a moving vehicle, there are clever features like always locking onto the strongest mobile signal when more than one is available and constantly searching for those signals to be able to maintain a broadband connection.

But just how clever is all this, when you move beyond the wow factor and think about it? After all, doesn’t your mobile phone work perfectly well even at 100 miles per hour?

Can you not get the Internet on the motorway via your mobile phone already, without having to cough up £250 for a new device? Certainly users of high end smartphones such as the Nokia N95 or HTC TyTn II can enjoy high speed internet access at high speed from a very small device already. Depending upon your data plan and mobile device, you can even already use it as a mobile broadband modem for your laptop on the move.

For the business user, the limo companies ferrying executives around all day and perhaps the family for whom roof mounted DVD players are so passé that only Xbox Live on the M25 will keep them ahead of the Jones’s the AirBox CM3 could find a home.

For the rest of us, we suspect that the good old smartphone will be sufficient. After all, that has the advantage of taking the broadband internet out of the car and into your pocket wherever you may be going. And you will need that 3G data subscription in the first place to be able to get a signal into your AirBox, which makes us think that the value for money equation here is not a particularly great one.

Tags: Hardware Networking AirBox AirBox CM3

AirBox CM3 mobile broadband router originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:00:00 +0000

You can easily use your web browser to visit any of the thousands of radio stations that broadcast across the Internet, streaming live audio directly to your PC or laptop.

So why would you want to shell out any money for a device that does the same? The answer is that you wouldn’t but you might want to for a small something that can be plugged into any PC and bring you access to 11,000 radio stations via its own custom front end interface.

The fact that the iRadioPop is tiny, this dongle measures 48 x 18mm and weighs in at just 8g, helps of course.

Oh, and it needs no batteries because it is a USB stick so grabs the minimal power it requires directly from the computer it is connected to.

Then there is the small matter of it also being a radio recorder, allowing you to grab a Windows Media audio file of whatever you happen to be listening to at the time and play it back later.

The software itself runs on Windows XP and Vista, but it does require Windows Media Player 9 or later to do its stuff, and it is actually an Internet Explorer plug-in which manifests itself as a standalone player – but what you are really looking at is a mini-web browser.

This becomes apparent if you forget to click on the play icon next to a radio station name and click on the name itself. Do this and Internet Explorer appears and takes you to the radio station home page instead of playing the audio you were expecting.

However, the mini-web app approach has many advantages such as allowing you to set up favourite radio stations with a single click, and just as easily browse by genre or region using a familiar web based link clicking approach.

Searching through the 11,000 stations on offer is surprisingly speedy and simple, and we challenge you not to find something you will want to listen to within a minute or so. Because the application is contained on the USB stick itself, rather than the host computer, the iRadioPop is ideal for mobile users as you can take your favourite radio stations with you wherever you happen to be in the world and access them from any Windows PC within seconds of plugging the USB dongle in.

We were less impressed by the recording ability though. A great idea in principle, even if it is restricted to recording audio in Windows Media format, that is rather hamstrung in practise by the annoying fact that it will not record to the USB stick itself.

We would have thought that the obvious thing to have done here was add 1GB of memory to the stick and let you record directly to it, so you could take that recorded audio with you. But instead the iRadioPop is locked down with no recordable memory space at all, a huge disappointment.

Still, that is perhaps a small grumble considering that this is otherwise a hugely flexible and surprisingly cheap proposition.

Tags: Audio Radios iRadioPop

iRadioPop USB Internet Radio Player and Recorder originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:00:00 +0000

It is rather hard these days to come up with anything approaching a unique selling point as far as hands-free Bluetooth headsets are concerned.

Indeed, I am filled with dread when yet another device is sent my way for review as I honestly fear that I’ll be able to say nothing more exciting than it looks Ok, it sounds Ok, it doesn’t cost too much. But the SuperTooth Visor Voice is different, for a start it isn’t a headset and to finish things off nicely it has that elusive USP.

First things first, this is a visor-based device. By using a combination of a metal mounting clip that installs on the sunvisor of your car and a magnetic mount on the device itself, it is easy to attach to the drivers’ side of the visor whether it is up or down.

Importantly, it is also easy enough to detach and remove from the car when you get out. At just 122 x 60.2 x 18.2mm and weighing 115g the SuperTooth Visor Voice is pocketable enough to carry around when away from the car.

Talking of which, the 50mm speaker is loud enough to allow the device to be used as a table-top loudspeaker for mobile conference calls when at home or in the office. Which is nice.

But not as nice as the innovative Text-to-Speech system which is more often associated with computers than mobile phone accessories. This is the elusive USP as far as I am concerned.

The full duplex device announces instructions for use in any of six different languages, as well as letting you know the status of the Bluetooth device and connection when you want it. The real doozy though is that is announces the phone number of an incoming call, and if that number happens to be in your contact list it will even announce the name of the caller. To answer the call you simply reply "OK" and that’s that.

Sure, voice dialling is nothing new, and in-car kits have long had this sort of capability at a price. However, when you consider that this is a fully portable unit which will not cast an arm and a leg, can be moved from car to car, car to home, home to office, it is a remarkable bit of kit.

The sound quality is good, courtesy of full internal DSP noise cancellation and echo cancellation, by filtering both mic input and speaker output, the clarity of your mobile handsfree communication can only be described as crystal clear.

The battery charges fully in 3 hours, and will run to 800 hours in standby or a little more realistically 15 hours in use.

Tags: Phones Phone accessories Handsfree Supertooth Car And GPS SuperTooth Visor Voice

SuperTooth Visor Voice originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Awooga, awooga, gaming keyboard alert. Which usually means look out for a weird and whacky design meant to make your gaming life easier coupled to a very silly name. The Wolf King Timber Wolf certainly does not disappoint on either front.

Apparently the big disc with keyboard hanging off to the right design is based upon the ancient fighting discipline concept of a circle of death. Martial arts fans amongst you may know that this is where you centre an energy which can then be used to gain victory during conflict. By arranging all the keys that you might use within the battle arena of a first person shooter game to encircle your left hand, the Timber King hopes to focus your fighting energy.

The keys within this circle of death are also silent in operation, so if being stealthy is important to you then it’s a bonus. Truth be told, the silent operation thing is a bit of a gimmick only and we would be surprised if there were many occasions where the majority of gamers would find this advantageous.

Unlike the rather cool vertical space bar which we found really does help with the gaming flow as it falls quite naturally underneath the left thumb. The K-Lock key is neat as well, as this allows you to toggle any in-game talk functionality rather than keep doing the press to talk dance.

Where most gaming keyboards come a cropper is in size, after all the addition of a huge gamepad on to a standard sized keyboard makes for something of a monster. Wolf King has tried to counter thus by removing the number pad from the right hand side, balancing the addition of the circle of death gamepad.

This does, indeed, reduce the overall size of the device and makes it just about compact enough to be touted from LAN party to LAN party. However, it remains pretty much the same size as a standard PC keyboard which sounds OK until you realise that you only get a notebook sized keyboard for normal typing duty.

Fair play it is meant to be a gaming peripheral and not something you’d find on an office desk. That said, if you are thinking of replacing your PC keyboard with just this one, then it certainly is usable as long as you are not a professional writer because believe us, you would soon get very tired with the cramped key layout. You would also, sad to say, get more than a tad peeved with the somewhat spongy key response. We typed this review using the Timber Wolf, and believe us our fingers were starting to hurt by the end of it as we had to hit them keys as hard as Ricky Hatton with a bee in his bonnet.

Tags: Gaming PC games Gaming hardware Timber Wolf Hardware

Wolfking Timber Wolf Keyboard originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:00:00 +0000

It isn’t the smallest (69 x 43.5 x 14.8mm) nor lightest (19.5g) USB thumb drive we have ever seen, nor is it the most secure, the biggest capacity or even the best looking. But it does provide something that we have not seen for a darn long time as far as these kind of portable memory devices are concerned, and that is innovation.

Just when we thought we had seen everything, the Yego comes along with one of those simple "I wish I had thought of that" concepts and shakes the market up. TraxData has adopted a Y-shaped design for more than just the aesthetic of it, each fork being home to an USB hub.

Yep, this is both a 2GB thumb drive and a two port USB hub in one. And why should you be bovvered? Good question. Our answer would be that it offers true flexibility in as far as both extending the usability of your notebook PC and extending your portable storage capacity.

The former probably being the most useful because all too often with smaller or cheaper notebooks in particular, by the time you have connected a thumb drive and maybe a mouse that is your peripheral capability used up.

What if you then need to connect something else such as an MP3 player, digital camera, PDA, smartphone or whatever? What if your notebook only has the one USB port and you want to transfer data from one thumb drive to another?

The Yego makes it all possible in the easiest way. We are less convinced by the never ending storage argument simply because it makes a lot more sense to buy an 8GB device than four of these 2GB ones – daisy chain them together and you would end up with some kind of wobbly DNA strand of memory devices hanging off your lappy!

For users on the move, and those who care about the environment, the Yego has a power saving mode that is both WEEE and RoHS compliant and reduces power consumption so extending battery life. For security conscious users there is a partition facility so you can store data in a secure fashion with password protection.

And that is pretty much it. You get a choice of whacky colour combinations, a USB 2.0 specification, driver-less installation and a LED to add to the 5 year warranty. But you also get the smug feeling of knowing you will never be short of USB connectivity ever again...

Tags: Hardware Storage Yego

Yego USB thumb drive and hub originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:00:00 +0000

The Belkin N1 Vision has a lot going for it: the performance boost of being a "second draft 802.11n" device for starters with the truly impressive wireless range that brings, then there is the four Gigabit Ethernet ports and the no disc required true plug and play setup.

But when it comes to jaw dropping party tricks, this is one router that really delivers and the clue is in the Vision part of the name.

This wireless router does away with pretty LED lights to convey information such as whether it is powered up, connected to a DSL line and transferring data across the Internet. Instead it brings a LCD screen right into the router itself to do the job properly.

When we say properly, we mean it as well. There are your upload and download speeds, of course, a network bandwidth usage report, the number of devices you have connected to the router, the date and time plus a guest access network security key function.

If something goes wrong, say the internet connection drops, the N1 Vision display is used to provide help and suggest the best way to resolve the problem, which is nice. Nicest is that guest access display which is tied into, unsurprisingly, the guest access mode.

If you want to let a visitor to your house or office access the Net via your wireless network on a temporary basis, all it takes is the press of a button and the deed is done. A security key is generated automatically, the guest connection is shown on-screen together with the amount of bandwidth that connected device, that guest, is using.

What is cool is that the screen, because it can display all connected devices, will tell you when someone who shouldn’t be using your network is doing just that, assuming you have not secured it properly, as well as reporting how much of your bandwidth they are stealing.

Of course, far better that you should secure it properly in the first place, which the N1 Vision router setup makes extremely straightforward to do. Which, in turn, makes that particular display feature a tad pointless.

And therein lies the rub: when you get to thinking about it, much of the display novelty soon wears off after the initial setup is done and everything is running smoothly. In all honesty, how much time do you spend, or want to spend for that matter, looking at what your router is up to? Exactly, as little as possible. Instead you just want it to do what it is meant to, provide you with a stable and speedy connection throughout your property.

Fortunately, the Belkin does just that. The promised maximum range of 1600 feet equates to pretty much one end of your house to the other unless you happen to be the Queen. Our test connection was as stable as they come, and we cannot argue with the steady throughput it delivered courtesy of the built-in 3x3 MIMO radio design. Wired connectivity is equally impressive, with no less than four full Gigabit Ethernet ports to play with.

The trouble is, that what you are left with is a perfectly good wireless router when you take away the screen functionality but one which costs you a premium for that display which you will find you hardly ever use. Which leaves us thinking that perhaps the more sensible option, and certainly the better value one, is to opt for the standard no-display N1 model instead and save a few quid.

Tags: Hardware Networking N1 Vision

Belkin N1 Vision wireless router originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:27:38 +0000

You probably haven’t heard of BlueAnt, unless you happen to be Australian that is. Down under it can boast of being the biggest supplier of Bluetooth peripherals in the country.

It has chosen an interesting product to attempt to break into the UK market, and one that has already picked up an innovative design award at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show.

The Z9 is a small, and we do mean really very small indeed, Bluetooth headset: measuring 41 x 17.5 x 11.2mm and weighing just 11g including the removable ear-hook.

Don’t mistake small for lacking in functionality and features, or somehow equating to a budget model design either. This is seriously sophisticated stuff all round.

Starting with the design, the Z9 is both stylish in a black finished minimalist kind of a way, and as that award suggests innovative as well. The innovation being that the clear Perspex ear-hook makes the already diminutive Z9 look even smaller on the ear as there is no black band of plastic to add to the perceived bulk.

It doesn’t stop there, because you can also wear this headset on your shirt or tie when not in use courtesy of the integrated "clip" which considering the size is an excellent idea as it means you won’t be losing it easily.

The real innovation starts when you look beyond the design though and at the technology. The Z9 employs dual microphones together with noise reduction via its patented Voice Isolation technology, a really rather revolutionary proprietary Digital Signal Processor software and hardware solution.

What this all does is separate the voice signal from any background noise, such as wind or traffic, and both enhances and isolates those frequencies that affect voices coming into and out of the headset itself. It effectively reduces wind and traffic noise while cancelling echo, and in our testing provided superior voice clarity in use both in-car and out on the streets.

Throw in the 2 hour charging time for the Lithium Polymer battery, providing 5 hours of talktime and 200 hours standby, plus a no nonsense 2 year replacement warranty and you’d think BlueAnt have pretty much got the fiercely competitive Bluetooth headset market sewn up. Well, possibly.

There is no doubting that it has all the functionality you need and then some, we really liked the ability to pair up to three phones and have them automatically switch on the fly for example, as well as differing ring tone support. But it also has a few flaws, well one in particular: the ear bud is a one size doesn’t fit all design and so is almost guaranteed to never be 100% comfortable.

The Z9 will not slip, thanks to that ear hook, and it isn’t designed to be a pure in-ear device. However, custom ear buds would have made the difference between being fairly comfortable and invisible to the wearer.

Still, the fact that the multi-function button that controls all the functionality has a blue ant logo which literally does glow bright blue in use makes up for that.

Who wouldn’t want a blue ant in their ear after all?

Tags: Phones Headsets Bluetooth BlueAnt Wireless BlueAnt Z9

BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Being gadget freaks we have all bought into the HD-ready TV revolution but how many of us are actually watching HD television broadcasts?

Well I am, because I was foolish enough to "invest" in a Sky HD box and pay an additional £10 per month for, to be honest, hardly any HD programming at all.

Beyond a few Discovery Channel documentaries and the odd BBC or Sky One production, there is precious little HD content being broadcast even if you are paying to view that content.

Which is why the arrival of the snappily named Hauppauge WinTV Nova-HD-S2 tuner card caught us a little by surprise here at Pocket-lint.

It is being pushed on the premise that it adds HD satellite channels into the reception mix, without the need for a subscription.

Actually, it allows you to view free-to-air HD content on your PC or a linked TV set. Assuming you can find that free-to-air HD content in the first place, which currently means a few BBC programmes such as Torchwood and Robin Hood, plus some sports coverage.

There is no doubting that at £99 including VAT this sure beats any Sky HD pricing deal, but it is a lot of money to get content that just isn’t there in any volume at the moment.

It’s easy enough to set up though, assuming you already have the investment in the HD telly and a satellite dish, oh and a high powered high spec PC for good measure.

All that is required to get going is to plug the card with its built-in satellite DVB-S2 and DVB-S TV receivers into a spare PCI slot in your 3.2GHz or faster (or Core Duo) PC with its good 1GB whack of RAM, and AGP or PCI-Express graphics card with at least 128Mb memory and Windows XP SP2 or Vista (but there are no 64-bit drivers available, or planned). Then connect it to your satellite dish and hey presto, a live HD TV feed via the included CyberLink PowerCinema software.

The ability to use your PC as a video recorder for digital satellite TV is nice, and it will retain the HD quality format as well. You can record digital radio channels as well.

Tags: Hardware TV tuners Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-HD-S2

Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-HD-S2 TV Tuner originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:00:00 +0000

The clock radio is a familiar site in the bedrooms of old people all over the country. The under-60s, however, probably do not have one nestling next to a teasmaid and a large print library book.

The iH8 hopes to change all that by bringing clock radio technology bang up to date. Well, by adding an iPod into the mix at any rate.

This iPod alarm clock from iHome allows you to both wake up and fall asleep to your favourite iPod tunes, or the radio if you prefer, while it recharges your player overnight.

Shame that iHome have not gone for a more radical and attractive design, the traditional clock radio look is never going to have the hip young things salivating over it.

Still, the form is good for the function in that it is highly stable so when you are scrambling around for that snooze button in the morning you won’t send the unit and your iPod flying off the bedside table.

In fact, the concept itself is nothing new and iHome have been making iPod alarm clocks for a few years now. The iH5 was something of a hit, becoming the best selling iPod accessory in the US for a time.

The design remains much the same, but the iH8 adds an equalizer for bass, treble and balance control, the ability to turn the display light off, 12 preset FM/AM radio stations, and a programmable sleep function with five different time schedules with gradually decreasing volume level that can be set independently of wake volume.

Perhaps the most interesting new feature, though, is the dual alarm functionality. iHome reckon this is so that you and your partner can wake up at different times to separate alarms without having to hit the reset button.

Obviously they have never slept with my partner, or they would realise that once she wakes up there is no reset – you have no choice but to get up yourself! Seriously though, it’s a decent enough feature and easy enough to use. Setting the alarms is delightfully easy and you can choose to wake up to your iPod, the radio or an annoying buzzer if you must. A set of backup batteries ensure you don’t sleep through if there is a power cut.

The iH8 is compatible with all docking iPods and comes with a selection of docking inserts to ensure a good fit. Unfortunately, you can’t connect an iPod in a case – or so says the documentation. My rubber iSkin Evo clad video iPod was a snug fit without any docking adaptor fitted it has to be said. There’s also a line-in port for shuffle users, or those with a non-iPod MP3 player.

The remote control is hugely naff though. With distinct lag in use, and poor directional capability which makes it all but useless when you are half asleep and snuggled up under the covers. Shame, as it is quite fully featured even allowing for radio tuning and equaliser adjustment as well as snoozing.

Audio-wise the iH8 is OK, nothing more and nothing less, but then it doesn’t cost a fortune so you shouldn’t expect too rich a soundstage. As a bedside clock radio it is perfectly adequate, but you wouldn’t want to listen to the thin bass and slightly puny overall sound in the living room.

Tags: Audio Speakers iPod speakers iHome Alarm clocks iHome iH8

iHome iH8 iPod speaker alarm clock originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:00:34 +0000

If you have read our review of the Unison i-X5 iPod speakers then you will already know that we have been blown away by the sound quality that Cygnett are capable of producing.

The question is whether that same audio experience can be replicated in portable form courtesy of a FM transmitter and your car stereo.

Experience of such devices tends to suggest that the answer will be negatory, but you never can tell until you test.

Which is how I found myself on the motorway heading to Sheffield for no good reason other than to listen to my iPod.

I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again: it is a tough job but someone has to review gadgets.

First things first then, looks. Let’s be honest about it, when compared to something as svelte and innocuous as the iTrip the Groove Transporter takes on a rather obese appearance.

The gloss black finish of the test unit matched my iPod Video nicely, and even looked good against the black carbon fibre of my car dash. But there is no getting away from the fact that it is big and bulky, and like all devices which plug into the cig-lighter/accessory socket are ham-strung by its location. In my car it was OK, the Groove Transporter did not interfere with gearbox operation nor get in the way of my knee.

It did, however, wobble around a bit causing the odd clank, until I adjusted it to rest on the base of the centre console tunnel.

If you are using an iPod, pretty much any model except the Shuffle and Shuffle G2 are supported, then connection is via the dock connector and so slick and wire free. If you want to use a different MP3 player, or maybe a PDA or mobile phone to get to your music, then you have to add USB cabling (for charging) and audio cabling (for sound), which looks a real mess it has to be said.

Tuning the device to an available frequency (87.6MHz to 107.9MHz) is as easy as it should be, and a memory function means you don’t have to repeat the exercise every journey. The included remote control means that passengers can annoy the heck out you as your drive, changing tracks and volume with consummate ease.

Of course, you cannot use a fiddly credit card remote while driving so is as good as useless if you are on your own. The nature of an iPod is such that attempting to change these things manually while driving is also dangerous and could leave you open to prosecution if the Old Bill see you a-fiddling.

It’s also a bit on the pricey side if you compare it to the small iTrip and similar devices which retail at under £20, in fact it is more than twice as costly.

Sure, you do get battery charging on the go for your money, so your iPod will never power down in the middle of the motorway. But, to be honest, I always start a long journey with a fully powered iPod and have never experienced this anyway.

And that includes a 10 hour drive to Scotland during which the iPod was playing via an iTrip transmitter for a total of 7 hours. Do you really need to keep it charged when the battery is a good one?

Let’s recap then: big and bulky, no control while driving, expensive.

Tags: Audio FM transmitters Cyqnett Car And GPS Cyqnett Groove Transporter

Cyqnett Groove Transporter FM transmitter originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:00:00 +0100

We have always liked the ebox series of media centre PCs from Evesham because they perform as good as they look and don’t cost the earth.

Even the fact that Evesham Technology went into administration a couple of months back does not dampen our enthusiasm.

After all, the company has bounced back under new ownership with all existing warranties honoured and, from the looks of this effort, no drop in the product quality that we have become used to.

So what about the new ebox HD then, can it compete with the crowd as well as its previous incarnations? The answer appears to be a resounding yes: a 320GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, R690 chipset, dual DVB TV tuners and that all important HDMI output all wrapped up in the sexiest of matt black boxes for the living room. Even the pricing, at £700 including the VAT and a 3-year warranty, are spot on.

Then there is the wireless keyboard and mouse to accompany the remote control, so no need to get square eyes or trip up the wife when you want to do a spot of computing stuff. The amount of memory, coupled to the twin tuners, means there is no lag when you start multi-tasking either. This is a real dual function, all-in-one, entertainment PC. It isn’t perfection though.

The main reason being one of noise levels. Now, hands up, we could have just got a slightly noisy machine, it does happen. So we asked another reviewer who had played with one about the sound of the fans spinning up, and down, and up again during HD movie playback and he agreed it had been a problem.

It isn’t that the fan noise is overpoweringly loud, it doesn’t cause you to raise your voice when they cut in, just your eyebrows.

An annoyance more than a major cause for concern, and certainly not as noisy as many a desktop PC for sure. But don’t expect the same levels of background whirr
that you get from a Sky+ box for example.

But then you don’t get Windows Vista Home Premium running on your Sky+ box, nor a dual core PC ready to work when you’ve finished kicking back. The ebox even looks better, if you prefer smooth matt black metallic finishes to dodgy looking silver and grey plastic ones that is.

It is a shame that Evesham did not stretch to either a Blu-ray or HD DVD drive though, considering that the HD aspect of the new ebox is a major selling point.

However, if you are looking for something that bridges the gap between price and performance, that crosses the divide twixt pure play and work when required, if you need a computer that will not look out of place next to your Xbox 360 Elite and that huge flatscreen TV you’ve just bought, then the ebox HD is it.

Tags: Home Cinema Evesham Hardware Evesham ebox HD

Evesham ebox HD media centre PC originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:00:00 +0100

Just how small can a USB 2.0 storage device get? That is not a question we spend too much time asking ourselves here at Pocket-lint Towers.

After all, as long as it is big enough capacity-wise to hold all our data and small enough physically not to cause "is that a USB stick in your trousers or are you just pleased to see me" remarks, who really cares? The answer, it would seem, is TwinMOS.

We last encountered TwinMOS when they sent us an Imperial Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars and insisted it was an iPod speaker and now they have gone and done it again by delivering what appears to be a plastic price tag instead of a storage device.

At just 42.6mm long, 14.7mm wide and an incredible 2.8mm thick, this is less thumb drive and more half a little pinkie. It is so small and light, 1.5g light to be precise, that you will be as amazed as us to discover it contains 4GB of flash memory storage capacity.

The idea, we are told, is that you can simply pop it into your wallet or purse and forget it is there until you need it. All very well and good, assuming you can find it again when you do. The B1 is destined to get lost a lot. What would have been handy was some kind of faux credit card into which the B1 could slot, and thus be safely stored in said wallet or purse.

Such a case would also have eased out concerns about the B1 lacking any kind of connector cap, and the USB connection being exposed to possible pocket change or key related damage as a result. We say key related because the only practical carrying solution as is, is to hang it off your key ring.

On the subject of the no-cap design, TwinMOS argue that this is, bizarrely, to prevent the stick from getting lost. We assume if and when a cap works loose, and further assuming it was attached to something via that cap. An excuse that doesn’t wash with us, sorry!

Performance wise though, the B1 is good enough. We saw a sustained data transfer rate of 550KB/sec when copying files to and from the little beastie, and it is also ReadyBoost compatible for those of you with Windows Vista looking to add a little zing to your desktop operations courtesy of a 4GB memory boost.

Tags: Hardware Storage TwinMOS Flash drives TwinMOS B1

TwinMOS B1 USB memory drive originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:00:00 +0100

The Cinergy Piranha is the smallest USB digital TV and radio receiver on the market as far as we are aware, and oh boy is it small.

At 80 x 30 x 15mm it is barely bigger than your thumb, unless you happen to be a gorilla that is. Of course, that is just the size of the basic unit itself. If you plug in the portable antenna it becomes a lot less pocketable than before, although not exactly huge.

Thankfully the reception is a lot bigger than the size of the mini-stick suggests, and we were really rather impressed by the quality of the picture even in areas where the signal wasn’t that great.

It works better if you plug it into an external antenna, but what would be the point of such tiny technology if not meant to be used in a portable capacity?

The piranha should really have been called the Tardis because it is so big on the inside. Who would have thought that such a diminutive object would be a digital television (DTT) receiver, a digital radio receiver (DAB) and even a mobile phone TV receiver (T-DMB) all at the same time.

Although still something of an emerging technology, Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting uses highly efficient compression routines to transmit digital video content to mobile phones. The piranha future-proofs itself by making the technology available now.

But it is for watching the telly on your laptop that most users will be buying this, and they will not be disappointed. The TerraTec Home Cinema software that is included in the box has a simplicity of interface that belies the power beneath.

It provides a central control point for all the functionality, gives timeshifting of TV programs along with a perfectly serviceable electronic program guide, oh and a digital video recorder for good measure.

If you would rather use Windows Media Centre that’s no problem, and Vista is supported as well. There is even the possibility of remote programming via the Internet or mobile phone courtesy of a trial subscription to the TVTV service that is in the box.

Tags: Home Cinema TV tuners TerraTec Hardware Terratec Cinergy Piranha

Terratec Cinergy Piranha TV Tuner originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Computing is not what it used to be, thank goodness. Only an old bloke called Albert hankers after the days when a personal computer required a room the size of my house and then took 4 years to say "hello world" after all.

PCs have shrunk in both size and price, while performance has gone through the roof.

The same applies to the peripherals that we connect it to, the huge LCD flat panel monitor, the all-in-one printer, scanner, copier, fax and Jacuzzi, the kick-ass speakers, a few TB of external storage and the list goes on.

The trouble is, all of this stuff consumes electricity, and most requires its own socket to suck that power out of the wall. Which is where the problems start.

First, unless you live in an office, you will have to invest in some socket extensions to plug the things into. Second, you have to pay the bills at the end of the month and it is surprising just how much your collection of PC peripherals, all sitting there on standby while you sleep, can cost in terms of electricity consumption every year. Third, there is the small matter of the cost to the environment to consider.

It is estimated that anywhere between 5 and 10% of the total electricity consumption of the world’s most developed nations is wasted by devices that are left on standby.

I have seen the wastage compared to leaving a carbon footprint equivalent to the exhaust fumes of 120,000 4 x 4 vehicles every year. And we all know that carbon dioxide emissions are a commonly blamed cause of global warming.

So, your computing habit could be wasting your money and killing the planet. Nice. Which is where the OneClick IntelliPanel comes in, superhero style to save the Earth and your wallet.

This all-in-one device looks and acts like any other power extension block, providing 8 plug sockets, plus built-in surge protection for the lot and telephone/modem protection for good measure.

But the really clever stuff starts when you plug your PC into the master socket and your peripherals into the others, and then switch on your computer.

It’s a miracle Ursula, and does not involve liquid nitrogen.

What it does involve is the IntelliPanel sensing that you’ve powered up the PC and then 5 seconds later powering up your peripherals as well. Thankfully it does the same in reverse as well, shutting down your peripherals 5 seconds after you turn the computer off. The 5 seconds delay allows printers to park their heads safely, in case you were wondering.

If you want to be really eco-friendly, you could use this with your telly, DVD, games console and so on. Powering down the entire home entertainment system when you switch the TV off.

You can’t, however, use it with your laptop for reasons not particularly well explained by OneClick. But if they say you cannot, then who are we to argue?

Related links:

• Link - OneClick

Tags: Hardware Gadgets Eco OneClick IntelliPanel Energy saving power extension

OneClick IntelliPanel Energy saving power extension originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:00:00 +0100

I cannot recall ever seeing a larger USB memory drive than the Corsair Padlock, and I’m not referring to the meagre 2GB capacity either.

Nope, this is quite the most humungously huge device around. To think of it as a thumb drive you would have to have hands the size of King Kong.

But if you did then you would run into trouble as soon as you tried to access your data, because you actually need fairly nimble little fingers to press the buttons on the numerical keypad.

Err, yes, you read that right. This USB stick has a numerical keypad built-in to the casing, hence the "padlock" name and the size of the thing.

It is the unique selling point, and id truth be told does make for an eye catching display on the shelf. In the hand, or connected to your PC, the appeal starts to fade a little though.

Not least because the combination of size, and to set the record straight it measures 82 x 23 x 14mm with the cap off and weighs in at 26g, and that key pressing requirement just do not mix with a standard USB connection. Plug it in and try to enter your combination number and it becomes a seriously wobbly affair.

Once you have worked out that you don’t need to plug it in, and can enter your PIN before attaching it to the PC, you have 15 seconds to connect it if you want Windows to see the drive at all.

Not that it really matters, because unfortunately from the seriously secure perspective at least, there is no limitation to the number of such attempts you can make.

Which does mean you will probably be wanting to opt for something longer than the 4-digit type PIN you are used to with your credit card for example. The padlock does accept up to 10-digit long codes, but that could not only be overkill it could also be murder trying to recall the darn numbers unless you are Carol Vorderman.

Thankfully, to avoid the chances of ending up with a big lump of Lego without the lumps, Corsair do have a PIN registration website that users can take advantage of and which provides a PIN code recovery system.

It is something of a gimmick, to be honest, but at least it does provide a different angle of attacking the problem of data protection on removable drives such as these. It is also something that pretty much everyone can associate with, and as such makes a good device for the less geeky members of the family and so might be worth thinking about as birthdays come around.

Who wouldn’t be hypnotised by the flashing red and green LEDs that fire up as you press a button (powered by an internal 3V lithium battery in case you wondered) or plug the device in to your PC? The fact that the authentication is totally self-contained, so no drivers to be installed and no complex encryption concept for the user to get their head around really does help in the making a normal user more secure stakes.

The more technologically aware will probably be put off by the small capacity, 2GB really is rather on the skimpy side when other devices are packing 16GB. And talking of skimpy, the data transfer rate could do with a bit of speeding up as well. Having tested dozens and dozens of USB memory sticks over the years, the padlock proved to be the slowest to hit my desk in recent months.

Related links:

• Link - Corsair

Tags: Hardware Storage Corsair Corsair Flash Padlock

Corsair Flash Padlock USB memory drive originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0100