Posts by Stacy

Lexus CT200h hybrid

Is there any particular time limit you want to put on this???

Oh sorry - I forgot when racing you stop at 30. Or 20... Or whatever time it is that they other car starts to dissapear.

I stand by my original comment... I have found the time for a prius to 30 (a little over three seconds).

From what I can see on the net the GTi should be in the range of 2.5 to 3 without extreme driving, less with. We are talking racing from the lights here so I would say the 2 of extreme launch counts. So it's slightly quicker to 30 (without killing the drive shafts), quite a lot quicker in all likelyhood if you are going for it and *much* quicker to any decent speed.

The extreme talk that is discussed is also slightly dissapointing. Less than my T5 develops at 1500rpm. Hardly earth shattering.

Still thanks for the smile of racing to 30. Very funny.

As Mr Bennet would say

You think that dear, if it gives you comfort.

Have you seen the performance figures for a Prius? Unless we are taking about the fat underpowered GTi''s that have been thrashed to an inch of their life in the 90's that is...

New Golf GTi < 7 second to 60... Prius > 10 seconds...

Any modern GTi (or similar) you are beating is either not bothered about racing you, or can't drive...

Volvo S60 DRIVe

Because this car is about economy and not performance maybe...

It's nice of you to share that you don't give a crap about those around you, as long as you have the things that make you feel safer.

If you look at the economy it delivers and compare it to the little standard diesels that you can get in the same car, I think you will find that the economy is far better. This is not a hybrid where you are lugging batteries and electric motors around, this is a 'normal' diesel designed to be very economic.

Why not simply stop innovation altogether - after all you have the three things you need in life, so further R&D is obviously pointless. Personally I think the padestrian awareness system is far more important than the ABS (which lets face it, only lulls people into thinking that they can tailgate even closer). That system will hopefully help in built up areas when someone runs out from between parked cars - the car can react faster than you can in those situations.

As for the Satnav, I don't know what peoples problems are with it, but mine in my V50 got me from Amsterdam to the Italian Riviera (sp?) - +/-1300kms - without me going wrong a single time. It's a fantastic piece of kit that is so easy to use.

No...

That is for when you have broken down and are causing a hazzard.

Being parked on a dark lane you do not want lights that go on and off, you need a constant low power light to be seen.

The sidelights are there for this reason. My V50 does have a buzzer for those IIRC (but it's that long since I have changed the switch position from 'on' I can't actually remember)...

Ballmer leaves investors speechless in Seattle

wow, good argument

Calling someone a cretin when they say something you don't agree with. Well done.

I never said MS tablets were a success, I said MS could never have got away selling an iPad, yet you ignored that and went for the personal attack.

Fanboi much?

Good point!

Crazy goat :)

You're right, a Windows tablet is a full blown computer that you can use as a full blown computer.

A stripped down low res surfing machine is what's needed.

If you think this would have worked had anyone but Apple come up with it then I want what you are smoking. Apple is a religion - they say this is cool and millions of Apple fans immediately being the 'We need one' mantra. It is a success and then others copy the stripped down format to be like Apple...

If MS had said here is a tablet that's so locked down you can't do everything with it that you can do with a computer; you can't even plug it into an external monitor without an overpriced cable do you think it would have been met with 'Wow!!!!! This is the future!!!!' No, it would have been met with 'What crap is this from MS!'

MS Sucks. Apple sucks more - but has a better PR machine than any company on the planet.

Atom smasher claims Hadoop cloud migration victory

And yet

You post anonymously so that no one can take you up on it...

HTC Flyer 7in Android tablet

Nice to use

Having played with one in a shop I was far more impressed than I have been with the other tablets that I have played with (Samsumg, iPad)

Even the eBook reader was nice to look at (nicer than some of the e-ink ebooks readers they had in the shop).

But that price is a big ask, and I'm still waiting for the killer app... Easier sofa browsing than a laptop is great, but not 700 euros great...

Can I have a wavering thumb please - this has the shiny factor, and feels great in your hands and it really makes me want to buy it if only I can think of a reason :)

Sony Vaio VPCF21Z1E 16in laptop

Glad I didn't read this...

Before I brought one! I'd have missed out on a great laptop! I'm trying to figure out the 75%... How can an Apple (that by your own benchmarks does not perform as well) has less connectivity options, lacks even a blu ray player, and has a crappily low resolution screen and costs as much get an extra 15% I have no idea...

Lighter than an a 15" HP Elite (my other half uses one for work) - so not hat heavy, a superbly crisp 120Hz screen that has almost perfect colour reproduction for photo editing (so much better than the Asus it replaced!) and amazingly fast.

The design sucks a bit I'll admit - but I have seen worse, and it's really not that unportable - providing you have a bag designed for a 16" laptop of course - but then isn't that obvious?

As for it not working - I have to say I have not had that problem. Put a BluRay in, hit the 3D button and 'ping!' I get 3D (not having installed anything extra than the bundled software).

The screen clasp thing isn't an issue - it's not like the lid randomly opens, you have to apply a bit of pressure for it work (and it's better than having to using a spring loaded clasp whilst trying to open it).

Does the reviewer hate Sony by any chance (don't blame them if they do, I don't like them - but this piece if kit has been great in the 6 weeks I have had it)

Android, Steve Jobs, and Apple's '90%' tablet share

Really?

If a jingle at boot is in your list of biggest problems then I would say you don't really have an issue. BTW Mute your phone before booting and the jingle does not play... No rooting required :)

As for calendar support - what exactly is the problem? Using either HTC Sync or by setting up an exchange account within the OS I can sync the calendar with my work calendar... Where is the problem?

Having done far more with my Desire than I could ever do with my iPhone I think I have way more control over what I do with it.

And they are???

Having played with an iPad (and a Galaxy Tab), and watching the hordes of Apple fans in the offie play with the iPads during meetings I have still yet to find a use for one...

I have an ultra portable machine (about the footprint of an iPad, with a much better screen, keyboard etc) that does everything they do, plus so much more, with much less effort on my part. The battery life and instant on-ness is even comparable... And it has all the ports I need for eveyday use and even a DVD built in.

Where is the advantage and use of an iPad? I'll go with it's a much cheaper solution than an ultra portable, but then it's also a much lesser machine and has many more limitations.

If you have to use your imaganation to make a use for it then it's kind of proving the point that it's a solution for a problem no one had... Doesn't stop me wondering just what your imaganation came up with though that you can't do with an ultra portable or smart phone...

Steve Wozniak ready for return to Apple

I do think different

Surely that it the problem - if you have an Apple you are not allowed to 'Think Different' you have to 'Think Jobsian' :)

Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin Air speakers

Totally agree

I have just purchased a pair of CM9's for my living room (and a couple of Cyrus amps to drive them) and the sound is stunning!

But... I've also had to re-rip my whole CD collection as the new speakers / amps show up all of the faults in the MP3 compression (even at the max bit rate) when comparing it to CD's.

So much so that the iPod has been relegated to the study with our small speakers for background music whilst working. The living room now has FLAC and CD only...

Fans face freezing Apple MacBook Pros

My personal experience is that...

...yes all Acer stuff sucks :)

Apple MacBook Pro 13in

Maybe you want to watch your movies on the move?

And if you have a BluRay collection it would be nice to be able to do this simply.

I don't want the hassle of ripping them and converting them, I want to put the disc in a drive and play it...

And pointing out that the resolution sucks (is barely more than my current 11" ultra portable, and apples own 11" ultra portable) is not a valid reason for not including other tech that should be in an expensive toy.

Apple do make nice looking, well built machines (excepting the iPhone 3G that felt awful in the hand, and seems to always break in the same place), but for the rest... Meh.

Ford Focus 2011

Pferdestärke

Horse power in German, why it's used outside of Germany I don't know... Here in holland they slip between HP, PK (Paardenkracht) and this all the time.

Microsoft finally says adios to Autorun

Title, what title...

I think that are interchangable, but I do hear lots of people complain that their partners spend all night behind the computer...

I can just go for PEBAK if you want?

And really, you had to be annonymous for that comment! Coward :)

You've never worked with users have you? :)

There are two camps of non techie users that I know of.

Ignorant: I don't know, and I don't care

These people just click yes to everything and cause a friend / relation many hours of grief trying to clean up their system

Ignorant, but scared: OMG! What has popped up on the screen, the world is going to end

These people generally have clean computers, if only because they never get turned on. These people cause friends / relations hours of grief as everything they need to do online is done over the phone, with said person giving information and the friend / relation filling in the form

(Yes I am bitter at wasting my time)

But I think that it means anything that a techie thinks is a good solution is likely to fail at the first hurdle for a real user. I am including my own solutions to regular problems here (how hard can it be to teach someone to press two buttons? Very aparently.)

So if you use your pop up window I think it would just be people not clicking on it ever, or clicking on it regardless. The biggest security threat to a computer is the person sitting behind it...

Apple refuses frozen iPhone repair

Well...

Whilst it's not an exact science I know roughly how warm my car is because a) I can drive in short sleves and without a coat - ergo it's probably more than +18, and b) because the Climate stops blasting air into the car once it reaches the pre-set temp (23 degrees).

I'm trying to remember that last time I sat in a car that refused to warm up (I would notice as I hate wearing a coat whilst driving). Even my old 1978 Fiesta and 1980 Spitfire coped perfectly with winter weather...

Get your car fixed - you may find it more pleasent to use in cold weather :)

EU telecoms to Apple, Google: 'Pay up!"

So the adverts are lying then?

Vodafone has an advert in Holland at the moment showing all these sites on their phones with the tag line 'Vodafone - we're ready for it'

T-Mobile had a similar one when the iPhone came out...

Doesn't sound like it from this... I hate phone companies...

Windows to Linux defections to outpace Unix shifts in 2011

No you tosser...

So you like to have a go a windows for creating FUD, but if someone acting on behalf of your beloved Linux does then that's fine.

How about being balanced? How about saying FUD is pathetic no matter who it comes from?

And I'm sure the poster was not having a dig a Linux, but at the study - which let's face it is, at best, a little flawed....

UK.gov to scrap new staff training rights

Wow... Short sighted isn't it?

Where I work, admittedly not in the UK, we get all the books we need brought for us (buy the book and claim it as expenses) and for self study we can use works time provided we put double in of own time. For training we get the time off, and for certification we get the exams paid and 1/2 day free.

And it works, most people here are loyal to the company because the company treats the employees well. We do unpaid overtime *only when really needed* (read twice or three times a year) without complaints and take any issues in our software personally.

I've never understood the UK need to treat employees like dirt, and then act surprised when people jump ship and return the favour.

What do you do as an employer when you want to use the latest and greatest technology? Hire a new employee as you refuse to train existing ones?

Police told terror ads too terrifying offensive

Another dwarfer!!!

I couldn't help but think about that as well...

I just can't believe that someone would even think that was a good thing to send out!

Android surges past iPhone in smartphone sales

@Arkasha - Thankyou

Thanks for the info, it's always nice to get feedback from someone who has been using one.

Oddly enough of all the techies in the office who had a 3G or 3GS not a single one is looking at going for another iPhone when the contract is up...

Quality design, great joke...

I was shown something interesting on my iPhone 3G yesterday by a colleague (who also has a 3G). A big fat crack in the black plastic where the connector is. Why is it there? Because Apple in their infinite money grabbing wisdom decided that a micro USB connection (which is much smaller) would not allow them to rake the money in so they use their own massive connector. The plastic on the iPhone is of such shocking quality that it flexes at this point in the middle. And so has cracked. His has also gone in the same place (admittedly far worse than mine as he did drop his, something I have not done)

This, along with Antenna gate, is why a Desire (or something similar) will be replacing it and not an iPhone 4.

Reasonable looks; I don't think the iPhone is a looker personally, I just got it as it had the best OS - for me - for a smartphone when I was buying. But I wasn't expecting such cheap materials in a shoddily designed product though.

Polaroid 300 instant print camera

Quite easily actually...

Modern camera's use a live feed on the screen at the back, DSLR have a through the lens viewfinder. Both WYSIWYG.

This has a viewfinder, that is in a different location, and has a slightly different view on the world, to the lens. So yes it can be difficult to frame a shot. Why do you think there are so many shots from pre digital camera's where people have bits of them cut off at the edge of the frame.

Samsung Galaxy S

iPhone for sound quality?

I have owned an iPod classic 80GB and have an iPhone 3G. The sound quality on them both is comarable. And shockingly poor (I moved from a Sony Mini Disc player to the iPod). I went for the classic due to the storage capcity (I could fit all of my music on one device and Watch videos) and the iPhone becuase at the time it did mail, internet, music and phone calls better then the other devices on sale (at least for me).

But sound quality was something that I had to compromise in order to get the capacity for the iPod, and convergence and convinience for the iPhone.

I would excpect most phones with a 3,5mm jack to out perform the iPhone in terms of sound quality... (Usability of the music player I am not sure, I've never used one yet)

Vauxhall Ampera extended range e-car

Really...

I've been thinking about this when talking to colleagues about things like the Lightning sports car.

There are all sorts of electronics to stop the wheels doing their own thing with the torque that is available (and 370Nm is impressive! Makes my current T5 look tame, shame that the performance that goes with it doesn't). Why not use al electronic gearbox to limit it to make the throttle response better? I use the range of the throttle in my car in most gears depending on what I am doing, having no gears at all makes that more difficult. Having an electronic box gives an amout of control back to the drivers, and as it's only an electronic cotroller doesn't add too much to the price...

Whislt this isn't the car for me it is the best step in the right directin that I have seen. Useful amount of power and torque, simplified drive train. Now about those fuel figures they didn't release? That'll be the killer feature should the be good!

Dyson Air Multiplier desktop cooler

Totally agree

Whilst I was shopping for a vacume cleaner the salesman tried to get me to buy the Dyson instead of the Bosch parket one ended up with. It was 4 times the price (really 400 for a vacume cleaner? Meile's looked cheap in comprison) with the best sales pitch of 'due to the way it's desgined it actually performs as if it has 30% more power. Shame that with the 30% 'extra' it was still 1/2 kilowatt less than the other machines on sale...

100 Gigabit Ethernet standard ratified

Really???

When I try to copy gig's worth of data across my 100Mbs switch I see a huge difference to when copying it ovew direct 1Gbs link between my two computers. And that is on 4 year old laptops (One Core Duo, the other Core 2 Duo).

Not quite top of the range any more...

And 6 years ago cheap Xeon servers could also transfer huge files much quicker across a 1Gbs connection than across 100Mb connection.

Apple Mac Mini 2010

OK I'll take that back - there are two options

But the default is worse than the old one, for more money...

With the 2.6 it's a whopping € 934,01 euros! You can buy some serious machinery for that price! For comparison an iMac only costs € 1.099,00 with 3GHz, screen, wireless keyboard and magic mouse.

They definately missed a trick here... Do they not want to sell the Mini's?

I so wanted to like this...

But it seems Apple just keeps missing the ball...

I thought that Apple would make a decent tablet, then the iPad came out, I wanted tip upgrade the 3G iPhone that I have to the 4G, until I compared it to a decent HTC Android and realised they missed the ball after making the 3G the first Smartphone that I actually enjoyed using, the 4 just seems too expensive and under equiped.

And now this. Looks sleek, has HDMI - could be a nice replacement for my HDD recorder. But no... No BluRay, no tuner and too expensive.

And to Deek_Kay. Yes there are two processor options, if you want to lose the optical drive and pay double the price.. The desktop versions has less memory, a lower chip and costs more than the previous one. Looks like a downgrade with a price hike to me.

French judiciary makes transgender boob

How about thinking before you type...

'regardless of if they look like a female ?'

Really, if someone is presenting as female, and is lucky enough that she looks female who is going to tell?

What about XXY (or should those individuals get their own lavatory?)

Whilst I appriciate that most of you here can't seem to get your male brains past the 'going into a womens loo, hehehehe' schoolboy threashold (and as nerds are happy to have someone lower on the pecking order than yourselves when it comes to someone to pick on) think about this logically. A woman would like the right to be treated as a woman. Not to switch on a daily basis, not to skip country, and not for something kinky (there is a difference between sex and gender you know), but to be who she is.

In doing this she is hurting who exactly? And if she is hurting no-one then why get so riled by it?

'Being fat is no worse for you than being a woman'

Some nerver you have Mr Anonymous!

Try looking into the issue just a little more before going off on one.

To drill you need to follow local laws. Due to the oil company lobbyists is the US these are not as stringent in the US as in the EU in order to maximise profits.

On top of that BP hired a US contractor to do their drilling for them. Oil companies do not drill themselves, they hire locals to do it. Who follow local laws and HSE requirements. As I understand it BP is paying for the cleanup (not the local contractor)...

Try looking in your own back garden for reasons why this happened.

Just what does your rant have to do with the article anyway? Or do you just like bashing foreigners?

Berlin Phil to appear on Bravia internet tellies, says Sony

Nearly had me there

I am thinking of buying one of their internet connected tellies over the next month or so and thought - great! Until I saw 9 euros per concert.

Hohum...

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge

Why no drive?

A Sony TT is smaller, lighter, has comparable batterylife *and* and built in DVD. And that's a 2 or 3 year old design.

It's fine saying you can download applications these days (and most of what I install is) but movies still come on disc for most people, as does music. If I can't rip the music, or write a mixed CD for listening in the car then a large part of the functionality is gone.

As for screen res, for the price it's fine - but I would hope for more on 13" screen (it's the same as the 11" screen I have at present).

EU rattles sabre at Street View

Oh useful...

Just took a look at the Netherlands on the spy page. It's really useful. It says they are currently everywhere (lists just about every single province in the country, without being specific about where in the provinces they are operating).

TomTom Go 550 Live

Lost in Tunnels? Yup - that can be done

In the UK tunnels may be nice simple affairs, but I've found many in Holland, Italy and Germany that confuse all but the best sat navs. With multiple exitis midway through the tunnel. Not fun.

Apple's iPad - fat iPhone without the phone

Err, maybe there is a reason

I have 350+ books in my house, and add probably more than 20 a year. I love having a room acting as a library, browsing through the shelves looking for the book I want.

The smell of the paper and the physical feeling of the thing in my hands.

I do not own an ebook reader, and won't until I can get the ebook free when I buy the paper back. Same as buying a CD and ripping it to my iPhone - CD for listening pleasure, iPhone for listening on the go. Real book for home, ebook reader for on the train.

But WTF with the prices! I can buy 4 or 5 books in the UK (waterstones constantly have the 3 for 2 offers even on newer titles) for the cost of one ebook from the apple store!

As for the device, I was waiting for something that would make me go wow... Instead I got an oversized iPhone (wihtout a phone?).

Ladies put off tech careers by sci-fi posters, Coke cans

Yes please...

The chance to work in a relaxing, tastefully decorated environment instead of surrounded by posters for computer games?

An emphatic yes...

Did the stereotype put me off?

An emphatic no...

Mozilla man sends Firefoxers to Microsoft Bing

omg... People really think like this?

So not only are the goverments and companies acting like big brother, people are now starting to act like Winston Smith 's fellow citizens...

I do nothing illegal - it doesn't mean I don't care about my privacy...

As the old addage goes '1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a prediction'

2009's Top Personal Media Players

Here here

The *only* reason I went to apple when I went from an MD players to an MP3 player was capacity.

(OK I now have an iPhone which sucks @16GB, but the rest of the phone made it worth while...)

Nikon D300s DSLR

The noise levels are great

I'm not a Niklon lover (being a 5d owner) but I have to say the noise levels at high ISO settings were amazing...

Blu-ray Players

Is the Sony 360 that bad?

Last year I brought the BD350 on the back of the register round up. It's a fantastic piece of kit - lots of connectivity options, auto updates when connected to the net etc etc. And the picture / sound quality is stunning.

Is the 360 really so bad as this review suggests, or is it just that tech has moved on, but the Sony hasn't?

I did not buy the PS3 at the time as I have heard that it is a great Bluray / games console - but if you want a blu ray player on it's own then the stand alone ones provide a better solution (sound / picture quality etc). Pretty much the same as DVD's and the PS2.

For the nay sayers - have you ever tried Bluray? Or do you just like shooting things down? Yes DVD has good quality (esp. when upscaled on a decent machine), but the difference between that and Blurray is night and day.

I have the 1995 Pride and Prejudice on VHS, DVD and recently go the BluRay version. The Bluray is far less grainy than the DVD, and even though it does not look like full HD sharpness the colour depth is amazing on the Bluray and so you notice subtleties that are just not there on the other versions that immerse you even further into the storey / characters / settings.

Acer Aspire 1810TZ

Not bad

Almost good enough to make me think I made a mistake with the Sony TZ.

Good screen res, good battery, I'd take a half decent chip over graphics on an ultra portable any day.

But no bluetooth or optical disk... Hardly surprising at the price point, so not a complaint, just a shame.

Fanbois Apple buyers howl over crocked iMacs

@AC: Got Mine Tofay

So the power button on your really expensive machine is broken so that you have to press it in just the right way to get it to work and you give that a thumbs up? Wow... I wouldn't even accept that on a netbook, let a lone a top of the line machine...

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2

Been using Win 7 on a netbook (Asus Eee1000H)since Beta

And it works great. Much better than XP, and if you turn the task bar icons to small (as I do even on my 1920*1200 screen) then the taskbar takes no more room than on XP, and is infinately more useful. My other half still uses it with Office 2007... It does have 2GB RAM though.

Maybe the bloatware Levano ship it with is the problem? I know it was with my Viao TZ21...

Sony Bravia KDL-46W5810 46in LCD TV

@Slabman

Just because I can connect to external sources doesn't make the built in ones redundant. I would rather not have a box for tuner external to the TV. My next TV will get rid of the ugly HD Cable receiver I have as it'll be built in to the TV - use less power and make the living room that much more attractive.

I listen to the TV 95% of the time through my AV system. 95% because TV speakers will never match a decent setup for sound - but when I want to play on the console and my other half wants to listen to music we can. TV for console sound, stereo for music.

Maybe what you want to by is a monitor with a HDMI input to use as a display only, not a full fledged TV. In which case no TV on the market is going to not have 'redundant' features...

Sony Reader PRS-300 Pocket Edition

@mego

I only see one advantage of eBooks. Less physical storage.

They are more difficult to use - time to turn a page, not being able to flick through a book etc.

You need too readers for a two person household

You can't easily swap books with your other half - we read the same books; does this mean we need to buy them twice - once for each reader? Or with in laws and friends...

I like the tactile experience of reading - the e-ink looks great, and is pleasent on the eye compared to reading a normal screen - but you lose the rest of the experience. The smell and feel of the paper.

And they cost a fortune. I will never replace my paper books - I love a room full of them, but would like to be able to carry my reader with me for a selection of books on the train - but need them to be complimentary to me physical collection, not a repalcement. How about the option of getting an e-Book free when you buy the physical thing. If that happens I'll buy one in a flash, until then I stick to paper.

Oh and what Sony has done with the price of this is riduculous! I mean do they actually want to sell it?

Sony Ericsson Satio 12.1Mp cameraphone

Another fail from SE (unfortunately)

I used to love sony erricson phones that I owned - from the T61i onwards, but they have really lost the plot now...

The pixel count is pointless on the thing. It looks fine at lower res, terrible at full res. Sace the storage space and take photos at a reasonable screen resolution - and it will take better quality pictures at the same time (less pixels on the same size sensor).

Give me a 3.5mm jack. I don't care about USB overly, but I want a headphone socket.

Make it thin for pockets, 2cm these days is a brick.

I've not used the keyboard so can't comment, but I have to say the iPhone keyboard is great - and yes you can type full emails on the thing - I do so every morning when checking and replying to my work account on the train. The auto corrects are a must for this to work though.

I wanted to hate the iPhone (I don't like apple) but had to buy one after trying a friends, as it was just so easy to use.

I do prefer the frontal design of the Sony Erricson to the iPhone though - if only they could make the rest to match...