Updated regularly to give you the latest from MakeOverMy - FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY http://www.makeovermy.com/ Copyright: (C) MakeOverMy If you want a large-screen 1080p LCD, you've almost certainly considered a Sony Bravia. We think it's pretty fair to say that Sony has a place in our hearts, and generally speaking you know that you're going to be happy with what you buy from the Japanese giant. The Sony Bravia 40W4000 should be no exception. This 40-inch LCD is stuffed to the brim with picture processing and features designed to make your viewing experience better. A new interface is designed to make setting the TV up and using it much easier, and there's an interesting new style from Sony. The KDL-40W4000 is available now for around £850 online. Design At first the W4000 just looks like a normal black TV, until you inspect the case a little more carefully. You'll discover that there are little sparkly flecks dotted about, giving the TV a very strange glint from time to time. There's nothing wrong with it, we just weren't expecting it. You'll also notice that there's a clear plastic strip at the bottom of the screen. This reminds us of this TV's older brother, the Bravia KDL-40X3500. On this TV it doesn't work as well, and feels out of place among the black plastic. There's also the glowing Sony logo present too, but that's easy to turn off via the menus if you don't like it. At the bottom of the TV are the speakers, concealed in a diminutive housing that suggests they might not be very powerful -- in fact, they're very good. It's heartening to see speakers on the front of a TV, as too many companies try to conceal them, and that's bad news for sound quality. If you want to control the Sony without the remote, there are some buttons located on the top of the TV for doing so. We're pleased that the ludicrous days of not putting controls on the TV itself are over. On the back you'll find the usual array of inputs, such as VGA, component, a pair of Scarts and two HDMI inputs. Don't worry, there's a third HDMI on the side of the TV, along with a USB, composite and S-Video connectors. The TV is supplied with a swivel stand, but if wall-mounting is your bag, you can opt to buy a kit to chuck it on a suitably strong wall. Features No high-end TV would be complete without a certain set of features, and Sony knows that, so the 40W4000 has plenty to shout about. Firstly, there's the now ubiquitous 1080p/24 support, which is the best possible way to watch Blu-ray movies, because it matches perfectly the video stored on the disc. It also means you'll get smooth motion, which is important for movies. Sony's x.v.colour support is also present and correct, the aim of which is to produce the widest possible range of on-screen colour. Again, this is great for Blu-ray movies, but DVDs and broadcast TV don't support it, generally speaking. There's also a new feature being introduced on all new Sony TVs, known as the XrossMediaBar or XMB for short, which is similar to the interface of the same name on the PlayStation 3. Aside from having one of the ugliest and over-the-top names we've ever seen, it's actually a handy little feature designed to make navigating around the TV's inputs and setting menus a little less painful. To activate it, you press the 'home' button on the remote control and a graphical display is laid over what you're watching. From there you select what you want to watch, from a 'stack' of inputs. When you're watching Freeview, it lists all the available channels too, which is really handy. Thankfully the XMB is fast to respond to remote commands, which makes using it a pleasure. If you have plenty of equipment connected via HDMI, you'll possibly be interested in the Bravialink functionality, which enables you to control AV equipment via your TV remote control. This is especially handy for surround-sound receivers, because the Sony allows you to turn off the internal speakers and use the remote to control the amp. This is great for cutting down on the ludicrous number of remotes in the average house. Take a look at the 40W4000 on sale at Currys HERE   http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=346 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 UTC Blimey, the original TouchSmart IQ770 was ugly, wasn't it? We didn't think so at the time, but we came to that sudden realisation when HP sent us its brand-spanking new IQ500-series. It has a bigger screen -- 22 inches instead of 19 -- has a better spec, and sports the same touch-sensitive panel that intrigued us about the original. It's on sale now direct from HP for £1,099. But is it worth buying? Let's take a closer look. Design The new TouchSmart gets a big thumbs-up from us -- particularly in the looks department. Gone is the awkward multi-hinged weirdness of the original. Instead, we get a minimalist, TV-esque chassis with a flip-down stand that allows it to be tilted by about 40 degrees. There are clues to its PC heritage, such as the Perspex legs on the bottom and the HP logo on the speaker grille below the screen, but the IQ500 series should fit the décor of just about any room. All-in-one PCs tend to be really fat in profile, and while the TouchSmart IQ500 isn't size-zero material, it's not so bad, really. The sides taper gently from bottom to top section, in a sort of vertical wedge -- an old trick designers use to feign skinniness. There's still a fat bit jutting out from behind the screen -- where all the PC parts are stashed -- but we'll let that slide. HP's done well to mask the input-outport ports on the TouchSmart IQ500. Its main trick has been to limit the number of ports on display. On the left, you'll find two USB ports plus mic and headphone audio jacks, and another interesting addition -- a light switch. Hit that and it activates a downward-facing LED that can be used to illuminate the keyboard, or to set a nice ambient mood in the evening. The right side of the PC is home to a slot-loading DVD drive, volume controls, a memory card reader and a four-pin FireWire port. More ports can be found at the rear of the system, hidden behind a flap. There are three additional USB ports, Ethernet, an RCA S/PDIF port, an audio-out port, an RF aerial socket, S-Video port and audio in. Features The TouchSmart was never intended to be a hyper-quick PC, but it does have a fairly solid foundation. HP's given the nod to an Intel T5850 Core 2 Duo CPU running at 2.17GHz, and a whopping 4GB of RAM -- which on paper sounds better than the 1.6GHz AMD and 2GB of RAM in the original. Unfortunately, as with all PCs using a 32-bit operating system (Windows Vista Home Premium here), the most the TouchSmart can address is in the region of 3.12GB, which is rather a waste. All-in-one PCS are rarely good at pushing polygons, and the TouchSmart IQ500 is no exception. Its Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS card is quick enough to run high-definition movies, and even the odd game at low detail settings, but it's the sort of thing you might expect to find in a mid-range laptop, not a hyper-quick gaming machine. The aforementioned 22-inch touch-sensitive display is the PC's biggest talking point. The first thing you'll notice about it, once you get it out of the box, is how glossy and reflective it is. That's not a good thing if you're using the IQ500 in a room with sunlight streaming in, as you won't be able to see anything on the screen but your own face. That glossy coating does improve the perceived contrast levels, however, and it makes colours look extremely vibrant. It's really rather good in rooms with diffuse lighting. Like its predecessor, the IQ500 gets its touch capabilities from a set of LEDs around the screen, which detect the movement of a user's fingers. The system works well, and even incorporates multi-touch, but it's very tricky to point at small icons. Closing dialogue boxes by touching the 'X' at the top right of a window is difficult enough, not to mention the petite icons in the system tray next to the on-screen clock. Check out the latest Price for this machine HERE http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=345 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 UTC The LG Secret KF750 is the third in LG's Black Label series - the first two being the Chocolate and the Shine. Like its predecessors, the Secret is a visually stunning phone. The Secret is touchscreen controlled, and uses "Neon Touch". Neon Touch provides a visual response to touch, so you know when you've activated a button. Watch blue lights flicker as you touch the screen - it's great fun for at least the first week of ownership! Not everyone will take to the touchscreen controls, but these kinds of phones have been around for long enough now that many people will have some previous experience of touchscreens.   It's a slide phone, and its claim to fame is that it's the slimmest 5 megapixel camera phone available. In fact at just 11.8mm, it's one of the slimmest slide phones around. Slim phones sometimes have a tendency towards screen damage, but the Secret is constructed from carbon fibre and tempered glass, so ought to be strong enough to survive reasonable amounts of abuse. Despite its slimness, its quite heavy, at 116g, but this helps to give a quality feel. The camera is excellent, with a specification very similar to that of the excellent Viewty. It uses a 5 megapixel sensor with autofocus, and a macro mode is available for close-ups. One cool feature is "morphing", which lets you edit faces - this is similar to Sony Ericsson's very popular face warp feature. The video camera is good too, recording in Divx format at up to VGA resolution. Like the video camera in the Viewty, you can record at up to 120 frames per second, then play back at a slower rate, for a slow motion effect. The camera also supports video calls, as the Secret is a 3G phone. Another feature worth mentioning out is that the video is Divx compatible, making it easy to download movies and watch them on the phone - and with a good-sized 2.4 inch screen, this isn't as silly as it might sound. The Secret is well equipped for music, with a music player that supports most popular file formats, as well as an FM radio. With 100 Mbytes of internal memory, you can store up to around 25 songs, but this capacity can easily be expanded by adding a microSD memory card, up to 4 Gbytes (1,000 songs.) Audio quality is high, and the phone can also play MIDI tracks with up to 72 channels. We've noted that the phone is 3G enabled. It's actually HSDPA-enabled, with download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps available. In addition to 3G support, it's a quadband phone, supporting GSM 900/1800/1900/2100. The phone comes with a Google package too, making it a reasonably good platform for the mobile internet. So far so good, but there are a couple of issues that take the edge off this beauty. The first is battery life. Surprise, surprise ... it's a superslim phone and battery life is below average ... have we said this kind of thing before? It's always a trade-off: if you're a heavy user, you'd be better off avoiding superslim phones generally. The other thing is that quite a lot of our users are reporting problems with signal strength. We haven't established if this is due to any particular network, so if you do have problems, please leave a review below and say which network you're on. Other minor issues are that the screen is quite hard to read outdoors, and that ringtones can be a little quite. Apart from these issues, the Secret is a lovely phone, and packs in plenty of features too. Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below UPDATED DAILY to save you TIME & MONEY. Click HERE to see our complete range of Mobiles http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=344 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC The U900 Soul is Samsung's flagship phone of 2008. It's a super-sexy super-slim slide phone that looks very "2008" with its dual-screen touch-sensitive controls and metal casing. With a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3G video calling, MP3 player, FM radio and plenty of memory it should tick most people's boxes. The only reason we haven't awarded it 5 stars is because some people think that the ringtone and call volume are too quiet. Available in Graphite, Silver or Pink.   The Samsung U900 Soul is Samsung's flagship phone for 2008. Is it a triumph of marketing, or can the Soul really live up to the mega hype? Mobile Phones UK checks it out! At first glance, you can tell that the Soul is something different from the usual Samsung slide design. The feature that truly sets the U900 apart from previous slide phones from Samsung is the touch-sensitive navigation keypad. Samsung's marketing blurb tell us that this is a "Magical touch interface". They were clearly out to lunch on that day. Folks, we'll let you into a secret: there's no such thing as magic. What we have here is a small touch-sensitive screen placed below the main LCD display. The touchscreen is icon-driven and the icons change according to the menu selected. It's very similar to the one used in the LG Venus and the Samsung E950. Like all touch-sensitive controls, this is a love-it or hate-it thing. We suggest that you give it a try and put it back on the shelf if you don't think you can live with it. If the U900 is a flagship phone, you'd expect it to have top-end features and you wouldn't be wrong. It's the first Samsung phone to incorporate a 16 million colour display. It has fast 3G with download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. It has a powerful camera, similar in quality to the G600's. Let's be clear about the camera. It isn't the best (try the Nokia N95 or Sony Ericsson K850i for the best camera phones), but it's a very good runner-up. We always get people complaining that their Samsung camera phones are rubbish, and our advice is: read the manual, and make sure that the settings are set to maximum resolution, because by default they aren't. The camera on the U900 is very good - so there! There's also a music player that can handle a wide range of formats, plus an FM radio, and the usual Bang & Olufsen power amplifier for high-fidelity audio. Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below. Updated DAILY to save you TIME & MONEY. Click HERE to see our complete range of Mobiles   http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=343 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Ten months old is young to write an autobiography, but if the Asus Eee PC were to pen its memoirs it’d consist of three chapters. The first would be all about introducing a revolutionary new product (the Eee PC 701), the second about rapidly refining it (the Eee PC 900) and the last would detail how, in the face of several me-too look-alikes, it was reinvented again in the guise of the Eee PC 901. The 901 is, in many ways, so much better than its peers it’s laughable, but if you have an Eee PC 900 don’t worry about upgrading. The basic body shape and size is identical, save for a few millimetres here and there in the 900’s favour. The screen, too, is the bright 1024x600 panel that we know and love. Both notebooks also use the same Linux Xandros operating system and have a 20GB solid-state hard drive (an XP model will have 12GB storage). And while the Intel Atom processor that pulses away under the diminutive keyboard of the 901 is superior to that of the 900, you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference. There was some confusion about the 900’s battery: at the time of launch, Asus UK believed that it would ship with a 5800mAh battery. Many arrived with a 4400mAh affair, which fizzled out after just two hours.   Such was the outcry that Asus is planning to offer Eee 900 owners a bigger battery for just £10. The lesson has been learnt. The 901 comes with an enormous 6600mAh battery – even with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched on it lasts for well over five hours. Bearing in mind that with the latter you’ll also need a spare battery, Bluetooth dongle, storage card and possibly even a carry bag, things are a bit closer. But hang on for a couple of weeks and you should be able to find the 901 for about £40 less, at which point your mini laptop conundrum will be a no brainer.    Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below. Updated Daily to save you TIME & MONEY. Click HERE to see our complete range of Computers & Laptops http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=339 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Microsoft’s next operating will have a huge emphasis on touchscreen technology but, while that may be some way off, HP has been staking its ground early. The Touchsmart IQ790 is its second finger-friendly desktop already, following last year’s really quite charming IQ770.With no real competition, HP could have rested on its laurels. But while the Touchsmart’s model numbers may be going down, the quality is skyrocketing up.The IQ770 was an ugly duckling, so it comes as a surprise that the new IQ790 is one of the best looking all-in-one PCs available. At the PC pageant it leaves Dell’s One crying in the wings, and is only beaten to the silk sash by the iMac, natch.The shiny black plastic finish may not be to everyone’s taste, but the thin build, with a discrete but powerful speaker bar, is attractive. The supplied keyboard and mouse are also the epitome of understated style. The former is thin and practical, while the latter is silky smooth to the touch.The only real oddity is a white ambience light that shines from under screen. It serves no particular function, and is best turned off completely.Behind the screen there’s a spacious 500GB hard drive, 4GB of memory and a swift but near silent Core 2 processor.It’s the other side of the panel that’s best though. The display is bright enough that any finger smears are invisible while it’s turned on, and there’s a custom interface designed for finger navigation. This is slow to load, but it’s as intuitive as an iPhone for scrolling through photos, music and video.The problem is that, like an HTC Dual Touch smartphone, Vista is never far away. Starting a game or app takes you right back to the regular Windows desktop, which seems clunkier by the day.Using fingertips to move through documents and surf the web may be slightly slower than a mouse at first, but it’s a liberating experience. Grabbing and dragging is accurate, and even stubby fingers can select narrow text hyperlinks with a little practice. Annoyingly, though, the TouchSmart beeps to let you know when you’ve made contact with an icon: it’s initially helpful, but quickly sets the teeth on edge and seems to be impossible to turn off. A small footprint, low power, quiet operation and great picture quality on a big 22in panel make this the perfect home desktop. The graphics performance isn’t amazing, but it will cope with games like World of Warcraft without difficulty, and the touchscreen adds a novel way to play them.HP is pitching this machine as an all round entertainment device: there’s a media centre remote bundled and a TV tuner. Why use a touchscreen from a distance though? Leave them in the box and buy yourself a proper media centre for the lounge. This superb machine is best kept in the study.Check out our PRICE COMPARISON Below. UPDATED DAILY to save you TIME & MONEYIQ790 Click HERE to see our complete range of Computers & Laptops http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=340 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Kodak’s industrial designers were obviously told to go mad with the EasyShare V1273. This metal bodied, curvaceous vision in black or gunmetal grey is one of the best looking cameras we’ve seen this year. Internally, the specification keeps our impress-o-meter peaking too with 12megapixel still resolution and high-definition 720p video recording the show-stopping highlights. And then there’s the space-hogging 3in touch-screen display. Apart from three small buttons, the zoom toggle and the shutter release, all the options and settings are accessed on here, so it had better be good.Menu system disappointsUnfortunately, that’s where the V1273’s biggest problem lies. The menu system itself isn’t terrible, and should be familiar to people with Kodak previous. It’s just that the screen itself is too unresponsive and slow, especially when compared to the likes of Sony’s DSC-T2. For example: to access the flash options you have to press a specific part of the screen to get a second layer of options, and then choose your flash settings from there. It sounds simple, but you’ll probably press the larger ‘mode’ setting zone at least once, and then have to press the flash twice for it to recognise the change, by which time your subject has probably swanned off to the bar to get another drink in.Point and shoot wins favourStill, the EasyShare V1273’s point and shoot mode, the ‘smart’ setting, is bright enough that many casual punters won’t even see a problem here. It works out what you are taking an image of – a landscape, a face, or something close up - and adjusts the settings accordingly. And it does this pretty well most of the time, letting you concentrate on framing your shots rather than having to worry about the intricacies of white balance and ISO settings. While this goes some way towards countering our menu moans, a good quality digital camera needs to be much more than just a point and shoot idiot box, and accessing the V1273’s manual options can be frustrating. All of this is a shame, because the pictures that this camera is capable of are at times very impressive, and at its worst above average.Plenty of colourThe colour palate of shots is attractively bright and vibrant, but not overly so, and even when blown up the pictures are free of the unsightly noise that can effect some high-megapixel compacts. There’s not the pin sharpness that’s available on the very best cameras such as Canon’s Ixus 85 IS, but it’s not overly smooth either. And then there’s the HD video, which turns out to be not only a fun extra, but a useful tool. When the brilliantly detailed and jerk-free videos recorded on V1273 are displayed on a 32inch LCD the benefits of HD are obvious. Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below. UPDATED DAILY to save you TIME & MONEY.Click HERE to see our complete range of Cameras http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=342 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Ever since the pancake-thin RAZR, Motorola has had a taste for style. It hasn’t always been successful, but the Rokr E8 is worlds away from the blocky, disastrous E1. This is a glossy black candy bar of a phone, slim and tactile with a glassy-smooth surface across the front. The keys have tiny dots that respond to a press with haptic vibration. They’re not touch-sensitive – you need to apply pressure. But that haptic buzz works well to confirm you’ve touched a key. Clever buttons The way the keys behave differently according to the mode you’re in is one of the neatest features on the phone. Press the music icon and the keypad numbers disappear, to be replaced by play, pause and other relevant symbols. Nice one. Seek out the 2megapixel camera in the multimedia menu and new icons appear to operate the digital zoom and switch from camera to video. You don’t have to turn the phone on its side, either, unlike many camera phones. Dodgy scroll wheel The other standout feature on the Motorola ROKR E8 is the scroll wheel – well, it’s a three-quarters wheel that you run your thumb round to change menu options, music genres and more. Trouble is, it’s hard to master. Thankfully, there are four of those precious glowing dots in the circle, at the north, south, east and west points, so if you tire of the circular movements and its unreliable results, you can plump for these four dots to guide you up and down, left and right. Among the other music features is Song ID, a version of Sony Ericsson’s Track ID that is here powered by Shazam, the original track recognition service. It works well, but the 2in landscape-format screen, though sharp, bright and detailed, is too small to be easy to read. Decent music storage The phone’s 2GB memory will hold up to 1,500 songs, but you can get lots more on to a microSD card which can add another 8GB. This is a phone which aims to be a music player as much as a phone, so it’s no wonder the screen wasn’t a priority. Still, Motorola gave the Rokr E8 a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can choose your headphones. There’s an excellent on-off slide switch on the side which also works to lock the keys – simple but effective.   The Rokr E8 isn’t without its foibles, then, but it’s a cool looker and a decent music phone, as long as you’re prepared to put up with the frustrating scroll wheel and the lack of a decent camera. Click on the picture above for the latest deals on this fantastic phone. http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=341 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC For smartphone fans in 2007 there was only one handset worthy of the name: Nokia's N95. With a feature list longer than most gadget's manuals, it made other mobiles seem about as smart as Trigger. But now a successor, the N96, has arrived – and somehow added to its CV.The N96's big improvement is capacity. Not only does it have 16GB of internal memory, there's also a microSDHC slot instead of its predecessor's microSD number. With cards currently going up to 8GB, this means you can boost capacity to 24GB (enough for about 18,000 low-quality songs) for an extra £40.With a slightly larger 2.8in QVGA display and a new kickstand for hands-free viewing, the N96 is also better equipped to act as an Archos-style video player, particularly as its wide format support includes MP4, WMV and Flash. Also new is a built-in DVB-H receiver, although this will be next to useless in the UK until the analogue switch-off in 2012.Click HERE to recieve details of the N96 prices prior to release. Click HERE to see our complete range of Mobile Phones HERE http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=338 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC If we’re being honest, this touchscreen madness is getting a little out of hand. Suddenly, Nokia is the only company making phones with buttons, and we’re starting to miss them. But Samsung’s not feeling sentimental – its new Tocco features a revamped touchscreen interface, which is excitingly based on widgets. We like widgets, much more so than the phone’s name, which is Italian for touch. But trust us, we got off lightly with Tocco – it was previously simply known by its code numbers, ‘F480’.   A widgety world It’s a good job the interface has been revamped, because Samsung’s previous smartphone interface was tricky to handle. The Tocco’s got a regular menu of icons, but at the tap of one virtual button you can switch to the widgets – a dock of options that can be dragged on to the main screen as you please. Best of all, the Tocco interface is very fast and responsive, making the phone a cinch to use in most respects. It also makes the phone very customisable – you can hide or display everything from the clock and reminder icons to the network’s name-check. Other options include games, the phone’s music player and the FM radio. The Tocco Widgets are cool enough, though it’s a matter of taste whether you’ll prefer this or the icons on the iPhone. And unlike Apple’s first dog-and-bone, this one’s 3G, with spanking 7.2Mbps speeds. This is lucky as, unlike the iPhone, there’s no Wi-Fi on board the Tocco – an oversight, surely? Small and stylish On the other hand, it keeps the size down – the Tocco sits much better in the hand than earlier Samsung efforts or the iPhone. The screen is a decent 2.8in number and, although it’s not as colour-rich or high-resolution as Apple’s, still looks great. Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below. UPDATED DAILY to save you TIME & MONEY Click HERE to see our complete range of Mobile Phones HERE http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=337 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Evolution not revolution is the name of the game when you already have an award winning gadget and Apple are no strangers to this concept. So when we got our paws on the new iPod Nano 8GB for review we expected some small tweaks mostly cosmetic and a few new features as opposed to a leap into the unknown. So when we opened the box to see a stout and perhaps the more unkind of our staffers would say squat little Mp3 player it raised a few eyebrows. Yes there is a 2" full colour QVGA screen that is up to 65% brighter than the old 2G unit, but this 3G Nano is a bit like marmite, you'll love it or hate it. Measuring 69 x 52 x 6.5mm and tipping our scales at just under 50 grams its certainly small and thin, but the looks make it seem a bit tubby which is more to do with the large screen and the way the familiar click wheel is shoehorned under it. The styling is obviously iPod and quality materials and good build are Apple hallmarks. Inside the new 3rd generation Nano lies 8gb of flash memory which should be good for around 2000 songs at 256kbps either in Apples own ACC format or the more sensible MP3. You can also hold around 3500 images and up to 4hrs of video depending on the level of compression. We fired up our sample Nano for our first glimpse of the changes inside and what a set of changes. The new UI is stunning, it feels a bit mickey mouse at first compared to the old one but after a few clicks you start to marvel at the little touches. There are previews of cover art, images and even video while in the menus, these are very cool our only nag is that the preview of videos is squashed and this will annoy anyone who understands aspect ratios. The slideshow is very cool and the viewer even allows images to drift around slowly so you can see the whole cover if its too big to fit in the window alongside the menu. The new search is clearly lifted from the iPhone and is so easy to use much improved on the previous iPods we have seen and there are hints of the iPhone thinking throughout the new Nano. We did some quick tests on audio payback and can report that the audio quality of the new 3rd gen iPod Nano is exactly the same as the 2G, distinctly average, nothing great but then when using 128kbps MP3's its not the end of the world. Video quality however is worth writing home about, the small 2" screen may only have QVGA resolution but its is both very bright and vivid. The only issue with video is that a 2" screen may be ok for a music video but a movie? Apple may have to ship the Nano with eye test vouchers! A couple of cool new features worth mentioning, first up the rather sexy cover flow which is a nifty way of browsing your collection by album cover. Which as the name suggests flows from one cover to the next with a smooth animation allowing you to select at any time. Second newbie is a game called Vortex which is like the old Ping game in a circle with mad graphics, its weirdly addictive and also responsible for killing our battery! Battery life is quite good for a pod, with 24hrs audio playback and 4hrs video from a charge and charging is simple but as with all new pods you only get a dock adaptor not the dock in the kit these days. You do get a USB charge lead a small pouch and some earbuds in the Apple packaging, but a dock and better quality earphones like the Shure E2C's will bump up the price, but are worthy investments. Check out our PRICE COMPARISON below. Updated DAILY to save you TIME & MONEY Click HERE to see our complete range of iPods   http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=335 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC The 5th generation iPod and now the new 6th generation both promote video as a core feature which while novel isn't that accessible on the tiny screen. What is needed is a kind of travel dock for use when you want to enjoy a movie like when travelling by train or plane and when you could carry a small device with a larger screen. So it seems Philips had been reading our minds with the DCP750 which landed with us for review.The DCP750 is a small hardback book sized device which packs a 7" screen and allows your 5th generation iPod to slide in providing a bigger screen to view and inbuilt speakers to listen too. Measuring 210 x 178 x 39mm and weighing in at a lumpy 1.8kgs the DCP750 may sound beefy but its actually a good sized unit and doesn't feel at all bad to cart around The package needs a charge in order to fill up its internal battery or it can be used directly from the power adaptor, once charged we flipped open the lid to reveal the dark black interior and the large 7" screen. A nice touch of the design is that the screen rotates 180 degrees meaning its easy to get the correct viewing angle and the screen is also a good matt finish so it isn't too reflective. In fact our first viewing of the DCP750 screen using our test 5G iPod showed the screen off to its best with the movie 2 fast 2 furious loaded the 7" display made the most of its 480 x 234 pixels which on paper sounds a bit lo, but in reality does a good job. Philips quote a raft of technology behind the screens performance but all you need to know is it will make the most of your videos stored on an iPod even if they are a little over compressed. The integration of the iPod dock is well executed, it takes just seconds to sit the iPod into the dock inside the unit and once in it fits snugly and will start to charge too from the Lithium polymer battery or the AC adaptor. The main controls of the iPod are accessed via the 750's control pad and there are also buttons which are specific to the extra dimension of the Philips unit, the DVD player. Yes for those who perhaps don't have lots of video on the iPod or who require access to a wider range of movies the unit has an inbuilt DVD drive which is controlled through the same interface and also the supplied remote which rather handily sits in the iPod dock space when the iPod isn't in there. Add in a nifty SD /MMC card slot and support for MPEG-4 files and you have an all round winner when it comes to entertainment on the move. Our short test was on a flight to Amsterdam and the Philips unit sat well on the seatback tray table much to the envy of other passengers. As soon as the seatbelt light went off the iPod was in the dock and 2 Fast 2 Furious was playing in crisp and vibrant colours, the audio was on headphones due to the environment. It took the return trip to finish the movie but we can happily report that the battery lasted the full length and was getting close to a good 3hrs before it eventually gave up. After both legs we have to admit to being rather taken with the DCP750 which is possibly hte best video docking system we have seen to date. It may be a tad big but the battery life and cool design take your mind off that. Priced at around £120 the Philips DCP750 is good value for money too and there is a larger model for a bit more cash should you need a bigger screen.Check out TODAY'S PRICE HERE Click HERE to see our complete range of DVD Players HERE http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=336 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC L-Player is iRiver’s new portable media player – with video, incredible sound quality (including new lossless FLAC support) minimalist design and a superb, user-friendly D*Click interface. The L-Player features an enhanced 50.8mm TFT LCD display with a wide viewing angle. It can be used to display album art in glorious full colour, along with display of photos – so lifelike, you’ll think you’re there! Size is no barrier when it comes to audio quality. The L-Player enjoys SRS WOW HD Sound and the ability to play lossless audio. Of course, it’s compatible with the popular MP3 & WMA audio codecs as well. The Headphone output is one of the most powerful on the market – giving you a live experience in a tiny player. It also supports OGG levels 1 – 10 – the choice of the audio enthusiast for compression effectiveness with incredible audio quality. The screen is actually a big rocker switch which operates in four directions – each direction’s function is slightly different, depending on which screen you’re controlling. The clever part is the logical layout, which means with very little use, you can memorise how the player operates through different menus, allowing you to control it for common functions without looking at the screen. Try that on a full touch screen – it’s impossible! Small enough to slide right into your pocket, it can voice record anytime, anywhere, when needed. Its internal microphone provides superb sound quality for such a small device.Check out our PRICE LOCATOR below to find you the lowest price. Saving you TIME & MONEY Click HERE to see our complete range of MP3 Players http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=333 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC The innovative iRiver Volcano volcano has to be one of the most stylish USB stick MP3 players available, and with its integrated slim style USB connector, it slips effortlessly into your pocket. With a built in FM radio, support for all of the major music formats (MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG), 18 hours music playback, and a built in rechargeable battery - you’ve got everything you need in the palm of your hands. Just pop, plug and go! The Volcano is first and foremost an MP3 player. Its sound quality is superb – iRiver have proven expertise in creating stunning quality from the smallest players. It supports the highset quality files, from MP3, WMA & ASF, to the ultra-high quality OGG. There’s a raft of EQ features, including the SRS WOW HD technology that iRiver use on all of their top-end players. Have your FM radio with you wherever you go. Stunning clarity and reception quality, using the high quality audio circuitry in the Volcano, combined with the great reception properties of the headphone cable. Combined, these two features make the FM radio a function you’ll use more than you’d think!     All the above functionality and the Volcano also doubles as an ultra lightweight USB stick capable of storing any type of data file. With the innovative pop up USB connector, just push, pop, plug and go! No need to carry a pile of devices. The Volcano's simplicity is it's strength - no USB cables to carry around, just pop the player in your pocket and you're good to go. It also helps productivity with it’s integrated voice recorder – one touch recording means you won't miss a thing. To top it all, it works as a USB stick– keep your work safe and transfer it between computers. Choeck out the latest news with our PRICE COMPARISON below. Price Checks updated daily to save you TIME & MONEY. Click HERE to see our complete range of MP3 Players http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=332 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC Adorned in a Boy George-esque purple casing this phone is a real looker. Weighing in at 90g and measuring up to a mere 108mm it's not your Nokia N95 pocket drooper. It's not just about looks with this mobile phone, the Nokia 6220 packs the standard 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens and a VGA camcorder. Pictures are as detailed as a pixel patchwork quilt and the red eye reduction banishes eye shine. Viewing the pictures on the 2.2inch screen is a breeze. The screen is bright and the menu's are as easy to follow as a manual for a bicycle helmet. Scroll through your pics, music and browse the tinterweb using the scroll pad and sausage finger-friendly buttons. Music wise- you get 13 hours playback but switch to use the FM radio and it sucks juice like a volt hungry vamp. Bump up the 256MB memory on board to 8GB with a micro SD card, and strap on your own cans into the headphone jack. Sound quality doesn't compete with the likes of the Sony Ericsson W910, but we can't quibble. We caught the warbling delights of Bono through our cans. Nokia's been reeling out phones faster than Gazza guzzling his pint. The Classic 6220 is another classic? Check out our Nokia 6220 PRICE COMPARISON below to save you TIME & MONEY. Click HERE to see our complete range of NOKIA Contract Phones http://www.makeovermy.com/articles/selected_article.php?id=331 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 UTC