Velodyne CHT-15R Subwoofer Review - Wobbly Legs

When it comes to leisure time, a lot of us enjoy playing a console game or watching a good movie. Gone are the days when the latter means leaving your house for a night out at the cinema. The preferred way of watching a movie nowadays, is at home on your LCD or plasma TV, complete with surround sound. You might be content with your set-up, but the addictive nature of wanting the best picture, and the most awe inspiring sound, will soon have you wanting to upgrade certain parts of your kit. On the sound front, a good set of speakers is essential, but to add that earth shattering bass levels of sound, that shake your booty to extreme levels, you need to look at something above the level of the sub/sat systems that are on the market today. There are plenty of subwoofers available that do a grand job, but to take things to the next level you need to move air, and here we take a look at the Velodyne CHT-15R.

There are many models available in the CHT range, the 8R, 10R, 12R, right up to the 15R on test here. Available in a range of colours, dependent on model, you can pick from black, silver or cherry finishes. The black finish on our CHT-15R is really nice, the quality is faultless. Before I kick off with the review good and proper, I should warn you, the 15R is big, not just in performance, but in physical size. It measures approximately 21x21x18 inches and weighs 75 pounds. If you need something a little more lounge friendly then you should look further down the range. All have pretty much the same features, they just differ in performance levels, especially the frequency response and power ratings.

Back to the CHT-15R, this brute packs 1,000 watts of continuous power and a 4.4 pound magnet on the speaker unit. The driver is a massive 15-inch forward firing beast, which delivers a frequency response down to a trouser shaking 23Hz. This is very very low, and the amount of air that is moved when you get powerful in-movie sound effects is quite worrying. You need to appreciate that the 15R delivers the type of movement and rumbles that you can only really experience in the best cinema set-ups... and I am referring to the cinema that you have to travel to, not a home based affair.

Setting up is really easy, and once you have calibrated the 15R with your main speaker levels, you can sit back and enjoy. The included remote control gives you access to the DSP control unit. You can remotely adjust the volume (which aids in balancing the overall sound to blend in with your main speakers), phase adjustment to further match the timbre to your speakers, mute, a night mode (which tones down the output to keep your neighbours happy), plus it gives you access to various presets. The presets available are Movies/R&B, Rock/Jazz, Classical and Games. I am not a great fan of such things, but I must admit they worked admirably. Switching to ‘Games’ seemed to add some extra punch to explosions and sound effects, whereas ‘Classical’ seemed to trim in the settings, to give a more focused and natural bass response.

If your main vice is movies, then the CHT-15R will not disappoint. Testing with the likes of Fifth Element, showed the tight, yet awesomely low frequencies that were being delivered. When you start to ‘feel’ the sound, you know that your sub is really shifting some air. The film U571 has some really loud explosions, and the 15R brought those into my test room with the type of presence I had never experienced from my home cinema system before.

In summary, if you are serious about movie watching and you want the best subwoofer money can buy, then splash your cash on a Velodyne CHT-15R, you will not be disappointed. Just remember to leave enough cash for some rubber bands to tie around your trouser legs.

Product: Velodyne CHT-15R Subwoofer
Price: £799
Supplied by: Redline Scotland Ltd
Contact: +44 (0)131 555 3922

Pure Digital ONE Review - DAB for the masses

It seems that the digital TV revolution is upon us, with the UK starting the switch off of analogue transmissions. Where radio is concerned though, we will always have FM, MW, and LW, but for a long time now, if you want that bit extra from the service, then DAB (or Digital Audio Broadcasting) has been the way to go. It has been available to the general public since 1999, so it comes as no surprise that a successor (DAB+) is on the way. DAB+ will offer better error correction coding (so less dropouts, better sound), plus MPEG surround audio, which will be really cool.

In its current form, not only does it offer really clear sound, but you also get extra information, such as the DJ you are listening too, or scrolling text with news or current programme information. The choice of stations depends on your area’s coverage, but it is pretty darn good and well worth checking out what you can pick up in your area. Long time leaders in DAB radios are Pure Digital who offer a range of standalone radio, alarm clock radios, and CD combo units, they even do the Chronos iDock which features a dock for your iPod.

In this review we take a look at the very affordable Pure Digital ONE, which is small enough to be used as a portable, whilst just as comfortable as a mains powered unit too. If you are using away from a plug socket, it takes six C-Cell batteries or a ChargePAK. The latter costs £30 and fits into the same compartment. It then charges whilst connected to the mains, and then you have instant battery power when away from home. The ONE is available in white, pink or black, and the white one we have on test is really quite pleasing to the eye. It is an all plastic affair, but does not feel cheap in any way, the standby button is black, with all other buttons finished in polished silver.

So, let’s take a look at those buttons. There are seven small ones arranged in a circle around a larger rotating button, which you turn to cycle through the various menus and then click to confirm your selection. This works very well, apart from I forgot to push it in time and time again... this same large button also controls the volume, so I kept adjusting the volume by mistake. Totally my fault, and after half an hour, I didn’t make the same mistake again. The tiny buttons give you access to the volume, timer, presets (20 in total), info, DAB/FM selection, menu and stations. The arrangement is really nice and makes it very easy to navigate.

The timer works in two different ways. You can either set a sleep timer, to turn the radio off after 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes, or you can use as a kitchen timer. Set the hours and minutes, then an alarm will sound when your cooking is done, which is pretty neat. The DAB/FM button allows you to switch to normal FM radio, if you need to get a station not available via DAB. The information you can choose to have displayed includes scrolling text, time and date, programme type, signal strength and quality, bit rate, plus the multiplex name and info. This is fantastic, so much information on the clear backlit display, but there is more to come...

The Pure Digital ONE also features Intellitext, which gives you on-demand information from the station you are listening to. This includes headlines and news from the likes of Virgin, talkSPORT and BBC Five Live, or any other station that supports it. It is this extra information that sets DAB way above anything FM radio can offer, and the 16x2 display is very clear and delivers this extra info very well.

Now I have given you an idea of what the ONE offers in terms of features, it is time to let you know how it performs. On first switch on, it goes into a set-up mode, which takes about 30 seconds. This grabs the time and date info over the air, and auto-tunes the available DAB stations in your area. I was so excited that I quickly clicked the ‘stations’ button and scrolled through to Virgin Radio and pushed the centre button. The quality was awesome, crystal clear and very rounded. The quality delivered by this small radio really impressed me, and within a couple of hours I was a convert, swearing that I would pick up a DAB radio for myself before the end of the year (which is only a couple of weeks away). The volume goes up really loud and even at its highest, the 3-inch speaker did not distort at all. Music sounds really good, but the vocals are so clear, it makes commentary a real pleasure to listen to. From the offset of the review I had been running on C-Cell batteries, so I could rate the performance. With lots of switching between menus, setting up, tuning, etc, I managed to get 28 hours before the batteries gave up. This is superb, and with just radio listening, I would expect a couple more hours, so this can really be used as a portable radio.

For just under £50 you can pick up a Pure Digital ONE and I can highly recommend it. You can even connect it to your PC via USB to perform product upgrades, so it has some future-proofing built-in. At this price it gives you the opportunity to try DAB on a very small budget. Having spent the money, you probably will not feel the need to upgrade, as the ONE performs so admirably. I was so impressed, that I will most likely make this my first DAB radio (if not, I will look at something from the same company). In fact, I was so impressed that my Christmas shopping list has changed... I am going to buy one for my Mum and my Sister too !

Product: Pure Digital One DAB Radio
Price: £49.99
Supplied by: Pure Digital
Contact: +44 (0)1923 277488

Sound Asleep Pillow Review - Do Not Disturb!

Do you have trouble dropping off to sleep? I know I do sometimes, and having my earphones in my ears has led to some really uncomfortable awakenings. If you fall asleep listening to your iPod (or other MP3 player) with earphones in, then you certainly know what I am talking about. Painful lobes, tangles of wires, and sometimes being woken up by my beloved iPod falling on the floor. Well, the Sound Asleep Pillow aims to solve all this.

Basically, for £20 each, you get a nice comfortable pillow, with a speaker built in. Out of the top corner of the seam there is a wire protruding, into which you plug your iPod, or any sound source with a 3.5mm mini-jack connection. An extension cable is also supplied, that connects between the pillow and the gadget you are plugging in.

I had my doubts about how effective the Sound Asleep Pillow would be, but I was really surprised. At low volumes it is quite hard to hear, but from mid-volume up to full, when you place you head on the pillow you can hear music really nicely. Speech is also nice and clear and overall pretty impressive. Where this scores extra marks is that it does not disturb your partner or the rest of the house. Move you head more than a couple of feet away and you cannot hear the sound. At full volume you can hear it slightly, but certainly not enough to disturb anyone.

This solves a big problem, that I mentioned right at the beginning of this review. It stops you getting tangled wires and more importantly prevents sore ears. This product is ideal to soothe you off to a good nights sleep and the price is pretty good too. It'll make a superb present (something a little different don't you think?) or why not treat yourself. The sound is not astounding quality, but it isn't meant to be, it simply does what it says on the packaging. The Sound Asleep Pillow is available direct or at a good selection of retailers detailed on their website. This is a great fun product and is worth the asking price.

Product: Sound Asleep Pillow
Price: £20
Supplied by: Sleep Limited
Contact: info@sleeplimited.co.uk

Noreve Tradition Leather Case for iPhone - Review

Hear yeh, hear yeh, free sim cards are a pourin', great deals are a comin', it really is the season to be jolly. With this passion vintage colour leather iPhone case from Noreve, reminding me of mulled red wine, mince pies, and Christmas holly. If you want something luxurious to protect your iPhone, then check out the video review below.

Product: Tradition Leather Case for the Apple iPhone
Price: $49.99
Supplied by: Noreve USA
Contact: 866-804-9159

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Review - Get All Steamy !

Christmas comes but once a year, but a cappuccino needs to be enjoyed all year through... Most of us lead hectic lives, either in physical jobs, or mentally demanding desk based jobs, so getting that all important wake-me-up drink, or something to set you going at the start of the day, or even winding down in the evening is very important. Popping down to the local coffee shop is an option, but hardly friendly on the pocket. Making a nice, proper tasting drink, with the numerous drinks machines out there, is again an option, but often a chore. So we often settle for a plain cup of coffee or tea, which does the trick, but is a bit boring day in, day out. This is where the Nescafé Dolce Gusto steps up to the block, promising a delicious coffee every time, fast, fresh and instant. The question is, does it deliver? and is it worth your hard earned cash?

Personally, I am not a big coffee fan, but I do love Cappuccino and Hot Chocolate, so I was very keen to get this baby set up. Out of the box, it was a simple matter of a few minutes reading the instructions. These are particularly good, in full colour, with nice photos and a step-by-step walk through of how to set up, make a drink and take care of your machine. Setting up was easy, plug in, switch on, top up the container with water and I was almost there. Topping up was really easy, the container lifts easily from the main body of the Dolce Gusto and the fill up cap reveals a really large hole. Once topped up, there is no snapping or awkward alignment needed, you just sit it back onto the base and it slides into place. Now I was ready to make my first drink, which was a cappuccino. The cup holder/drip tray needs to be adjusted in height manually, so I did this for my particular drink.

Most drinks seems to be a two stage affair, so I put the milk capsule into the holder, pushed the piercing pin into it, and slotted it back into the machine. Then the lever on the front is slid over to the red position, and piping hot frothy milk is pumped into the supplied white cappuccino cup. Once you have enough in the cup, you slide that lever back across to the middle position and wait about four seconds for the green LED to stop flashing. Then I popped the used capsule out and trashed it in the supplied tub. The second capsule contains the coffee, so I put this in place, repeated the motions and voila, I had a wonderful cup of frothy cappuccino. The taste was spot on, and I was surprised on two separate counts. Firstly how silky smooth and perfect the drink tasted, and secondly, how stunningly fast I had prepared my FIRST drink. It was just so easy, to say I was totally impressed in an understatement.

Taking care of the machine is really easy to, there is really not much cleaning involved. The drip tray will need rinsing every now and again. Plus, if you switch to a different type of drink, it is recommended that you run some plain water through, with the supplied rinsing tool in place. This was really easy to do. You can also purchase a descaling kit, which is probably wise if you live in a hard water area.

Choice... is a good thing. The Dolce Gusto does not disappoint here either. Apart from the cappuccino and hot chocolate mentioned earlier, you also have Latte Macchiato, Caffé Lungo, Espresso and a cold option with Cappuccino Ice.
For your £80 you get a choice of base colours on the machine (black, red or ivory), plus you get a starter kit to get you going. This includes a white cappuccino cup, a saucer, a taller glass cup, plus a selection of ten drinks. Ongoing costs are really pretty good too, with packs of capsules costing just under £3 for between eight and sixteen drinks (depending on the variety you choose). Shopping around, I found some on special offer at £2 which is even better.
Another option to make things even more appealing is to register on the manufacturers website, where you can then add points to your account for every box of capsules you buy. These can then be redeemed against accessories, like cups, spoons, or even more drink capsules. For example, every box purchase you register gets you 10 points, and to redeem these for a box of capsules would cost you 150 points.

In summary, the Dolce Gusto is the best drink machines I have ever experienced. It is super easy to use, mess free, and most importantly delivers delicious drinks. The quality of the drink can be put down to a combination of the Arabica beans used in the capsules, coupled with the high 14 bar pressure delivered. This really is a serious offering, and it is built to a very high quality. It’ll save you a lot of time and really guarantee you a great tasting drink every time.

You can drink whatever you want when you play multi video poker online at GamblingCity.net in the comfort of your own home! Start playing deuces wild video poker at GC today and start your day off right with a video poker win!

Product: Nescafé Dolce Gusto Drinks Machine
Price: £89.99
Supplied by: Nescafé
Contact: 0800 707 6066

John Adams Chemistry Set Review

In the run up to Christmas (only 19 days left) we will be bringing you lots of alternative reviews. Last year, our festive reviews went down very well, helped along by some Christmas turkey, so sit back and enjoy our look at John Adams Chemistry Set. We looked at the same manufacturer's Hot Wires a while back, so I was certainly expecting good things from this one.

Years ago I had a chemistry set, it had loads of glass tubes and was very exciting. My parents would look very worried when I was using it, and looking back, it did contain some quite potent chemicals. Then for about the last five years or so, I cannot remember seeing any in the shops. They seem to disappear of the face of the planet. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but now with the John Adams Chemistry Set the gap has been filled.

This very well presented box comes with loads of goodies. Safety goggles, a beaker, test tubes complete with stand, tongs and a burner. There is a lot more besides what I have mentioned, you can check out their website for a full list. You also get 11 chemical substances; these are Copper Sulphate, Ammonium Chloride, Calcium Hydroxide, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Aluminium Potassium Sulphate, Zinc, Calcium Carbonate, Ammonium Hydrogen Sulphate, Iron Sulphate and Sodium Thiosulphate. I should also point out (before the fun begins) that this set it aimed at ages 10 and over.

The lovely 24-page booklet walks you through each experiment and there certainly is a lot on offer... you get the chance to learn about chemical reactions for a starter. You get to create gases, test for indicators (acid, alkali, neutral), even grow some crystals. With the small burner you get to test for chemicals in everyday objects, like wood shavings and glossy magazines, followed by some heat reactions. There really is too much to cover here, but the booklet explains things so well, that it is hard to fault. You are not just tied to using what is included in the box, it makes suggestions of other items, like sugar, cold tea, and old tin lid, to further expand the experiments you can do. This is really great and adds to the value of the whole package.

The John Adams Chemistry Set really impressed me. The build quality and items included are really fab. It certainly took me back to my childhood, and will certainly make a fantastic present for your children this year. Hours of fun for such a small price is hard to find, plus they will be learning at the same time. This is one of the wisest purchases you will make.

Product: John Adams Chemistry Set
Price: £21.99 (average)
Supplied by: John Adams Trading Co. Ltd.
Contact: 01235 833066

Epson DX7400 Review - Multifunction on a budget

There is a massive choice of multifunction (MF) printers on the market. Some try to do all things great (and fail) and charge a high price tag, others try to do too much and end up just a big disappointment. Epson have been making MF printers for a long time now, and their Stylus DX7400 offers a really good specification on paper, without a high price tag. A little shopping around can bag you the DX7400 for just £48, which gets you an inkjet printer, a scanner, a copier, and the ability to print direct from Pictbridge digital cameras. The only thing it lacks that more (much more) expensive offerings have is a fax machine, but in the age of the email, who uses a fax machine nowadays anyway?!

The DX7400 uses a four colour print system, with separate ink cartridges for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This is great, as you only need to replace one empty cartridge at a time, with no wasted ink. This is only going to cost you around £6 per cartridge, so it is very cheap to keep this printer running. Many photo dedicated printers use six or more ink colours, to give you better tonal range, but to my surprise the photos from the DX7400 printed out very quickly and were great quality. When printing on normal inkjet paper (rather than glossy), large areas of flat colour did show some banding, but with careful use this could be avoided. For general full colour prints, like office documents, diagrams etc, not only were all the colours bright and vivid, with nice crisp text, but pages shot out at a great speed. Epson quote up to 32 pages per minute (ppm), in my experience I was getting an average of around 22ppm.

The fact that you also have a scanner bed on the DX7400 is a real boon. It might not sound much, but you will be surprised at how much you use the 'Copy' facility. Just pop your original on the glass, and push either the black copy of colour copy button. I tried some pages of text, which gave me nice crisp copies, with a white background, at around 22ppm. A full colour magazine page was slightly slower and did put quite a lot of ink of the page, things ended up a bit soggy. I changed over to some higher quality matte inkjet paper (100gsm) and then tried the magazine copy again. This time around things were hunky dory. A really nice copy, with good accurate colour reproduction.

Scanning is very simple. You can use Epson's own Scan Assistant software, which offers three different levels of scanning, from an auto-mode, through to a home mode, or a professional mode where you can control more or less every aspect of the scan. The DX7400 is also fully twain compliant, so you can scan from within your fave application (eg. PhotoShop). The scans were great, very fast to preview, and a pretty resectable speed for the final scan. Text was great, photos were very accurate, the only caveat was black and white photos which had a slight green tinge. This was easily corrected, so not really worth worrying about.

To say I was impressed with the Epson Stylus DX7400 is an understatement. The software included is easy to install, it even includes a version ABBYY FineReader for optical character recognition. The rest of the Epson suite of software really allows you to use all of the features easily and effectively. The printout quality is really good, for this price bracket it is hard to fault. Add to this the invaluable copy feature, then on top of that a really good scanner and you are onto a winner. If I had been told that the DX7400 was £99, I would still have to recommend it, but for half this price, it is a real bargain.

Product: Epson Stylus DX7400
Price: £44 (Amazon)
Supplied by: Epson UK
Contact: +44 (0)8702 416900

V-Moda Vibe Duo - posh earphones for iPhone

I have reviewed V-Moda earphones before (the Vibe earphones), so when I learnt that they had been working with Apple to produce a quality earphone/mic combo for the iPhone, I got all excited. Sure, you get earphones with the iPhone, but as per usual, we always strive to have better sound. Seeing as the iPhone is a damn good iPod too, it surely deserves the best.

The V-Moda Vibe Duo earphones will set you back just under $100 or £70 in the UK. They are available in three colour finishes, Nero black as reviewed here, chrome, and GunMetalRouge, a red metal colour. Let's get the technical bit out of the way first. These are light, weighing in at just 13g. They offer a frequency response all the way down to 12Hz for great bass reproduction, and all the way up to 22kHz for those high details. They comes supplied with various size silicone ear fittings, to ensure a comfortable fit and just over one meter in cable length. There is also a microphone built in, for taking/making calls, with a call control button for taking calls and play/forward features of the iPod part of your iPhone. You can of course use these with a regular iPod, and just not take advantage of the mic. So, if you also own an iPod, this may be a way of getting great earphones for two devices.

Down to the nitty gritty, and I am happy to say that the Vibe Duo earphones performed impeccably. For phone use, the incoming sound was crystal clear. On the other end, compared to the Apple supplied set, the microphone delivered much clearer vocals, less muddy. When listening to music the bass extension was awesome, you got a real feel of depth to the music. Vocals were warm, yet any mid-range or high-level detail was very natural. With cheaper earphones you sometimes get this mechanical nature to the music, but this was nowhere to be heard in my tests.

Apart from the sound reproduction, the comfort of the Vibe Duo earphones was brilliant. I used the medium sized silicone fittings, which gave me a snug fit. They don't fit as deep in the ear canal as some others, so I found them much more comfortable. The finishing touches that make these worth the extra spend is the detailing, quality construction, and even the neat leather case you get to pop the earphones in when not in use. If you want to treat yourself (or your ears) to some glorious sounds, then splash out on a set of Vibe Duos, it'll be money well spent.

Product: V-Moda Vibe Duo Earphones
Price: $99.99 : £69.99
Supplied by: V-Moda
Contact: Click here

John Adams Hot Wires Review - Exciting Stuff!

In a world where the news reports that children play too many video games and watch too much television, I tend to agree, though I do succumb to the virtues of the electronic world myself. What is missing today, is toys that the kids can interact with, so when a John Adams Hot Wires set landed on my desk, it felt like my Christmas had come early.

The John Adams Hot Wires set is a big bumper sized box, so straight away, if this was under your Christmas tree this year for your son (or daughter), they will be blown away by the size and exciting design on the box. Delving inside reveals an awesome electronics set, consisting of a base board and stacks of components. You get fuses, connectors, battery units, transistors, a bulb, microphone, buzzer, recording IC, the list goes on. Where the Hot Wires set is very clever is that all of the components simply snap together. No fiddling with tiny screws and no hot soldering, which would ultimately mean adult supervision and put the excitement out of the reach of many kids. It is aimed ate ages from 8 upwards, which I feel is about right, though some technically minded 6 & 7 year olds could also have a great time.

There are over 100 experiments, or things to build, including an FM radio, lie detector, burglar alarm and even a voice recorder. The instruction books really shows how things should be done. It is large in size and illustrated with full colour photographs of each and every experiment. Having such a wonderful and easy to follow book included makes this really stand out from the crowd.

For my test I chose to build the ‘Sound Activated Burglar Alarm’. All of the components are colour coded, so selecting the correct ones was really easy. The book shows where everything needs to be connected, and in under 10 minutes I had an alarm that went off every time the tiny microphone picked up a sound. Changing a few components allowed me to alter this to a ‘Light Activated Burglar Alarm’. With most reviews, by this point I am always aware that I need to get some writing done, but I just couldn’t put the Hot Wires set down. I went on to build a ‘3 Note Electronic Organ’, followed by a ‘Morse Code Generator’ and last but not least a ‘Lie Detector’. This was great and I used it to ask my kids some questions about their homework... the results were quite revealing.

I then handed this over to my two children (8 and 10 years old), and they loved it. Without any help they built some of the other projects, only calling for attention to show me the results. In all, I had whittled away with Hot Wires for almost 4 hours and the kids were in their 3rd hour without wanting to stop. I think it kept their attention because the results of each project once complete were intriguing. It added something back into their activities that had been missed for many years... that all important interaction that I mentioned at the start of this review!

The John Adams Hot Wires set costs just £39 and in my opinion offers great value for money. Don’t just buy the kids another computer game this Christmas and stick them in front the TV. Get them something they can get stuck into. This comes highly recommended, I cannot really put into words just how great Hot Wires really is. You will not be disappointed.

Product: John Adams Hot Wires
Price: £39.99
Supplied by: John Adams Trading Co. Ltd.
Contact: 01235 833066

Brenthaven Eclipse Sleeve II Review

Keeping your laptop fresh looking and protected from everyday knocks is very important. An unobtrusive carrying device is also essential, so not to draw attention to your valued possession. The Eclipse Sleeve II from Brenthaven is available as reviewed for the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro, but also available in a variety of other colours, and for the 13.3-inch MacBook and the top end 17-inch MacBook Pro. Check out what we thought in the video below.

Product: Brenthaven Eclipse Sleeve II
Price: £29.95
Supplied by: Brenthaven
Contact: +44 (0)20 8400 1275

Making Things Talk - Book Review

Short, sweet and to the point, we take a look at Making Things Talk, a book from Make. It could just do the job for Geeks all over the world this Christmas.

Sennheiser VMX100 - posh bluetooth ?

When I got my iPhone it was not via the normal channels. Because I needed to test accessories with it before the UK launch I had to import one. To say I love it is an understatement, so when looking for a suitable bluetooth headset it had to be something special. For some reason the Apple headset did not appeal to me, and the regular slew of Motorola offerings were dull to say the least. Then Sennheiser sent me their gorgeous VMX100 bluetooth headset. Whilst waiting for the delivery man to knock on my door, I read up on the specifications and looked at images just oozing quality. Then the baby arrived, so the story begins...

The VMX100 is beautifully presented, you often hear me talking about how awesome it is to unbox Apple products, well this is a very similar experience. It is available in black or titanium colour finishes. The titanium version that I was sent looks really cool. Upon opening the box and removing the headset, you are presented with tiny boxes containing the included accessories. These being the USB charger cable (so you can charge on your Mac or PC) and the main plug, which accepts the same USB cable for charging. The included Quick Start guide shows you how to turn on the headset and pair it with your mobile phone. So simple, that I was up and running in under one minute.

The headset is a one piece design, with an answer/end call button, a rocker switch for volume, but no on/off switch. This is the really cool part, to turn on and off, you simply swing the microphone out, fit the headset to your ear and voila, you are in action. The swing out mechanism is really smooth and also moves on the other axis to allow it to fit comfortably on your ear. Nothing actually pokes into your ear canal, so no rubber sleeves to contend with, and I must say this was a welcome change and very comfortable in use.

Where the VMX100 justifies its price tag is with the dual microphone technology, that claims to give crystal clear sound. Well, once connected to my iPhone, I must admit that the clarity on the calls I made was nothing short of superb. On the receiving end, the earpiece was very clear indeed, and when at the other end of the call, the microphone delivered impeccably with no distortion or hiss at all. Full credit to Sennheiser on this one, I was very impressed.

Claims of 100 hours of standby and 5 hours of talk time were also pretty much spot on. I would go so far as to say that the standby time is considerably greater, whereas the talk time for myself was around the 4 to 4.5 hours mark. The only area where I felt let down was the reception range. Although nothing is quoted on the manufacturer website, other headsets I have tested have managed up to 10 meters before audio started breaking up. The VMX100 struggled to get anywhere near this. At around 3 meters there was slight break up in audio, and if I went beyond 5 meters or added a wall into the equation, it was not a nice experience. This is not a deal breaker though, as most of the time your mobile phone would be in your pocket or on the dashboard in the car, so never more than a couple of meters away.

Would I spend my hard earned cash on the Sennheiser VMX100?
If it were my money, then yes, the VMX100 is very good at what it does. The design and comfort are pretty much spot on. The audio clarity is excellent and in day-to-day use I had no real problems with it. If you want something that stands out from the crowd, the VMX100 is a good choice. If your budget is tight, there are plenty of other bluetooth headsets on the market. They might not be as good, but they do the same job, so unless you are going to call Mariah and ask her to sing to you, then you could save some of that hard earned cash.

Product: Sennheiser VMX100 Bluetooth Headset
Price: £80.00 headset only : £100 black headset, car power lead, hard case.
Amazon: £79.89
Supplied by: Sennheiser UK
Contact: info@sennheiser.co.uk

Griffin Technology iClear - Protect your iPhone

The iPhone has been around for a while now, well, at least in the USA. The UK launch is just around the corner, with November 9th cited as the big day. When you get that shiny new gadget, you gotta protect it. So why not check out our review of the Griffin Technology iClear case, it might be just what you are looking for.



Product: iClear Case for iPhone
Price: $24.99 : £18 approx.
Amazon UK Price: £13.89
Supplied by: Griffin Technology
Contact: 615-399-7000

Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies - Review

No sooner has the latest (and supposedly greatest) operating system from Apple landed on our doorsteps, that this surprise landed on mine. It seems like there is a Dummy book for more or less everything nowadays, but I certainly did not expect this one so quickly.

Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies covers the new features in Leopard, and does it in a way that is suited for the first time user. It is presented in black and white, but fully illustrated with clear screen shots. You will find it is divided into sections that start with the basics of what the desktop, finder and icons do, moving on to how to organise your files and folders, before taking a look at dealing with CD's and DVD's. iChat and the new screen sharing, using Mail (the Mac email application) and iTunes are all covered. The writing is done in such a way that there is no technical language, and where there is, it is explained very clearly.

The various sections are marked up with easy to follow icons, that indicate things like a 'New Feature' or a 'Tip'. This is great, as it allows you to learn the subject at hand, but also pick up some handy tips along the way.

TextEdit, fonts, and setting up and using a printer are also explained. The book even moves into areas that are a bit more involved, like networking, backing up and how to re-install your system software should the need arise. Even these more complicated tasks are dealt with superbly in layman terms, so you should come away knowing how to really enjoy your Mac.

My only gripe is that a little splash of colour would make the book a more interesting read. That said, this may well effect the bargain £14.99 price, which is a steal. So if you need to learn how to use your Mac from the ground up, or perhaps you need a gift for a friend or relative who has just acquired a new Mac, then Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies is highly recommended.

Product: Mac OS X Leopard for Dummies
ISBN: 978-0-470-05433-8
Price: £14.99 / $21.99
Supplied by: Wiley Publishing Inc.

Stacks in Mac OS X Leopard - Tidy Up!

I have been reading on many forums that users are not too impressed with Stacks in OS X Leopard. Well, I have to agree, the way they are configured is not great. One of the main complaints is how to get the frontmost icon to look like something meaningful. I hope this short screencast helps a little.

iPhone (in the UK) Video Review

It has been such a busy month at Geekanoids, so busy that it has taken me longer than normal to edit the iPhone video footage taken a couple of weeks ago. If you skip below, you will find a video review of the iPhone, where we take a look at the user interface.
I should also add, that having used this device for around two weeks now, I am in love. The iPhone really has replaced my old mobile phone and my iPod too. It behaves impeccably for my mobile communications. Email on the move is a real joy, as is web browsing (although a bit slow over EDGE). As an iPod, I really cannot emphasize how great the screen is. Being able to watch video footage back with popping colours and in widescreen to boot is brilliant. The iPhone comes highly recommended.