David Phelan Reviews Archive 
News from David Phelan
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Jawbone Up review
REVIEW
Keep track of your life
26 December 2011 9:00 GMT
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Get ready with those new year resolutions. If one of them is going to include trying for a fitter, healthier you in 2012, Jawbone is here to help. Jawbone is best known as the maker of excellent Bluetooth headsets and a great portable speaker, the...
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Packard Bell EasyNote TM review
REVIEW
An impressive entry from PB?
30 August 2010 9:48 GMT
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"Friends and fun in one place" is Packard Bell's appealing promise on the EasyNote TM. Incidentally, we're not writing trademark there, TM is the model code, though it is a little confusing. Anyway, the promise is to do with social networking. Like...
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Asus Bamboo U53JC review
REVIEW
Do you bamboo?
23 August 2010 9:00 GMT
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Bamboo is a cool material: it looks good, reduces our use of plastics and is ecologically sound because bamboo is a sustainably renewable source. It's used for the lid and wrist rest for this new 15-inch display laptop from Asus. Asus has made laptops...
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Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch i5 review
REVIEW
Desktop replacement, Apple style
20 July 2010 13:37 GMT
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So, you know you want a computer with a big screen but you want to be able to move it around reasonably easily. So a desktop machine like the iMac 27-inch screen computer is right out.
Well, there are plenty of Windows PCs on the market, but...
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Samsung Q330 review
REVIEW
The answer to all your Qs?
15 July 2010 19:01 GMT
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Recent Samsung laptops have been stylish affairs, notable as much for their glossy red casing and matching keyboard and trackpad as for their computing capabilities.
This new 13.3-inch display model is a more demure machine, dressed in discreet...
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Samsung R780 notebook review
REVIEW
Looking for a Blu-ray desktop replacement?
22 June 2010 10:08 GMT
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This laptop is the bigger brother to the Samsung R580 that we reviewed a couple of weeks back. Its snazzy semi-transparent deep red casing caught the eye, and that's duplicated here. Samsung has also neatly mirrored the default wallpaper on the display...
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First Look: Apple iPhone 4 review
FIRST LOOK Hands-on the hottest handset of the year? 8 June 2010 10:58 GMT TweetSo the hectic fun and drama of DubDub DC is over for another year and, guess what, it produced another iPhone. One that Steve Jobs claimed would be as revolutionary as the first - hence the tagline: "This changes everything. Again."
So was...
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Sony VAIO VPCM12M1E/P notebook review
REVIEW
Bring a touch of pink to your netbook
7 June 2010 15:00 GMT
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How pink can a laptop be? Take a glance at the VAIO M12 and you'll say: none more pink. It's a deep, rich colour that makes the chrome VAIO logo leap out. The underside of the lid, around the display, is similarly eye-popping, though the area surrounding...
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Samsung R580 notebook review
REVIEW
Style over substance from Samsung?
24 May 2010 13:56 GMT
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Say what you like about Apple, without the Cupertino company we'd probably still have been using beige computers until that other style-conscious company, Sony, entered the fray.
But thanks to the greater attention paid to design these days,...
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Toshiba Qosmio X500-116 notebook review
REVIEW
Blu-ray packing powerhouse
17 May 2010 11:11 GMT
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Toshiba's Qosmio desktop replacement laptops are big machines. Large, strikingly-designed and with lots of features. Add in Toshiba's exceptional build quality and you have a potentially winning series. This latest machine is the snazziest yet, with...
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Packard Bell EasyNote LM notebook review
REVIEW
Desktop replacement on a budget
12 May 2010 16:19 GMT
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The EasyNote LM is a desktop replacement. Its large screen (17.3-inches, so not just a 17-incher, Packard Bell boasts) would dominate any desk, though it is not as heavy as you'd think at 3.3kg, certainly not so heavy that you'd need to anchor it to...
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Sony VAIO VPC-Y11M1E notebook review
REVIEW
Does Sony's lightweight Y-series impress?
26 April 2010 8:48 GMT
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Sony's Y-series laptop is good-looking and light. The case is brushed aluminium all over apart from the plastic undercarriage and parts of the edges. Still, with its chrome VAIO label on the lid, there's enough metal to make it a snazzy machine.
While...
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Dell Studio 17 (2010) review
REVIEW
An ideal desktop replacement?
19 April 2010 19:50 GMT
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The Dell Studio 17 1747 is a hefty beast. You'll want to use it as a desktop replacement rather than a portable to carry around with you. Still, the glossy black case with subtle patterning and red edging looks pretty neat, so it won't be out of place...
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Samsung N210 notebook review
REVIEW
A netbook with a difference?
12 April 2010 16:44 GMT
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Last year Samsung released some cool-looking coloured netbooks which stood out in the crowd. For its latest model, the Korean manufacturer has gone for a more demure look with its gloss-black N210.
The new netbook has a 10.1-inch screen, though...
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Fujitsu Lifebook T4410 notebook review
REVIEW
A tablet PC to take on the move?
5 April 2010 9:00 GMT
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The iPad is not the only tablet. Of course, Microsoft had invested in a touchscreen laptop interface way before Apple did, it just never took off. Maybe now the iPad is rolling out, interest in Windows touchscreens will flourish. Mind you, at £999,...
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Toshiba NB305 notebook review
REVIEW
An impressive netbook from Tosh?
29 March 2010 8:30 GMT
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Last year's NB200 netbook from Toshiba was a neat, effective performer from a manufacturer known for its reliability and strong build quality. Now, the successor, wittily titled the NB300, has arrived. This is the NB305 variant, most noticeably differing...
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Sim Animals – Nintendo Wii – First Look review
FIRST LOOK Does the latest Sims spin deliver? 29 July 2008 16:00 GMT TweetSince The Sims and all its sequel editions add up to the most successful PC game franchise ever, it’s no surprise that the publisher, Electronic Arts, has major plans to keep the series fresh. You may have sniffed at recent releases such as the Ikea add-on...
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Apple iPhone 3G – First Look review
FIRST LOOK Can it possibly live up to the hype? 15 June 2008 20:44 GMT TweetSo what do you want from the new iPhone? Do you want 3G, so you can surf the net faster when you’re not in Starbucks? For sure. Push email, so you don’t have to go searching for your mail all the time? Natch. A lower price? Are the Kennedys gunshy?
Nikon D800 pictures and hands-on Full frame camera in the flesh
Nikon D700 vs Nikon D800 New and improved?
BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 demoed, Bridge 2.0 gives remote control Coming in February