Category Archives: Product Reviews

GEEK! Product Reviews

Cloud Unlimted Music review – unlimited public wi-fi for the iPod Touch

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Get unlimited wi-fi for your iPod Touch at a tiny price

I recently subscribed to The Cloud’s iPod Touch service, dubbed “Cloud Unlimited Music”. It is a service designed specifically for the iPod Touch and gives unlimited browsing and downloading at The Cloud’s wi-fi hotspots for just £3.99 per month.

I decided it was worth it as it is handy to have instant internet access in many public train station. The company’s hotspots can be found in many public places – such as train stations, pubs, hotels, restaurants and as most O2 stores. Considering the small price, I can head out and just catch my emails or finish a download.

I’m really impressed at how well the system works. I signed up and added my debit card as payment, and then 2 days later (today) headed out to my local town to try it out. I walked into an O2 shop and tried to connect. Straight away I was on the net – no need to log on or anything like that.

You don’t need to log on because the system works by checking your iPod’s MAC address rather than a username or password. When you sign up, you provide your device’s MAC address and your account is locked to that code. By doing this, it means that you no longer have to log on when joining a hotspot.

In addition, I was also really impressed at the speeds. My local O2 store gave me a download speed of over 8 megabits per second (which is more than twice the speed of my home broadband).

So overall, I’m very happy with it. It’s great value and works very efficiently. If you need wi-fi access for your iPod Touch in town – this is for you.

Which virtual host do you choose for virtual machines?

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I find this to be a very difficult decision. There are quite a few pieces of software that will, essentially, do the same job. However I seem to believe that some are better than others.

In this post I’m going to try and show which piece of virtual machine software I prefer any why I like it.

If you’re looking for free software (which I generally do – who doesn’t?) you’ve basically got three choices – VMware Player, Microsoft Virtual PC (which seems to be getting outdated, but still works fine), and VirtualBox.

Here’s the order in which I would choose them:

  1. VirtualBox – I have to say I like VirtualBox the most. It’s fast and has a very tidy interface that is easy to use. I tried all three pieces of software on the same machine and it was noticeable that this piece of software was most responsive and most effecient – especially when using Windows guest machines. It doesn’t have the handy quick install feature that VMware has, but the speedy performance definitely makes up for that. Sadly it doesn’t support FAT32 file splitting, which is a shame if the hard drive you want to run it on is FAT32 as you wont be able to make virtual hard drives bigger than 4GB. However, I do think that it does work most efficiently and has the best interface.
  2. Microsoft Virtual PC – Despite the fact that Microsoft seem to be trying to phase this out (with the launch of XP Mode in Windows 7) it is still a very good virtual machine host. It not only has a clean interface, but it’s native virtual disk format supports FAT32 file splitting, so you’ll be able to run virtual hard disks on drives that run FAT32 without the 4GB file size limitation. However, I find it to be quite slow. Even when you are performing simple tasks (such as clicking the Start menu in the guest machine) it can take ages to respond. Also, it seems to be designed more for Windows guests, as it’s “Other” host option is very vague. I like Virtual PC more than VMware, but I’d still choose VirtualBox any day.
  3. VMware Player – This is my least favourite piece of software. Despite it being a very popular company who makes VMware Player, I still think it really isn’t up to regular virtual machine jobs. The main thing I can’t stand about VMware Player is the interface – I find it so clunky and unhelpful. I also find it the slowest of the three in terms of performance. It seems to cope pretty well with most operating systems, but the lack of speed makes VMware annoying at times. It does have the Easy Install feature – which is designed to make OS installation much more simple by automatically running through the process, but I’ve never found that particularly useful.

So there you go – if you want a decent, free virtual machine host I’d recommend VirtualBox to you.

Review: Exspect In-Ear Earphones

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I went out today and actually bought my second pair of the Exspect In-Ear earphones. I know, you’re thinking who the hell are Exspect? To be honest, I don’t really know – but I do know that their bargain earphones are fantastic.

They sell in HMV for £6 and to be honest most people – including myself – would think that they are £6 and therefore are probably god-awful. Absolutely not the case.

When I bought them the first time, I was amazed at how amazing the earphones sounded. The sound is extremely crisp, the bass is very well balanced and they are also (importantly) very comfortable. From a set of earphones this cheap, you’d expect a tinny sound with a lack of bass but I have to say I was astonished to find they are much better than you can expect at this price.

I also love the great 3D effect you get from the earphones. Listen to a song like Pink Floyd – On the Run and you’ll see what I mean. It’s as if the music is playing in your head, not your ears.

They are available in two colours – black and white – and having owned both I prefer the black – but that’s just my own preference.

In summary – a definite must if you’re on a budget. There are better earphones around – but there’s no point in buying cheap, tinny earphones when you can get these.

Review: Topcom USB Wireless Skype Phone (Butler 4012)

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I recently decided that, as I use Skype frequently for general phone calls to standard landline calls, I should get a proper Skype headset.

I found the Topcom Butler 4012 on eBay brand new for £14.99, which is a bargain considering that its RRP is about £70.

I have to say I’m very impressed with the handset. It’s really easy to use and works very well. There are a few pros and cons which I’ve outlined below:

Advantages:

  • Battery life is very good
  • Works very well with Skype using the USB interface
  • The drivers work with Windows Vista and Windows 7
  • It comes with a selection of ringtones and customizable features
  • The sound quality of the calls is very good
  • It works just as if it were a normal landline phone
  • Wireless range is very good

Disadvantages:

  • You have to dial the country code when making a call, even if it is in your local country (ie 0044 before the number in the UK)
  • Must be plugged in via USB, no ethernet port
  • Comes with EU plug (that is probably just the eBay seller, but it is probably worth mentioning)

Other than that I think it is a product that will prove very handy. I use it frequently now and I have to say it hasn’t played up at all yet.

So if you’re looking for a good value Skype phone, try the Topcom Butler 4012 Skype handset.

Office 2010 Beta – The review

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I’ve been testing Office 2010 for quite a while now, as I was part of the Technical Preview which Microsoft launched a little while ago. Now they’ve closed up the Technical Preview and replaced it with the Beta, which is now publically available for all to download and try out. I’m not entirely sure if Microsoft are limiting the amount of downloads, but if you want to be safe I suggest you download it now and give it a try.

Anyway, it goes without saying that Office 2010 is a huge improvement on Microsoft’s last attempt on an office suite – Office 2007. I’ve hated 2007 from the start. I thought the interface was clunky, confusing and time consuming. It was difficult to use, and anyone who was used to the simple menus of Office 2003 would have to learn how to use the programs all over again, from scratch. It’s like a car company saying we’ve made a new car, but to use it you’ll have to learn to drive all over again.

However, Microsoft have finally made a practical use of the futuristic design. The new menu bar is still there, but it is now usable. Here’s a little screenie…

Office 2010 Beta

Yes, it does take a little getting used to, but the basics are so much easier to access. All your common features are reachable at your fingertips.

I have to say that I like it. However, I don’t think this will be the case for everyone. I think it’s quite comparable to a car. If the car has a dashboard that looks like a small section of mission control, it becomes irritating and pointless. It’s the same for Office in that respect. If you’re typing out a document and you can’t find a feature hidden away in some submenu it is irritating and pointless – it’s exactly the same. I think Microsoft needs to think about this before launching a final version next year. I think they should maybe think about a “classic” mode, where people can use an interface which is comparable to older versions of Office.

Overall, I think it’s good and will prove successful. On the other hand, Microsoft needs to think about older users who are used to Office 2003 or even older versions. I think it’s really important that Microsoft holds on to it’s long term customers – letting them creep away now could be critical.