Posts by DaveyP

Acer founder: 'Tablets, ultrabooks just a fad'

Calling that out...

Nah - way of the mark there, my friend. You may not like the input method (and I'd agree the virtual keyboard isn't perfect, although with practice it's not bad at all), but the pointing aspect of the GUI is so much better than either mouse or trackpad. For most users, that's very important. My wife, since I bought a tablet, hasn't even looked at the old laptop. She's not interested. Everything she needs a computer to be, the tablet is.

Also - IMO, most failures of the tablet to interface properly with the web site in question is down to compatibility testing not being up to speed with iOS, Gingerbread, etc...

Apple MacBook Air 13in Core i5 laptop

Got mine yesterday...

Wasn't going to get an Air - was going to get a MBP, but then I realised with a NAS doing all the heavy duty storage, this was a better bet. It's a stunning bit of kit (it's for my business, so the gaming not being great isn't an issue for me), and does everything I want it to plus more. Big advantage for me is the shut down and start up time. Don't think I'll ever use sleep on this - on my PC I never use anything else...

It isn't cheap, obviously, but it should be reliable, and there's an Apple Store just down the road if I need em. Personally I love the keyboard, so easy to use. And I think the onboard storage is becoming less of an issue as we move to domestic NAS and Cloud solutions, but if it's an issue, that's what the MBP is for.

Electric cars not as 'green' as advertised

Sure about that?

Clearly if EV's become widely used (big 'if', IMO) we would need to up capacity. I don't think the Energy Co's are vastly over producing at the moment, are they?

Dell Venue Pro WinPho 7 smartphone

Hap'orth of tar?

I'm a long time smartphone user (starting back with the Motorola A780). Had WinMo when it was the only game in town, and now using iOS. The one thing that would really tempt me away from iOS now would be big storage. My 16gb iPhone doesn't have enough for European Maps, some vids, lots of apps and lots of music, and I don't want to keep moving stuff about via iTunes... So why have they limited this to 8gb? Or are my requirements THAT unusual?

LG tunes in to YouTube for 3D phone videos

Hmmmm

Will be interested to see the results of this, as the owner of a Finepix 3d camera. Those lenses look mighty close together to get good stereoscopic pics...

Roberts Stream 63i

Nice kit...

But, and I know I'm going to get some abuse for this, AirPlay would seem to be a big miss on this. It's certainly a deal breaker for me...

Mum arrested for seducing teen on Xbox Live

Nonsense

Incorrect. You cannot consent as a minor. Even if he wrote down, drew pictures of what was going to happen and recorded a video saying 'woo hoo - MILF love for me tonight boys', it's still statutary rape.

So, you know, wrong and that.

Garmin tells iPhone users where to go

Good....

I don't understand this sort of thing. I guess it's along the lines of "I only use my phone to make calls - what's the point in all the other stuff". I'm quite old, and I learnt to drive using maps and local knowledge. I can get within a few miles of anywhere in the UK with general knowledge, I reckon. However, it's extremely useful to have nav for the last bit, if I'm going somewhere I don't know. That alone is worth the £20 for CoPilot. Add to that speed camera warnings and the ability to find good short cuts when in traffic, and I'm afraid that NOT having one starts to look foolish, not the other way round...

This year's DSLR stars

glass

Although with proper movies (Monsters) being shot on DSLRs now, the video aspect is a serious one. Admittedly, the amateur videoer just needs a £200 camcorder, but after 20 years of not quite being able to get the shots I want, it's SO nice to be able to use proper glass and pull focus like a pro!

It's still niche, but I hope that this will open up film making in the way that digital multi track recording opened up music..

Apple 'iPad 2' shipping in three months

Er... No

SD card reader on the camera kit works just fine thanks. As does the USB when connected to my iPhone (that's all I use that one for). Might want to get the facts straight...

Three pledges cut-price iPads for Crimble

Never never...

Let's call it what it is: this is a way for people that can't afford an iPad to get an iPad on what we used to call hire purchase.. Pound to a penny half of them sold this way will make use of all that lovely mobile data no more than a couple of times a month, if that.

Philips Fidelio DS8550 wireless iPad speaker

Bluetooth

Not been mentioned as far as I've seen, but iOS4 works MUCH better with Bluetooth, and holds the connections. Under 3.x it dropped them a lot when idling - I upgraded on Tuesday and it hasn't dropped yet.

BTW, rather than upgrading and buying speakers, etc, you can just buy a BT adapter that will plug in the aux sockets on your existing stereo. Works a treat...

Toyota Auris hybrid e-car

Thing is...

Everyone (in the UK) that I know who drives a Prius would, in a previous era, have driven a 2CV. i know that image shouldn't matter, and that I'm very shallow, but when I see a Prius, my instinct is 'loser'. Auris is a poor poor car, but at least it's harder to spot.

Besides, until plugin hybrids are commonplace, these are just a weak option. Give me the Golf BlueMotion anyday (Auris priced ish), or the 320ed (Prius priced ish) if I have to care about MPG.

US may disable all in-car mobile phones

The point....

The point being made (and I'm not saying that I agree with it) is that you're not just taking some extra risk, you're exposing others to your extra risk. I ceed to no one your right to drive down a completely empty road doing whatever you want. Drinking, speeding, taking a call, cracking one out. Entirely your decision. However, that road doesn't exist, does it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet

Not sure I see the gap...

I own a smartphone - which goes with me everywhere, and a tablet - which stays at home 90% of the time. Given that most people that are going to be interested in a £500 odd quid 'tablet' presumably have taken the smartphone plunge, I don't really see the point. I suppose if I contracted and was in a different hotel every week it might make sense, but all i see is a tablet that's smaller than mine, and a smartphone with camera et al that's too big to use as an every day phone. I'm not saying it's a bad device - it seems very good, just that I don't see the niche for it..

Time will tell, I suppose...

Samsung's Android tablet: split and eviscerated

Yes...

And a cheap Archos is even better.

Rethinking the iPhone

Er....

my 2 year old can, and does, use my phone and iPad for games, videos and looking at photos. My mum, who can't use a normal mobile because she finds the endless menus confusing, can find her way round an iPhone and has an iPad. Of course you need to understand the basics, but they're so simple that a technophobe 62 yr old and a 2 year old can understand them. That's a good operating system.

Apple MacBook Air 13in late 2010

This should be fun...

I shall offer a prize to the first person to post that their laptop is 50 times faster and only cost 12 shillings and sixpence...

Apple’s iPad lead will face pressure from Google and Nokia

Wow, thanks

We're so lucky to have you to tell us what to think. Thanks so much.

(presume you REALLY NEEDED TO BUY a Nexus 1, then. Couldn't have lived a minute longer without one)

iPhone alarm bug: now it's the UK's turn

Pleased for you...

That's great, but it's also the mistake that is always made when talking about this sort of thing. If you don't want a convergent device, that's great. Good for you. i do, though, and, for me, the iPhone is the best one (currently). Not a fanboy - had a Motorola A780 (early smartphone with GPS) and 2x HTC's running Windows mob before this, and loved them all (despite none being perfect). Android was in infancy when I bought my iPhone, so wasn't a real option. The latest HTC's are doing good things, so next time out will be a real decision again.

You don't want any of the features of a smartphone. Fine. I do, and I'm prepared to accept the odd OS bug that inevitably goes with it...

Call what you want...

But 3GS running v.4.1 was an hour late this morning. It just was. If you don't believe me, fine, but you're wrong. Fortunately I also have a Small Child (running v. 2.10) who is still on BST, so I was up and about anyway...

Vue denies cinema phone ban plan

Bloooworter...

There's some chav dodging to do, but I recommend Showcase at Bluewater.. No reception in there, and I've never had a film interrupted by morons..

Airphonic wireless 'Pod-to-speaker streamer arrives in UK

Nice, but

I'm already doing this to my old Sony stereo with a bluetooth dongle connected to the Aux in. 30 quid... Sound is compromised, but not badly (I'm not an audiophile), and the iPad/iPhone is immediately the best remote control for a stereo ever!