There’s a growing range of printers and all-in-ones for budget or casual users, and Canon has always had a healthy selection of models that won’t break the bank. It’s newest range includes the MP495 - retailing for £79, it’s currently available from a range of online stores for under £50, which considering it’s design and feature set is quite reasonable.

The MP495 doesn’t betray its “budget” roots when first unpacked - it’s an unassuming but attractive device finishing in sleek piano black with a slimline scanner lid, neatly designed paper trays that slot tidily away when not in use and a range of controls and notification LEDs along the right-hand side of the top panel. These controls are well conceived and offer decent access to the key features of the device, though we can see most users opting for on-screen control via the proprietary print menu instead. It features built-in Wi-Fi, offers print, copy and scan functionality and boasts a 100-sheet input tray and manual duplex printing.

Setup is fairly straightforward but the lack of a display on the device itself does mean that following the on-screen prompts on a computer carefully is required to successfully set-up a wireless connection.

The MP495’s quoted print speeds are refreshingly understated and therefore far more accurate than we’d learnt to expect in this area. During our tests it outputted a 10-page document at a rate of 6.6ppm - not far behind the 8.8ppm quoted, and this rose to 8ppm when switched to draft setting. Standard quality is extremely good and though contrast is noticeably reduced when opting for draft mode, it’s would still be perfectly acceptable for most purposes.

Canon also claims that its new model is a bit of a whiz with photos, though sadly there’s no PictBridge USB connection or card reader to accept direct prints from devices. Outputting a full-sized A4 print at the highest quality settings took just over 3 minutes, but sadly the resultant quality was below our expectations. Images were overly dark and therefore lost a significant amount of vibrancy compared to the original, in addition to displaying a rather fuzzy hue and lack of sharpness that certainly wouldn’t make this device suitable for “photo quality” output. This was also apparent when outputting text and graphics, though less demanding images such as graphs and simple diagrams fared better and would just about be suitable for professional presentation. 

As a scanner the device suffers from similar issues to photo printing and while fairly fast at around 30 seconds to return an image on a computer, we were again confronted by a representation that’s a little too dark and a little too grainy for our tastes.

Though reasonably priced and nicely designed then, the MP495 is clearly more comfortable working with documents and those looking for a cheap all-rounder to handle photo printing should be aware of its limitations.

Tags: Printers Canon Canon Pixma MP495 All-in-one printers

Canon Pixma MP495 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:11:00 +0100

As cheap and versatile as all-in-one devices are these days, not everyone wants to pay for features they’re unlikely to use, and the humble monochrome laserjet still has a place in the market. Samsung boosts the range available with the new ML-1865; an extremely compact device (measuring just 341 x 224 x 184mm) finished in matt black and featuring fold-up input and output trays to keep things tidy when it’s not in use.

Those with little real estate on a desktop will appreciate its diminutive lines, but this is a fairly basic device, only offering a USB connection to a computer. There is a 150-sheet input and 100-sheet output tray and a manual duplex mode though, so you’ll still get a fair amount of use out of it without having to constantly reload paper. 

Diving straight into performance, Samsung has quoted print speeds of 18ppm and we worked through a 10-page document in 42 seconds - or approximately 14ppm, not bad considering the basic nature of the device. The time to first print of 8.5 seconds was also spot on, and in terms of text quality it’s very impressive - crisp, clear and perfectly suitable for professional presentation. Graphics don’t fair quite as well, with some detail in gradients and subtle shades being lost, but again it should be suitable for most and simple graphs and tables appear fine. 

One interesting feature of the 1865 is the One-Touch print, which is available directly from the device via a dedicated control button. This simply prints the screen as it appears on the monitor, with the key angle here being that it condenses everything into one page, so what you see is what you get, quite literally. We can see this being useful in terms of being able to arrange a document or various windows on a screen in a presentable way to produce a hard copy, and while it’s hardly cutting edge technology, adds a bit of extra appeal. 

Despite the simplicity of the device, the 1865 still commands a relatively high price of around £80. Admittedly there’s some justification for this premium due to the small size, but we’d have liked it to work a bit harder in this area. This means that portability will have to be an important concern to justify the outlay over a basic AIO or a more advanced inkjet, and we can’t see desktop space being that big an issue for many people.

Tags: Printers Samsung Samsung ML-1865 Laser printers

Samsung ML-1865 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0100

Higher up the scale in Canon’s new range of Pixma printers is the MG6150, an all-in-one device that combines print, scan and copy functionality in a sleek black chassis that boasts a 3-inch colour display that can be tilted upwards for better visibility.

This takes a slightly different approach to most rivals and isn’t a touchscreen display in itself, but is innovatively complemented by touch-sensitive controls that light-up on the top panel to control the particular feature that is being accessed. This is a really nice approach, adding both to the aesthetic factor and in offering a good level of usability. The screen itself is vibrant and clear, and offers good access to the configuration settings available, being a healthy alternative to the regular print settings dialogs. 

Elsewhere the exterior is effectively devoid of controls and in terms of connectivity you’ll find standard USB and wireless print options, a multi-card reader and USB/PictBridge port for direct printing. There’s a 150-sheet output tray and a 150-sheet input tray at the rear, and these are both well designed to offer sufficient support for paper and tuck neatly away when not in use. Automatic duplex printing comes as standard and there’s the option to add a Bluetooth dongle for wireless printing straight from compatible devices. 

Canon quotes speeds of up to 12.5ppm for black and white prints and 9.3ppm for colour. In our tests this was actually fairly accurate, and we reached 9ppm for a 10-page document print, rising only slightly to just under 10ppm at draft setting. Quality is superb however, with crisp, fine details and accurate text recreation at the smallest visible font sizes. In addition, draft setting should be easily good enough for most uses, and only loses a negligible amount of contrast.

In terms of photo printing, a full A4 borderless snap at the highest settings took just over 2 minutes, and we were very impressed by the quality here as well. Colours are vibrant and crisp, and though images were slightly darker than we’d hoped, retain their contrast and sharpness well in comparison to the original. This level of quality should be perfectly suitable for most and is pretty comparable to professional-standard output. 

Scans weren’t quite as impressive but should still be suitable for most applications. At around 30 seconds to return a recreation on screen the device is fairly fast, and though colours are quite accurate results are again a little dark and there’s a slight grainy hue over images that does detract slightly from their vibrancy.

Canon’s suggested retail price for the MG6150 is £199, but with significant discounts available online users can expect to save around 25% on the price. In this light this is an extremely attractive proposition, where a combination of excellent usability, impressive performance and a sleek design makes it a versatile choice for home or home office user.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Canon Canon Pixma MG6150

Canon Pixma MG6150 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:23:03 +0100

Mobile phones have been cutting into the MP3 player market for some time now, and with more and more handhelds offering built-in GPS and car kits to provide navigational aides for drivers and ramblers, we’d expect the dedicated in-car satnav market to go the same way. The latest to attempt to skirt this potential decline is Mio, whose Spirit V575 TV brings Freeview television channels, as well as media playback, to core navigation functionality.

The V575 is a rather chunky device with a large black bezel that is devoid of tactile controls, with the exterior highlighted by an aerial and Mini-USB port, microSD card slot to accompany the 2GB of built-in memory and power/reset switch. The design hardly strikes us as stylish, and feels rather hollow and plastic in the hand. Supplied in the box are an in-car mount and charger and an aerial designed to be mounted to a window to improve reception. 

The device is designed to be easily operated on the move, and to this end the 4.7-inch (480 x 272) display offers large, clearly labelled keys to help plan a route or view a map, access favourites or recent destinations, switch on the TV mode, view POIs close to the current destination and fire up the media player. The clear and simple way in which it is laid out is undoubtedly useful when it comes to making quick changes while driving (which you shouldn’t do, but is inevitably the case for most) but we did find it rather unresponsive, and on occasion the display seemed to register a multiple-press when only tapped once, which resulted in skipping quickly through various menus and did end up being quite frustrating. We liked the predictive keyboard however, which addresses this issue somewhat by effectively guessing common text entry and allowing you to complete an entry with a single tap.

As a satnav the device is fairly simplistic, and while it offers all the key searches and a decent range of POIs, it’s not particularly customisable. The “Near Me” feature for example, which is a handy way to locate food, petrol, parking, hotels, cash machines or emergency services works well, but we’d have liked the opportunity to change these default categories. There’s little flexibility in customising the map view and though it can be browsed by touching and dragging, this can also be unresponsive.

It fairs pretty well on the road with a short time to first fix of under a minute and though the maps are a little bland in our opinion, they are extremely clear. Handy features, like the fact that it zooms in automatically when you approach busy intersections and back out again on long straight roads, means it’s always very easy to see which direction or exit to take. Voice directions are very clear and can be repeated with a simple tap on the “next turn-off” area of the screen, which also displays an icon depicting the distance to and nature of the next instruction.

We also liked the tabbed interface used on the route information screen, which can be switched quickly between an overview of the entire route, trip computer and itemised list of directions. Mio also offers advanced lane guidance for motorways and traffic alerts alongside TomTom’s IQ Routes system, designed to take real-time traffic congestion into account at busy times such as rush-hour and recalculate a route accordingly. These features generally worked very well, though IQ Routes still isn’t perfect in terms of picking up areas that are commonly busy at specific times, at least in the area in which we tested.

Elsewhere the device’s media player capabilities are fairly mediocre. File support for video is limited to WMV and AVI formats and performance here isn’t great, with a poor refresh rate and often unresponsive controls. An MP3 player handles your music, which can be sorted by artists and albums or played in a random order, but while this is still usable our biggest issue by far is the built-in mono speaker. It’s extremely quiet even at full volume, and with no facility to connect headphones threatens to render these features rather redundant. 

Of course this also carries through to the headline TV functionality, and though the device is just about loud enough to enjoy in a quiet environment, most will struggle if there’s a bit of background noise. In addition we found it to be particularly inconsistent in terms of detecting and storing stations despite using both the built-in aerial and the supplied booster. Reception quality is fair when it works, but in truth this feature is far too temperamental to hold any appeal. In addition, the TV mode is disabled while a vehicle is moving, so passing the device to a passenger or the kids in the back to keep them entertained isn’t an option.

Tags: Car And GPS Mio Navman Mio Navman V575TV Satnavs GPS

Mio Navman V575 TV originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:58:00 +0000

It’s not often you see something a bit different in the printer/AIO market but Lexmark has produced a device that should turn a few heads in the Genesis S815. Most immediately striking are the aesthetics, since it utilises an innovative vertical design finished with a sleek piano-black front panel that also houses a 4.5-inch colour touchscreen.

Lexmark isn’t going all “super-model” on us and focusing the appeal of the S815 solely around looks however, as it boasts a “world’s first” technology called Flash Scan, which can allegedly scan images in 3 seconds, as well as instantly previewing the page on the main display for adjustment. You’ll also find more typical conveniences such as wireless printing, a PictBridge USB port, multicard reader, duplex mode and more current advancements in the form of access to online content via the touchscreen display.

All of this sounds very good, but ticking the boxes in terms of key performance is obviously a must. Sadly it doesn’t cover all its bases here, as we found print speeds to be far, far slower than the 33ppm quoted draft setting. In our tests we found 8ppm to be more accurate; a significant drop, and at regular setting the quoted 18ppm was more realistically narrowed down to 5ppm. Similarly printing full colour photos takes longer than we’d expect at over 3 minutes for a borderless A4 print and over a minute for a 7 x 5-inch.

Thankfully this slow speed is made up for somewhat by some excellent quality results. Photos in particular looked stunning from the S815, with accurate colours, distinctive contrast and sharp lines. Text was also crisp and clean with no bleed or banding even at draft setting, so if professional quality results are your aim, this device can certainly deliver.

It was also pleasing to see that the flash scan technology wasn’t as overstated as the print speeds. When a page is loaded into the device it is instantly “snapped” and displayed on the colour screen, with some basic photo editing options available to customise the image before scanning. It did indeed take just 3 seconds for an image to be rendered and a save dialog pop-up on our computer. Scan quality isn’t top-notch however, and we noticed a distinct grain over images that puts its ultimate performance in this area below similar mid-range devices, despite the outstanding speeds.

The final benefit on offer from the S815 is access to online content via the device’s SmartSolutions widgets. These are effectively a collection of resources that can be included in a customisable list of shortcuts and accessed directly via the printer. These are sorted into a range of categories and include benefits such as printable calendars, sheet music, graph paper and other forms and templates, informational resources such as weather, RSS feeds and clocks and various others to help improve productivity. This all worked very well in our tests, and confirmed our conclusion that unlike some other rival devices the touchscreen is nicely responsive, colourful and easy to use for both access to SmartSolutions and general operation of the device.

When you consider the print speeds alongside a relatively meagre 100-sheet A4 tray the S815 seems clearly oriented towards the home market rather than business use. Nothing wrong with that, but even despite the excellent output quality and range of additional benefits this is still a lot to pay for what is effectively a mid-range all-in-one. If print speeds had been up to scratch it would have been easier to justify the outlay, but as it stands this is a hefty investment considering the alternatives available.

Tags: Printers All-in-one printers Lexmark Lexmark Genesis

Lexmark Genesis S815 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Media streamers and internet connected TVs have provided consumers with some very capable ways in which to watch digital media and online video on the big screen, but it’s surprising not to have seen a capable, generic solution to simply send audio and video and from a computer to such a device.

Q-waves is the latest to have a stab at this elusive market with the Quicklink HD, a wireless USB device that claims to handle 1080p resolutions and 5.1 audio. It’s comprised of a host dongle to attach to a computer and a USB dock and associated destination dongle that offers HDMI and digital optical connectivity.

Installation and setup involves installing the supplied wireless USB drivers and connecting the various components, after which QuickLink’s proprietary USB manager and Displaylink software appears on the system tray. If all goes well (it did for us during setup) you should be able to simply switch your TV to the appropriate HDMI source connection and see your desktop in its full glory.

Typical display adjustment is available through the QuickLink software, including desktop mirror, extend, screen rotation and the ability to set the TV as the main display and adjust things from there. The process wasn’t without its problems however, and though the issues we encountered won’t apply to everyone, they did cause frustration. Those whose monitors offer a higher resolution than their TV will find the computer’s screen switch to the appropriate lower resolution automatically, so if you have a 720p screen you may have to cope with less real estate on a laptop or desktop. Additionally we had some reconnection issues when removing the USB dock from one TV and trying it on another, which seems to require a restart before it picks up the new device.

None of this would really be relevant if the QuickLink doesn’t perform however, and we have mixed feelings on this front. We should identify here that Q-waves openly admits that wireless USB technology is intended for use with “line of sight” connections, and ideally no further apart than 3 meters, though it does claim up to 6 meters at a push. This is really for porting audio and video between two devices situated in the same room then, and in this optimum environment we had some success. With our test kit less than 3 meters away we noted good streaming of both online and offline video at standard definition resolutions, but it did begin to stutter when we tested 720p content and above. The same goes for games, and though we had some success by dropping resolutions down to 1280 x 720 pixels there was increased stutter here even at these resolutions, so while, for example, strategy based titles were more playable, free-flowing FPS’ don’t offer the smooth performance necessary to enjoy the experience. 

On the audio front it performs very well and there was no such lag when it came to maintaining a clean and accurate stream, so those looking to send a music collection stored on a notebook to a TV and surround sound setup will have some success.

We also tested the QuickLink through a plasterboard wall to another room at a distance of about 4 meters, and while the devices did connect properly, performance was further diminished and even standard definition resolution started to suffer. We can confirm then, that to get some joy from the Quicklink HD you really do need line of sight.

Even in an optimum environment we’re still struggling to envision a sufficient market for this device, and if streaming standard definition video across a room is the main aim then a wireless media streamer will do a far better job. It’s still possible to watch online video from sites such as YouTube, and of course there are business applications in terms of controlling a slideshow wirelessly across a room, for example, but compared to the negligible effort of setting up a wired connection in such an environment we’re not sure whether this device justifies the price. 

Tags: Hardware Q-waves Quicklink HD USB devices

Q-waves Quicklink HD originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000

It’s been well publicised that 2011 will be “the year of the tablet”, and with the new version of Android on the way, rumours of a new iPad gathering momentum and a handful of capable devices doing the rounds at the moment, there should be plenty of choice for those who want a larger device than a phone to entertain themselves with come the summer. One thing we weren’t expecting to see was an all-in-one printer bundled with such a tablet, but this is what HP is attempting with the PhotoSmart eStation C510.

At its heart an all-in-one device combing print, scan, copy and (online) fax capabilities, the distinguishing feature of this essentially mid-range offering is the inclusion of a detachable 7-inch screen running Android 2.1. It’s called the Zeen, and as well as offering a large display with which to interact with the printer, brings access to a range of online and offline content to either enhance the printing experience or provide you with some additional benefits to keep you entertained around the home.

The Zeen offers access to a typical array of web-based content via its built-in web browser, Facebook software, range of applications and ability to view ebooks, newspapers, the latest news and weather and more via its configurable applications. More specifically in relation to the device it’s supplied with, the Zeen includes a range of ways to enhance productivity by including downloads to puzzles, colouring books, paper layouts, templates and other content. While the layout and navigation of this device will be familiar to those who have used Android 2.1, it’s worth noting that HP utilities its own interface and homescreen here, which while flexible enough isn’t a patch on the original.

While all of this might sound very useful in the right environment, the device lets itself down purely from a usability point of view. The display itself, while of fairly good quality in terms of colour clarity and sharpness, isn’t very responsive, and though it’s a capacitive model we struggled to get it to respond to our commands initially, with frequent pauses and delays leaving us wondering if it had registered a swipe, pinch or keypress. This gets easier with practice, but considering the fact that it uses an outdated version of the OS it should be emphasised that this is by no means a replacement for a 7-inch tablet, and should be recognised more as a detachable display that works very well when interacting with the printer, but is likely to frustrate when detached and used in isolation.

It’s not entirely surprising to see that the printer itself is a mid-range device offering reasonable performance without being outstanding, with the majority of the price-hike over similarly specced rivals taken up by the inclusion of the Zeen tablet.

It’s perfectly capable as a text and photo printer, offering fairly fast speeds that match the 11ppm specified by HP at standard setting, though falling far below the 33ppm at draft - during our tests we could only reach half this speed. Photo prints are fairly impressive though, with accurate colours and good contrast, though it takes around 3 minutes to output a borderless A4 image, and about a minute for a 7 x 5-inch print. It’s a fairly low-yield device with a 125-sheet input tray, 20-sheet photo tray and 50-sheet output tray, though lacks a decent range of connectivity by only offering USB and wireless connectivity and a SD-card slot on the Zeen tablet – no USB or PictBridge connection for those who require a bit more versatility. 

The C510 is an effective copier and scanner, with fast times of around 5 and 15 seconds per page respectively, good recreation of the original document or image and a healthy range of software supplied to both manipulate scanned images and enhance photos for improved output. All of this is fairly standard in this market these days however, and ultimately the device doesn’t really excel in any area of its “all-in-one” capabilities to place any particular emphasis over rivals.

Tags: Printers HP HP eStation Zeen All-in-one printers Android Gingerbread HP Photosmart eStation C510

HP Photosmart eStation C510 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:21:25 +0000

HP takes another stab at the home all-in-one market with its new Photosmart series, which includes the mid-range CN503b - a printer/copier/scanner inkjet device that distinguishes itself from many rivals through the use of a 2.4-inch full colour touchscreen display. As well as offering intuitive access to the key features of the product, HP is bringing its device into the modern age by offering wireless access to a range of online resources directly accessible through the panel, which include printable games, maps, colouring pages, forms, templates, calendars and more. It also offers the ability to print from afar using the associated applications and offers wireless access to local networks which are easily configured using the straightforward setup wizard 

First and foremost, the device’s capabilities as an all-in-one are best described as “above average”. We liked the styling of the 503b and the presence of a versatile photo paper tray that can handle up to 7 x 5-inch photo paper, a 125 sheet main tray, 50-sheet output tray and the fact that it can handle a wide range of media sizes means it’s a decent all-rounder for the modern home. HP’s quoted print speeds of 11ppm at standard setting were fairly accurate it our tests, though we only reached around half the speed of the 33ppm optimum at draft setting. Quality is very good for document printing and can certainly reach “professional” standard, with clean, sharp text even at smaller font sizes, and accurate gradation for graphics and images.

Photo quality is also pretty impressive, though we’ve seen better in this area and some work may need to be done on an original image using the supplied software. Though colours were fairly accurate and lines very sharp, darker shades were often lost. It takes just under 3 minutes to output an A4 picture, and just under a minute for a 7 x 5-inch snap, though this was using the premium photo paper and output settings available through the software.

We were impressed by the scanner through, which does a better job of duplicating a printed image for the screen, with little difference between this copy and the original. It’s also fairly fast and takes just over 10 seconds for results to appear on a desktop. The copier can churn through documents at around 4 seconds per page, and quality here is very close to the original.

Back to the touch sensitive display, which is quite responsive but some distance behind the accuracy of recent offerings in the mobile phone and portable arena, we can see some benefit from the features on offer, particularly for families. While many of the services available require you to sign up for access there are some useful resources that can come in handy in the right environment. Much of it is no more than a casual benefit however, and though there’s plenty to explore we feel it will lose its appeal rather quickly without more widespread compatibility. 

Ultimately the CN503b is simply an all-in-one device that offers an attractive display that puts a handful of potentially useful resources at your disposal. Otherwise this is another capable Photosmart printer from HP that doesn’t particularly elevate itself over the competition in any area. Considering there are devices around that can achieve similar results for less money, you’ll need to get some use out of the extra benefits available here to justify a purchase.

Tags: Printers HP HP Photosmart CN503b

HP Photosmart CN503b originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:33:39 +0000

Apple has done an excellent job of carving an “elitist” niche for itself in the portable audio and video player market, something that has been reaffirmed most recently with the success of the iPad. Since its products frequently come under criticism from some quarters for omitting key features, adopting a “closed” model and being overpriced, it’s surprising not to see rival companies trumping the kings of aesthetics more often. Archos is one of these rivals, and has recently placed Apple’s iPad squarely in its crosshairs with the release of the Archos 101 Internet Tablet. This is a 10.1-inch, capacitive widescreen (1024 x 600) Android 2.2-based internet tablet that for all intents and purposes represents a significant alternative to Apple’s device.

Finished in sleek black plastic with brushed metal backplates, it’s extremely light at just 480g and is amongst the slimmest of its kind at just 12mm thick. The adoption of a widescreen design will appeal to those who would view media on the device and a front-facing webcam offers video chat, though we’re disappointed to note that this is quite poor and only offers VGA (0.3-megapixel) resolution. Around the back is a kick-stand, which is extremely useful for propping up the tablet to watch video or elevating it slightly to offer a more comfortable viewing angle.

The range of connectivity on offer includes a USB-host for connecting to a computer to drag and drop content across, a standard USB port for connecting drives, microSD port for upping the 8GB or 16GB capacity and HDMI-out that (with an optional cable) can send content to a TV. It can also multi-task by switching between open applications, offers full Adobe Flash support and can stream media across wireless via SAMBA or UPnP protocols. In case you’re unaware, none of these features are available on the current version of the Apple iPad, which is pretty damning evidence for the versatile, open nature of this tablet.

Of course it’s not all good news for Archos in this match up and one area where Apple most definitely trumps the device is the display. This isn’t to say that the Archos 101’s screen isn’t very capable, because it is, but it’s not a patch on Apple’s gorgeous IPS screen, which is crisper, more vibrant, more responsive and has a better viewing angle. The latter quality is actually our biggest problem with the Archos, as images can drop in clarity drastically at a fairly shallow angle from square-on. In addition the Archos just feels a bit cheaper, and certainly doesn’t have the build quality on offer from Apple. 

In terms of key functionality though, it does very well. We won’t go into the benefits of the Android 2.2 OS here but suffice to say it offers an extremely flexible and customisable environment with the ability to add useful widgets to any of five desktop views, a capable keyboard that’s about on par with most touchscreen devices around and fast browsing via wireless. Archos isn’t offering a 3G version of its tablet at present, but it is still possible to tether a phone via Bluetooth for use away from hotspots (which is also handy for adding a wireless keyboard and mouse). Media support is excellent, though users who have a wide array of video content may need to add the optional cinema plug-in for full support, which brings us to our next observation.

Two of the reasons why Archos’ devices are sometimes criticised on release are that users often have to pay extra over the base model price for plug-ins to unlock the full potential of the product and (more recently) that it restricts users to its own Android application library. This does seem a little unfair since Archos can often boast far cheaper prices for its “base-unit” than like-for-like rivals, thereby giving users the opportunity to save money initially and upgrade if they need to. Acceptably many consumers won’t want to buy with the intention of modding it from the off, so this will always be a contentious issue.

In addition, while the 101 is indeed restricted to Archos’ selection of apps, savvy Android users will be aware of ways to unlock the full complement of Android applications by installing a simple APK, which on this occasion we did.

Regardless, we found the selection of applications available from Archos to be reasonable (with around 18,000 or so available), and in most cases key apps and games have been incorporated. It should also be acknowledged that although Android 2.2 serves perfectly well on tablets, it isn’t designed for devices of this size, and with a new range of tablets offering the forthcoming Android 3.0 in 2011, owners might find themselves with out-dated software fairly quickly.

If you’re in the market for a tablet and are considering alternatives to the iPad, Archos makes it very simple. The 101 is far cheaper, far more flexible and far more “open” than its main rival, and though the display isn’t nearly as impressive, we can see a significant market willing to forgo this benefit for a long list of advantages – especially if modding it is on your list.

Tags: Tablets Archos Archos 101 Gingerbread

Archos 101 Internet Tablet originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:01:14 +0000

Touchscreen devices have taken off in a big way in the mobile marketplace, but despite the undoubted benefits of large screens and intuitive controls, many users are still averse to giving up a tactile keypad. Nokia is one of a handful of companies to find a compromise between the two, and the recently announced X3 Touch and Type was its first attempt at a hybrid.

Hot on its tail is the C3-01, also a “touch and type” branded phone that takes a more professional and business-like approach with a sleek aluminium chassis - available in dark grey, gold and silver - a 5-megapixel camera with flash, 3.5mm headphones jack and a large numeric keypad beneath the 2.4-inch 240 x 320 resistive display.

A power port and USB connector accompany the audio jack at the top, and volume, a lock switch and shutter button for the camera are aligned along the right-hand side. Otherwise it’s a fairly minimalist design, looks very stylish and though the metal enclosure does take its weight up to 100g, it feels extremely solid and comfortable in the hand or in a pocket.

Since there’s no directional pad, there isn’t really an “option” of sticking with either the keys or the screen - the two must be used in tandem to access and use the features on offer. Though the Symbian 40 6th edition OS isn’t nearly as versatile and flexible as rivals, it does work well with the touchscreen, offering large controls and menus that are easy to access with a thumb or finger. The main screen is fairly customisable with a range of core features and a “Go to“ menu can be set to one of the two available shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen, offering quick access to another nine shortcuts. Accessing the key areas of the device is pretty fast after a bit of fine tuning then, and though smartphone users won’t find nearly the versatility of some rival platforms, it should still be suitable for some.

The C3-01 comes with 3.5G, wireless and Bluetooth 2.1 so is well kitted out in the connectivity department and though the built-in browser is a little clunky, Opera Mini is a viable enough alternative. A double-tap on screen or a dedicated control can zoom into sites for fine control, and both scrolling around and loading is generally fast and responsive, though we did find it slow to pick up on link selection at times and without a built-in accelerometer, full screen “landscape” mode must be enabled manually. 

Audio quality through a decent set of headphones is pretty good, though not up to scratch with Sony, Apple or Nokia’s own XpressMusic range. There are a fairly limited set of features for customising audio, with a simple equaliser that offers two custom modes the only adjustments available. The display is crisp and clear for video and photo viewing, again without pushing any boundaries, and while perfectly capable on the whole, the phone’s media capabilities are best summarised along with the media apps provided - basic, but capable.

The camera and video recorder fair slightly better, and we were impressed by both the responsiveness of the display when used as a viewfinder and the end result - with photos crisp and sharp displaying accurate colours and an impressive amount of detail. Though the video recorder doesn’t perform too well if the camera is swung about too quickly, it is also capable of decent enough performance when handled with care, though a maximum 640 x 480 resolution and 15fps frame rate does restrict it somewhat to more casual use.

Overall we loved the design and feel of the C3-01, and were impressed enough by the combination of a touchscreen and large, responsive controls when it comes to offering the most efficient type of interface for different uses. At around £150 (SIM-free), £99 on PAYG or free on contract, the fact that the handset is quite reasonably priced goes some way to justifying the rather basic operation in some areas, and with good connectivity and a range of useful features this could certainly be a hit for those who want to tiptoe into the touchscreen market without giving up on tactile controls.

Tags: Mobile phones Mobile phones Nokia Nokia C3

Nokia C3 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:22:00 +0000

Archos has long been at the forefront of the PMP market and by updating its portables with wireless connectivity and most recently the Android OS, it attempts to fight off competition from rivals and high-end mobile phones. The Archos 32 could easily be mistaken for the latter in fact, and is a sleek and slimline touchscreen device finished in gun metal aluminium, offering a 3.2-inch (400 x 240) resistive display along with touch controls and a VGA camera at the back.

Aside from a volume control and power/lock switch the only other features on the exterior are 3.5mm audio, power and USB ports, which contributes towards an attractive minimalist design that those averse to Apple’s lines will appreciate. The Archos 32 as an 8GB internal memory, with no option it upgrade further.

It’s also pretty capable on the inside, with built-in b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer to flip the screen around and compatibility with a wide range of audio and video formats. Other, more standard features such as a photo viewer, calculator, voice recorder and video recorder are present and correct, and Archos claims a battery life of up to 24 hours for music playback, 6 for video and 8 hours on the web.

Using the wireless connectivity on board it is possible to stream content from a home network via UPnP or SAMBA sharing, pair the device with a mobile phone to use a 3G connection to access data on the move through a phone contract and an optional cable allows content to be played back on the big screen.

The Archos 32 utilises the Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS and while there are obvious benefits here in terms of customising and personalising the features and layout, it doesn’t offer access to the full range of apps and games available. Instead users are tied to Archos’ Applib library and while this does still offer quite a good range, those expecting to use their favourite software on the device would do well to check availability before a purchase.

This range of features sounds impressive enough on paper, but it’s obviously vital that the Archos performs in the hand. Overall we were pretty impressed. Despite the lack of capacitive display we found it to be very responsive when browsing around and accessing content, and sharp, vibrant and colourful when viewing photos and video, though in the case of the latter you’ll get the best results with video that is optimised for the device. Though it supports playback of up to 720p files we didn’t find them as sharp as we’d hoped, which is likely down to the fact that such high-resolutions are being displayed on a relatively low-res screen. The main issue we had with the touchscreen is unfortunately a rather important one – the on-screen keyboard used to enter text and browse the Internet is pretty clunky, and though it’s more manageable in landscape mode most users will struggle to enter text quickly without making mistakes.

Once connected data access is fast and responsive however, with smooth zoom and scroll controls making websites a joy to browse, although there is no multi-touch support. With Flash 10 support you’ll also be able to browse video content in comfort and though we did experience some issues doing this over 3G via a phone instead of the built-in wireless, it’s still usable enough not to be a big issue.

Audio quality is very good, provided the typically meagre supplied ‘buds are replaced, but those looking to get good use from the camera will be rather disappointed. Aside from the low, 0.3-megapixel resolution the viewfinder is particularly poor in this mode and both the refresh rate and detail displayed on-screen is mediocre at best. Though the video recorder fairs better, it would be fair to summarise this particular area of the device as a “token effort”.

Tags: Audio MP3 players PMPs Archos Archos 32 Android

Archos 32 Internet Tablet originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:55:12 +0000

There’s no shortage of choice in the LCD panel market at the moment, and while many manufacturers are now orienting themselves towards the LED-backlighting market few have done it in such a stylish way as Samsung. While a rather subjective claim, its BX2350 is one of the most aesthetically pleasing we’ve seen, and this is a lot to do with the sturdy, chrome-finish angular support.

Complementing this is an extremely slim and lightweight panel with an intriguing rough-finish on the back, a Perspex bezel and touch-sensitive controls. Unfortunately Samsung has made some sacrifices in terms of flexibility here and a 10-degree tilt adjustment is all that’s on offer. Twin HDMI ports show a clear tilt towards media and gaming use and though there is no DVI connection alongside analogue VGA, an HDMI to DVI cable is provided in the box.

A typical range of adjustments are available via the on screen display and though these take a while to get used to, we did find the controls to be more accurate than many rivals. Having said that, it’s an area that doesn’t really need “modernising” in our opinion and effective tactile controls would have been easier to navigate. The MagicTune software supplied duplicates many of these however, and allows users to make adjustments through a more comfortable window on screen. This offers a veritable wealth of tuning features and many are automated through the use of “Magic” branded controls to perform colour, economy mode and response time adjustments along with presets for gaming, video, standard and custom environments.

Overall we were impressed by the colour accuracy and contrast levels on offer with the BX2350, and though it takes some time to work through the various adjustment settings to determine their effect this is still easier than doing the same thing manually. Video playback was particularly impressive and a high refresh rate of 2ms means that response times are excellent in terms of eliminating ghosting and motion blur. Colours are accurate and though there is some backlight bleed that’s evident during darker scenes we were generally pleased with the performance on offer. 

Additional features include the ability to tweak the screen to improve viewing angles using Magic Angle, and though we saw an immediate difference, it wasn’t too pronounced. It’s also possible to configure shortcuts to some of these customisation effects and tie them to on-screen controls, which is a useful convenience. 

Overall this is a tidy, beautifully designed panel that while rather restrictive in certain areas offers impressive performance and a decent array of intuitive customisation. It’s an impressive solution for multimedia use and while a little expensive may well be worth the extra outlay in the right environment.

Tags: Monitors Samsung Samsung BX2350 Hardware

Samsung BX2350 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:52:00 +0000

It would be ambitious to say that iRiver has ever “nailed” the MP3 player market with a killer device, but it's certainly been mentioned in the same breath as some of the major players over the years, so it was with some intrigue that we noted the recent release of the USB-drive T8.

There can be little doubt that combining the convenience of portable storage with the ability to play back tunes in such a portable manner has its benefits, presuming you're unwilling or unable to utilise a mobile phone for such purpose of course, so we were expecting iRiver to at least satisfy a relatively small niche demographic with its latest release.

The T8 is styled like a typical memory stick with a removable cap and choice of 2GB and 4GB capacities. A small, monochrome screen and 3.5mm jack distinguishes it from the blandness of a typical flash drive, along with side-mounted volume, power and a hold switch and front-facing directional pad for navigation.

It's also available in a range of colours and features that have now become typical additions in the form of an FM radio, voice recorder, and the ability to combine the two to save radio broadcasts to the internal memory.

It also offers less common features such as lyric support and the ability to rate songs and has what appears to be a healthy number of audio environment settings, graphic equaliser control and sound modes to boost an audio range for a specific purpose.

All of these features are now fairly standard, however, so there's nothing on paper to truly distinguish it from a swathe of rivals or, indeed, the capabilities of a decent media-oriented mobile phone.

We're left with judging performance in deciding whether or not to recommend the T8 then, and unfortunately it doesn't do itself too many favours in this area. In testing the device with a decent set of ear-buds we were actually quite let down by the sound quality, which ranges from overly tinny to undesirably distorted depending on the type of music you're playing.

Navigating through the audio customisation options isn't particularly easy either, and this goes for much of the rest of operation as using the directional pad to adjust settings and browse around is rarely straightforward, though it does get easier with practice. Tweaking the various sound modes was of limited use here, and in many cases it's either difficult to discern a change at all or difficult to establish a mode that works.

There are also a couple of niggling frustrations with operation that threaten to undermine the device entirely. While the lack of ID3tag supported and enforced folder/file browsing is forgiveable in a low-capacity device, it's not possible to browse to a "now playing" screen after navigating away from this area to search a library or access some of the other features, so returning to a tune involves navigating back through your tracklist and restarting the song from scratch. This sounds like a minor grievance, but in practice is rather frustrating and restrictive and certainly has no place in a modern market.

Elsewhere the FM radio did a fairly poor job of picking up a suitable number of stations in our area, and with no manual tuning available you're often left with three or four detected presets to browse. Recording FM radio to the internal storage and using the device as a voice recorder does work well however, though as "peripheral" features we can't imagine this would swing it for most. 

Tags: Audio MP3 players iRiver iRiver T8

iRiver T8 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:04:18 +0100

Lacie continues its range of “ruggedised” portable storage/media access devices with the new Rugged Safe, a similarly styled device with one immediately redeeming feature - the presence of a biometric authentication module. Or, to you and me, a fingerprint scanner.

Most will have probably seen these sorts of devices before; their main purpose being to add an extra degree of security and/or convenience to drives that may be used with shared computers or in public environments, where simply unplugging and carrying it around isn’t practical.

Lacie employs a number of layers of security on top of the headline fingerprint scanner though, including automatic 128-bit AES encryption of any data that is copied to the drive and an additional software encryption via the supplied Genie Backup Assistant. On the outside the protection offered by the rubber “sleeve” the unit is encased in is complemented by anti-shock pads around the drive itself, allowing it to cope with a realistic level of punishment without compromising your data.

Though installation of the Genie Backup software is optional, when the drive is plugged in for the first time it’s necessary to configure the Safe Manager software that comes pre-installed to recognise at least one fingerprint by creating a registered user and password that, by default, then becomes the administrator. Up to ten fingerprints can be stored in the Rugged Safe’s secure database, and the software makes it fast and easy to set up whatever combination of access you wish. It’s recommended that you register more than one fingerprint for the main administrator, for example, in case a digit is injured and/or bandaged so as to prevent access, and to add more than one administrator in case someone isn’t available.

Once this process is complete, a small LED above the fingerprint reader shows “red” for blocked access, “green” for access granted and “orange” as it’s processing a request. This works very well, and quickly (and correctly) granted or denied access in around a second following a “swipe” every time.

Of course automatic encryption does incur some overheads, and in our tests the Rugged Safe achieved transfer speeds of around half what you’d expect from a typical USB 2.0 device. It’s hard to be critical here though, and those who desire this level of security should also expect some compromises along the way.

Genie Backup Assistant is a tidy and useful piece of software for those who don’t already have a fast and easy way to create and schedule backups. As mentioned, additional 128-bit AES encryption is available for the more paranoid traveller, as well as compression, network support and the ability to select from a range of file categories for backup, including email and system settings.

Though the Rugged Safe is a fair bit more expensive than you’d typically want to pay for a 500GB hard drive, there’s obviously a premium involved in the benefit of this sort of technology. While £159.99 does seem a bit steep, we could find little at fault with the actual process of encryption and access and not being military-grade hackers, little to fault about the integrity of the security. For those who would require this level of protection for data, the Rugged Safe does its job very well.

Tags: Hardware Storage LaCie LaCie Rugged Safe

LaCie Rugged Safe originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:26:37 +0100

If you're looking for something a little more "flexible" than your average LCD screen, you'll find a fairly limited selection of displays that offer height, tilt and swivel adjustment that are complemented by decent performance and a reasonable price. Benq's V2410T ticks all of these boxes and while it stops short of delivering on all fronts, there's still plenty to like about its latest 24-inch LCD.

With a 16:9 (1920 x 1080) aspect ratio and LED-backlighting the 2410 is impressively slim but necessarily heavy due to the presence of a wide, flat stand that can accommodate its wide range of movement. It does an excellent job in this area and can be hoisted over 20cm from a desk, rotated to portrait orientation, has a 90 degree swivel movement and a 25 degree tilt, with adjustments extremely smooth and easy to make with one hand due to the efficient weight distribution.

This is a key benefit of a display that is otherwise rather basic, sporting almost no defining features on the rather bland, matt-black bezel and omitting HDMI, built-in speakers and USB ports. D-Sub and DVI-D connections are all that come as standard and BenQ utilises a typical arrangement of presets, environment and colour modes to offer flexibility depending on use.

Its proprietary Senseye technology offers previews of some of the environment modes on offer (gaming, movie and photo accompany "standard", "eco" and "sRGB") and we were fairly pleased by the admittedly general adjustments made to help optimise content in these settings. Some tweaking may be required for those with a sharp eye for detail, but contrast levels, colour accuracy and response time were about what we'd expect for a monitor at this price point. While far from outstanding, most will be pleased with the performance on offer, and the built-in eco mode, which saves around 20 per cent, is bright enough to be set as default in most cases.

As mentioned, Benq's V2410T is quite reasonably priced at around £185, which considering its size and the range of orientation adjustments available makes it very good value for money. Though it's unlikely to win any awards for pure performance, it will still be more than adequate for most audiences and those in a position to take advantage of its key benefits will find very little not to like.

Tags: Hardware Monitors BenQ BenQ V2410T

Benq V2410T monitor originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:15:14 +0100

HannsG has been setting its stall out in the LCD display market in recent times, and has recently made the transition to LED-based displays with the slimline HL231.

Impressively slight at around 18mm thick, this is a 23-inch model at 16:9 aspect and a 1920 x 1080 maximum resolution. It’s stylish enough in a traditional piano black and is predictably lightweight at 3.3kg, but this carries the disadvantage of making it a little unstable. The small tilt-enabled stand, while tidy enough, is very light and makes adjustments awkward with one hand, also causing the monitor to wobble about a bit when adjusting settings.

Putting this minor grievance aside you’ll find a fairly standard set of specifications that includes 1000:1 (8,000,000:1 dynamic) contrast ratio, a 5ms response time and VGA and DVI-D inputs. It’s fairly flexible when it comes to tweaking the default settings as well, and the well-conceived on-screen display offers all of the usual adjustments along with four presets (PC, eco, movie and game) for quickly switching modes for different environments. There are also a range of colour schemes and the X-contrast mode, which automatically adjusts contrast depending on the displayed image, is an effective way to avoid having to make manual adjustments yourself.

We found the suggested presets to be fairly effective for video and gaming, though if you have a sharp eye for detail some manual tuning may be necessary to establish an optimum image. The eco mode is also clear enough for use in all but the brightest environments and an effective standby mode drops power to just 1W, and is very quick to respond and restore power when user input is detected.

Performance is pretty good across all environments even though it doesn’t really excel in any one area. We noticed fairly minor colour banding at times and images weren’t quite as vibrant as we’d have liked but the fast response time eliminates motion-blur well, whilst bright and dark scenes were distinguished nicely during video playback.

A pair of built-in speakers rounds off the main features on offer with the HL231, but are predictably tinny and rather quiet, so will be of limited use to most.

Overall the performance of HannsG’s first LED screen would be best described as "pretty good", but it scores an extra mark here for also being good value for money. £159 for a slimline display of this type and size undercuts the majority of the competition and in most areas HannsG is at least on-par. For this reason we think it’d be a great general use display for the home and is definitely worthy of consideration.

Tags: Hardware Monitors HANNSG HannsG HL231

HannsG HL231 monitor originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:31:19 +0100

Developments in modern displays and associated devices have made it increasingly feasible to watch video and television on "computer" monitors, with the only real drawback being their relatively small size. Viewsonic addresses this particular issue with the VX2739wm: a large 27-inch screen with a "world's first" response time of just 1ms. 

It certainly seems squarely aimed at gamers and media playback, which is backed up by the 1920 x 1080 (1080p) native resolution at 16:9 aspect ratio. While this looks impressive on paper, it's closer to the minimum acceptable resolution than you might think due to the screen's sheer size. Lines aren't nearly as clean and crisp up close, and it's worth bearing in mind that you really need to be at least a couple of feet away from the monitor when sat at a desktop - ideally 3 or 4, which may be a stretch for those with smaller spaces.

The VX2739 should complement most suitably-sized rooms admirably though, and is stylishly built with a sleek, black, angular design. The stand slots firmly into the main support and offers tilt but no height adjustment, though this shouldn't be too much of a problem with a screen this size. An HDMI v1.3 input accompanies DVI-D and D-sub along with audio in/out and there are a total of four USB ports at the side and rear of the display for attaching peripherals, though their position means they are far less convenient than a hub-style arrangement in the base.

Viewsonic doesn't provide any specialist software for its display so all adjustments are done through the control panel and OSD. This is fairly easy to navigate, though mainly because there's not a lot to it. All of the manual controls you'd need are present and correct but strangely there are no environment presets or custom programmable modes aside from an adjustable eco-mode, which is a shame considering how useful they'd be on such a screen. Instead you're left establishing the best overall image that (dynamic adjustment aside) will be the mainstay for videos, gaming and general use.

Thankfully the VX2739 performs pretty well as an all-rounder, maintaining effective contrast levels for deep blacks and crisp whites and predictably, due to the low response time, no apparent ghosting or blur during fast-moving scenes. The only real issues we have in a general sense are that there is some minor backlight bleed at the edges of the display, and colours can be a little inaccurate, though this would only really be an issue for photographers or those who demand precision.

Finally, the display comes with SRS Premium Sound software to create a pseudo-surround effect from the built-in stereo speakers, but while performance here is better than most, the lack of bass makes them no substitute for a dedicated set. 

Tags: Hardware Monitors Viewsonic ViewSonic VX2739wm

Viewsonic VX2739wm monitor originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:00:00 +0100

Kaspersky has recently updated its range of security software to include the new Kaspersky PURE, an all-singing, all-dancing suite that does far more than simply protect against and remove threats.

Elevating this particular group of tools above many rivals are advantages such as a powerful password manager, data encryption, a file shredder and a safe run "sandbox" that creates a virtual environment from which to run suspect programs.

There are also parental controls, data backup and protection management for home networks, and of course all of these tools come in addition to the antivirus/malware protection Kaspersky is renowned for, along with a personal firewall, identity protection and application control.

All of these tools are presented in a clean interface that alerts you if any require attention, being split into Computer Protection, Backup, Parental Control and Security+. The Computer Protection component offers access to all scans and the majority of core control, which essentially lists each security element and directs you to the appropriate settings menu. This seems like a bit of a strange arrangement at first, and while it’s easy enough to delve down in more advanced settings if you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t come across as a particularly friendly way for new or inexperienced users to make adjustments.

There are a range of scan types available, each of which can be scheduled to run at a particular frequency. Scan speed is best described as "average", which is still some way behind the Quorum-inspired lightning speeds of Symantec’s new software but is timely enough to avoid frustrating delays. The software is light on resources during this process however, and as is typical of Kaspersky’s range, PURE offers an excellent level of threat protection and removal.

Despite the fact that the Computer Protection component appears a little convoluted until you get used to the structure, other tools that beginners would typically require more control over are far easier to manage. Backup takes a wizard-based approach to quickly and easily create schedules or restore files, though only supports local or networked storage - there are no capabilities here to save files online. Parental controls predictably take some time to configure but the wide range of protection options available are presented in a clean, straightforward manner.

Finally, the Security+ collection offers basic tune-up tools, a virtual keyboard to protect against keyloggers and the aforementioned encryption and password management. The latter is particularly well organised and requires the creation of a master password to protect a database of logins that is gradually populated as you sign in to websites and services, automatically filling in the relevant details in the future on request.

The success of Kaspersky PURE will likely be dependant on how much the appeal of the additional tools compares to comprehensive rivals. It’s certainly capable of a similarly high level of protection, but the fact that the core security isn’t quite as easy to configure here suggests it wouldn’t be as suitable for inexperienced users as say, Norton 360.

Tags: Software Viruses And Malware Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Pure

Kaspersky PURE - PC originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:30:00 +0100

There's no shortage of choice if you're in the market for a netbook at the moment, and HANNspree has recently extended this further with the introduction of its Hannsbook SN10E24.

Available in a choice of three colours - pearl black, burgundy red or pearl white, it's a typically sized and typically specced offering that boasts a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) display, Intel Atom N450 CPU, integrated graphics, 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive.

It feels very solidly designed and is relatively light at 1.3kg. The full-sized 84-key keyboard takes a bit of getting used to due to the cramped space that is synonymous with netbooks, though the keys are nicely responsive, as is the rather small trackpad and mouse selection buttons.

Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth are built in along with a webcam and stereo speakers. A 3-in-1 multi-card reader accompanies D-Sub out, 3x USB 2.0 ports and the usual audio connectivity and these are well oriented along the sides of the enclosure for easy access in tight spaces. Also supplied in the box are a soft leather carry bag and all the software required for system maintenance.

Despite being impressively compact and reasonably specced, it would be a stretch to expect the SN10E24 to venture into gaming or even HD video territory. During our tests it struggled with anything more demanding than standard definition resolutions, so while the stereo speakers do a decent job considering their size, media use will be limited for most.

Having said that, the display is very capable and recreates clean, accurate colours with impressive clarity even in sunny and brightly lit environments. We were also quite pleased with the battery life, which exceeded the quoted 6 hours during our high-drain tests so with more typical use it's certainly capable of lasting a good distance between charges.

Though it doesn't bring anything particularly inspiring to the table, the SN10E24's lack of ambition is justified somewhat by its low price. Despite competing on a level field with many rivals in the netbook market in terms of size and specifications, Hanns' model undercuts most by coming in at just £259. This, combined with a solid and attractive design, makes it a good choice for the budget conscious.

Tags: Hardware Laptops Netbooks HANNspree HANNspree Hannsbook SN10E24

HANNspree HannsBook SN10E24 notebook originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Viewsonic has recently taken a bold step into the media streamer market with its VMP74 HD digital media player, a superbly slimline rival to larger and more expensive alternatives that offers a range of modern features and functionality.

Capable of streaming HD video up to 1080p resolution via HDMI, the unassuming design also offers Composite and optical output and a choice of USB or eSATA ports for connecting external storage. The lack of controls on the exterior of the box means that everything is done via remote, though thankfully no corners have been cut here. The supplied full-sized model is well laid out and once you get to grips with the layout and various features available, is fairly intuitive to use.

The VMP74 connects to a wired network and sets itself up automatically, after which it is possible to view SAMBA or UPnP shared content on the big screen. Though the interface is rather basic, it does a good job of allowing you to filter and sort large collections, as well as offering thumbnail previews for photos. There’s a decent amount of control over media and format support is excellent, though we were rather disappointed by what can be a lengthy buffer time before playback starts. Quality is good though and the ability to create a background-music playlist and control it via a sub-menu when browsing other features is a welcome benefit.

Adding to the device’s versatility is access to online services such as Flickr, SHOUTCast, Live365 and YouTube, though in the case of the latter there’s no facility to skip back and forth through video and there are similar buffer delays that can become a little frustrating when browsing multiple clips. Viewsonic also claims to support BBC’s iPlayer, though this feature was listed as "coming soon" during our tests - we’ve heard that users can expect this to be up and running in June.

A built-in web browser offers access to the Internet, though this only includes Flash 8 support and earlier. Web pages are clear and easy to read and browse, and a quick zoom control enlarges smaller text for those who need it. Luckily, Viewsonic has addressed the common problem of entering text via a remote control by offering support for wireless keyboards and mice, which can be connected via the USB dongle supplied; in our tests this worked really well.

Our main issues with the VMP74 is that it does feel a little underpowered, which likely contributes to the lengthy buffer times and the fact that it’s occasionally a little unresponsive in executing commands. These factors aren’t serious enough to undermine the product though, and indeed you’re getting quite a lot for your money considering the range of support and online access available. There’s also no wireless built-in, though we’re told that adaptors that use the Ralink RT3070 chipset are compatible and will offer this functionality.

Tags: Home Cinema Media streamers Viewsonic Viewsonic VMP74 Media streaming

Viewsonic VMP74 media streamer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 May 2010 09:44:01 +0100

Sunbelt Software has been quietly plying a trade in a crowded market with its own form of antivirus and system security, the most recent of which is Antivirus Premium 4.0. Aimed at those who prefer a "set and forget" solution to being bogged down with streams of menus and notifications, it becomes obvious after the short install that it is sticking with this tried and tested approach.

During this process it’s possible to configure email protection and opt for "simple" or "learning" firewall modes, the latter of which is aimed more at advanced users by requesting confirmation of program access rather that settling for defaults.

A clean, if rather basic, interface shows the status of the various components, which include an anti-virus and anti-malware scanner, active protection, email protection, a desktop firewall and update tools. Antivirus Premium also offers intrusion prevention, ad-blocking and a webguard to protect against malicious sites and the software uses MX-Virtualisation for added security, which analyses potential threats in a virtual environment to prevent them from affecting your machine.

Firewall aside, there’s not a lot of control available over the other tools in the suite, and though all the most important settings are accessible through various "advanced" menus, they may not offer enough for those who like to fine-tune operation. That being said, this isn’t really VIPRE’s target audience, and while it’s fair to argue that it’s not nearly as comprehensive as rivals such as Norton and BitDefender, it does what it does well.

One distinct advantage of choosing VIPRE is that it’s very light on resources and we noticed no impact on system performance during scans, which use a bite-sized 60MB or thereabouts of system memory and around 50% CPU usage, though this fluctuates quite wildly.

Unfortunately scans do take a long time – over 5 minutes for a "quick scan" in our tests and this is often extended further by the fact that it also checks for (and downloads) updates prior to scanning.

This would be more of a problem if VIPRE didn’t do such a good job of protecting and cleaning your PC - independent test results show that it’s up there with some of the best suites on the market in most areas so there’s plenty of peace of mind to be had with this slimline alternative.

Finally it’s an extremely cheap solution provided you opt for protection for a single PC, which comes in at £29.95, where £39.95 protects two machines and £49.95 gets you an unlimited licence, which may also be appealing depending on intended use.

Tags: Software Viruses And Malware Sunbelt Software Sunbelt Software VIPRE Antivirus Premium

Sunbelt Software VIPRE Antivirus Premium - PC originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 06 May 2010 14:15:31 +0100

Dell has proven itself pretty capable in the printer market in the past and adds a couple of dedicated mono lasers to its range in the 1130 series. Aside from the fact that the 1130n adds network access and faster print speeds, they are effectively the same device, promising nothing more than the ability to produce fast, clean prints with a minimum of fuss.

The 1130 is just about capable of stretching out of the home market into home and small business, offering a 250-sheet paper tray, an 80-sheet bin and a single sheet feeder for a little more precision. It supports a range of paper types and weights as you’d expect and unless you opt for the network version, connects directly via USB.

The design is unassuming enough and we would be tempted to talk about how tidy it is if it weren’t for the rather unsightly bulge at the rear which, due to the fact that the power and data cable are plugged into the back of it, means the printer will be pushed some distance from the wall. It’s not a major issue but is unlikely to contribute towards a tidy office.

There’s no LCD display and the device instead opts for a couple of warning lights, a multi-purpose "cancel" control and power button, so most of the configuration will be done through the device driver software supplied. This is quite tidy though, offering manual duplex printing and all of the expected quality control, including the ability to add watermarks and overlays.

It takes around 30 seconds for the Dell 1130 to warm up from cold but once it gets started it’ll run through a job very quickly. The 18ppm quoted speed was spot on in our tests, and even if you throw in some graphics and visuals it manages to maintain this quite well.

Quality is excellent - we couldn’t pick any holes in the sharpness or weight of text, and it’s certainly capable of recreating finer details in graphics and smaller font sizes without any drop in clarity. In fact we can’t find anything to criticise about its performance and aside from our issues with the design there’s only one other consideration worth bearing in mind.

At £75 the 1130 isn’t exactly overpriced but with extremely capable MFDs (multi-function devices) doing the rounds for the same or a little more, we’re wondering how long standalones such as this will be able to argue their case.

Tags: Printers Dell Dell 1130 Dell 1130n Laser printers

Dell 1130 printer originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:10:38 +0100

PC Tools has its work cut out with Spyware Doctor and Antivirus these days, and with a range of low-priced rival suites available it’s left to those who are happy with the Windows firewall or have a dedicated alternative handy to consider a purchase. It has been rather slow in evolving however, and the latest version for 2010 doesn’t offer any particularly radical new features or a new look, instead opting to refine existing tools to better handle new emerging threats.

The interface hasn’t really changed at all over the last few versions and there’s nothing radically different here. From the main screen it’s possible to scan a computer and switch key tools on or off as well as viewing status reports of recent scans and updates. The IntelliGuard tool suite is still here and itemises the various guards available for individual control, though we still can’t see too many occasions when this would be required. A typical collection of more advanced settings do offer decent control over the software’s behaviour, but in truth this is still a very basic set of tools.

New features include automatic webpage scanning for Internet Explorer and a range of new “state awareness” modes that include a game mode to disable alerts when running full-screen applications (including movies and other content), a power-saving mode to disable scheduled tasks when running on battery power and an idle mode that performs scans when the PC is not in use to improve subsequent scan times.

The software does seem to do a good job at detecting and eliminating threats during this process, and along with the West Coast Labs Checkmark certification it has a 100% on-demand detection and clean rate of WildList Malware and a 99.46% clean rate of full test malware sample according to AV-Test.org. 

Scans do take quite a while and though there’s little impact on general computer use while they are running, we were expecting improvement here. Rivals such as Norton 360 took just 10 seconds to perform a quick scan that takes PC Tools six and a half minutes on the same test system, though this did drop to around 4 minutes on subsequent scans.

There are other niggling issues such as the fact that many of the updates we performed required a restart and the fact that you’re not given a lot of information on threats, but our biggest concern has to be the price.

£39.99 for an “AV-only” suite seems overpriced, particularly when you consider that all-singing, all-dancing solutions such as BitDefender Total Security are available for a similar price or less, if you shop around online. For this reason it’s difficult to offer Spyware Doctor with Antivirus a recommendation, even if its core task of protecting you from threats is handled very well.

Tags: Software PC software Viruses And Malware PC Tools PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 2010

PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 2010 originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:39:14 +0100

Following our report that AdvancedMP3Players has begun to stock the Popcorn Hour C-200 for the UK market, we’ve managed to get our hands on a unit and have put it through its paces.

The successor to the popular A-100/110 builds on the key areas that brought it so much success (albeit in a rather niche market) in the past by making it more versatile and more flexible than ever before.

It offers a wide range of connectivity that includes typical Composite, Component and S-Video, optical and S/PDIF audio and of course, HDMI v1.3a as the most popular connection of choice. A total of four USB2.0 ports make for easy access to external storage and a relatively poor 4.5-inch two-colour LCD display allows users to view collections and, for example, browse and play back music without the need for a dedicated display.

Initial setup is fairly straightforward provided you know how to configure audio and video settings and create network shares for a media collection, with a wide range of methods supported here including SAMBA folder sharing and UPnP servers. Whichever you choose, access is granted through a clean interface that separates files into video/audio/photo views and we’re not surprised at all, considering Popcorn Hour’s experience in this area, to see excellent file support and performance.

We streamed a wide range of media formats across a network and were pleased to note that just about everything was handled with aplomb - very little buffer time is required before playback starts and search and skip features are very responsive. The C-200 is also nicely customisable, with a range of skins available for the interface and a decent amount of media control during playback.

Sadly, the C-200 doesn’t support direct streaming via YouTube, but there are a wide range of additional resources available to send video, audio and photos directly to a TV via online services. These are handled quite well for the most part, though it’s clearly a case of quantity over quality in terms of the popular alternatives that are available elsewhere.

It would sound as though the C-200 is building up to be one of the most versatile and effective media streamers on the market, but there are a number of problems with the device that, in our opinion, will leave it (rather typically) restricted to a rather niche audience.

While you’ll get a bit of change from £300 for the basic setup, much of the C-200’s potential will only be realised by investing in a range of optional add-ons. These involve an internal hard drive - both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA models are supported, and an optional Blu-ray drive – though in this case a 2.5-inch hard drive must be used if required in tandem. This would be a significant benefit for most, though obviously jacks up the asking price by around £100. There’s no built-in wireless either, for which an additional dongle or PCI-card is required, and the supplied remote control works by RF transmission rather than IR, though the latter is again supported via optional accessories.

Adding components such as an internal drive is fairly typical and Popcorn Hour should be commended for even offering Blu-ray support; something we want to see more of in this market, but we’re not too happy with the remote control and wireless issues and feel that considering the price of the base unit, this should be offered by default.

When this is combined with what is sometimes an almost unnerving complexity in terms of installing and configuring some of the more advanced features of the C-200, it culminates in what is yet another entry into a rather specialist market that, given the company’s expertise and excellent performance and file support, should really have been expanded to appeal to a more mainstream audience by now.

Related links:

• Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank - Buy it!

Tags: Home Cinema Media streamers Popcorn Hour C-200 AdvancedMP3Players

Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:16:07 +0000

Symantec came up with some interesting new developments in system security last year, with the well publicised Quorum and System Insight tools offering faster, more efficient scans and an unprecedented amount of information for users who would benefit from a more detailed analysis of performance and system activity.

See our review of Norton Antivirus 2010 for a summary of these advancements, which have now been introduced into the new version of Norton 360, updating the already comprehensive, award-winning suite of tools for the modern age.

This alone would be a significant enough reason for owners of previous versions to upgrade, provided of course the rest of the package has enough appeal, and thankfully there have been some notable improvements elsewhere.

Norton 360 retains the same straightforward approach to access and operation as previous versions, splitting the range of tools available into PC Security, Identity Protection, Backup and Tuneup on a clean and intuitive interface. Being designed more for those who appreciate a no-nonsense approach to system security, we were typically impressed by the effective layout and presentation of the most common tasks, with advanced configuration still available through a detailed settings menu that offers an excellent degree of customisation.

Scan times were impressive enough on version 3 and have been improved even further here with the benefit of Quorum’s new community-based approach, being roughly twice as fast on the same test system. By means of example, it took 10 seconds to perform a quick scan and 5 minutes for a comprehensive scan, though the latter includes disk optimisation and cleanup. There is an increase in memory usage when these are running, but we didn’t notice any impact on performance during this time.

Symantec is one of few companies that appears to pay a great deal of attention to customer feedback with its software, and as such has improved some other aspects of the suite that have let it down somewhat in recent times.

It still offers 2GB of online backup storage as standard, but it is now possible to access these files from any computer simply by logging into your Norton account. In addition, large files can be collated into packages and a download links sent to a third party, bypassing inherent issues with emailing large attachments.

Parental controls, one of the most frequently criticised aspects of the previous version, now come in the form of Symantec’s OnlineFamily.Norton software - an online service that offers excellent control and monitoring of web usage in the home.

Otherwise the suite offers a similar set of tools to the previous version and it’s fair to say that it has done more than enough with version 4.0 to reinforce its position at the top of the pile. Its capabilities as a fast, comprehensive and effective security solution are beyond question and even though it’s more expensive than rival suites such as BitDefender, for most these benefits will more than justify the extra cost.

Tags: Software PC software Viruses And Malware Security software Norton Norton 360 version 4

Norton 360 4.0 - PC originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:42:10 +0000