wtorek, 30 lipca 2013

ConnectionLAB HDMI Matrix 4-4 Switch


We enlarged our collection of accessories and HDMI products with another one from ConnectionLAB. This time it is Matrix 4-4 Switch:


We've ordered it via http://www.connectionlab.co.uk shop, as usual, because to our surprise it's hard to find it at stores and ConnectionLAB website seems to be the only place you can find it. Is it a luxury good then? Who knows! We use their cables HDMI, wall plate, optical cables, so this time we bought a switch to mount a real home theatre.

First of all, the look: massive and very solid. Made of plastic but not light and trashy, heavy thing, elegant and simple. What to want more from a HDMI switch.  The pilot is very simplistic too. Not too flashy, weirdly looking as it happens.

As the producer description of the product says:
  • Support HDMI resolution:1080P/1080i/720P/576P/480P/576i/480i
  • Support video color format: Deepcolor 24 bit / 36 bit
  • Support audio format: LPCM/Dolby-AC3/DTS7.1/DSD
  • Data transfer speed: 10.2 Gbps
  • Input Video signal: 5.0Volts P-P
  • Max working current: 3200mA
  • Power adapter supply: DV 5V, 4A
  • Power adapter format: Input AC(50Hz. 60Hz) 100-240V; Output DV 5V
  • Operating Temperature range: -5 to+55oC (5 to 131oF)
  • Operating Humidity range: 5 to90%RH (No Condensation)
  • HDMI output cable lenght: ≤ 15m (24AWG)
  • HDMI Version: 1.3
  • HDCP Version: HDCP 1.2

The switch woks very well. The parameters are just like we needed them to be. We have 4-4 switch but I've seen they have other types in their offer so you might check their website to see if you need anything more or less. You may also say that there is not much you can demand from a HDMI switch. Well, indeed. All it has to do is to keep the plugs connected but we value things that are nicely designed in addition to that.

I believe it will work for a long time for us. There were literary no problems whatsoever, but if anything breaks this flawless impression, we'll be the first to let you know!

Toshiba Sattelite L-300

It's been a long time since a notebook was presented here. As we started a little cycle with reasonable price audio and video devices. This time a notebook, not Apple or Alienware. Just one of the finest Toshiba models.


Toshiba Satellite L-300 is a model that has been for about 8 years on the market and is still very popular. It's very simplistic in design. The 15' screen is classic size. Most important paramaters here:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz processor
  • Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics
  • 2GB RAM DDR2
  • 160GB (5400 rpm) hard drive
  • Windows XP Professional OS
  • 15.4" WXGA 1280x800 screen
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
  • 10/100 Ethernet LAN
  • Modem port
  • VGA-15 pin
  • DVD-SuperMulti drive (+/-R double layer) supporting up to 11 formats
  • ExpressCard Slot
  • SDCard Slot
  • 3x USB 2.0
  • Headphone and microphone jack
  • webcam
  • Battery: 6-cell (4800mAh) Lithium Ion battery
  • Weight: 5.7lbs
The price is about 900$ so really average. I've used this laptop for almost 5 years and I can recommend it but not entirely, unfortunately.



As I said, the design is really minimalistic. The keybord is very handy. Unfortunatelly 2 years after I almost lost some of the plastic edges and shades at the sides of the notebook. Also, the click-on button collapsed and I needed to have it fixed. In general all the plastic casings on the fans are already broken out...
About the system, it's Vista - I know what's the opinion. Nevertheless it worked almost perfect for most of the time, with one system format. One flaw, very vital: there is no CD with the system from the producer. You have to get it yourself which may be hard.
In general I could recommend this laptop easily. Nowadays technology is not for years anyway. And considering hard conditions the notebook had to bear and survived, you may want to get one.

sobota, 27 lipca 2013

Phillips GoGear 4GB

Welcome back after a short break! What we all need on our vacation time is a good mp3 or mp4 player. We have tested Philips GoGear for you - one of the most popular. The option with 4GB.
I was used to the very old version of this player - a 1GB, which served me well for over seven years.

This time I decided to purchase something more modern finally. I've chosen the same model because GoGear is really awesome. The sound is perfect, it is simple in use, has very smooth and modern design. The only disadvantage was the inability of creating folders with particular music files. But for over seven years I used it everywhere - walking, running, riding a bike, on a bus, train, car, at the sea, lake, cleaning the bathroom and washing the windows. It fell down a billion of times and it still works great! It is indestructable! I used surely more then 5 pairs of earspeakers to it but my GoGear was unbreakable.
Last month I used to play my music with GoGear 4GB.
The difference is huge. Not only it plays MP3 but also WMA and DRM files, which the older version didn't do. It has god a FM radio (older version-didn't). Obviously it has the Internet connection so you can download your music whenever you like. The color screen display is easy to manage and it's a pure pleasure to use this device.
About the sound of music  - I wasn't disappointed. Nothing has changed, it's a very good player. Oh, and there are a preset sounds for different music genres, just like in the old version. Somehow Rock fits everything I listen to, which is strange...
One minus maybe. The rechargable battery. It cannot be replaced and once it goes off, you have to recycle your device. It may last few years, but if you happened to be unlucky and got a worse battery, well... This is so common nowadays.
Anyway, I'll stick with GoGear and I recommend it to you as well!

piątek, 19 lipca 2013

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W-55 or Nikon Coolpix

Today we wanted to write about our digital camera dillemas. Ok, none of us is a professional photographer. All of us need cameras for casual occasions of taking pictures and making videos. Quality? Yes. Price? Important. Easy? Yes! Small? Functional? Solid? Yes, yes, yes. As most of the people looking for one good camera like this, we are recommended Sony's Cyber Shot or Nikon's Coolpix.
 First, we've tested Sony. It comes in two types: with Sony lenses (cheaper one) and Carl Zeiss lenses. Having picked the better version we've started testing it. The pictures are in various sizes and come out really big ( more or less 4MB). All the functions works great: macro, night vision, on the move. The lightning and contrast is really pure and even suprising as for a camera of this size. Also the fun features, such as smile seeking works well and is, um... fun! ;-)
What amazed us the most was the filming function. The videos in HD are really impressive! Very good quality of the view and also the audio. It is almost professional.

And then Nikon. We've mentioned here once or twice that we should be prepared for paying for quality, it's fine. But what if you can have the same for a little less money? Ok, Nikon is great! There is this specific aura around Nikon and it's totally understandable. Nikon gives you really extraordinary colours and contrast. And obviously it is so colorful, the variety of colours is great (in fact Cyber-Shot comes in more than 3 colours too). But unfortunatelly Nikon's vidoes aren't that good. BUT it is more expensive. Hmm.




wtorek, 16 lipca 2013

ConnectionLAB HCC-01 Premium 0.6m Coaxial Cable

Welcome after a short break. Here we are with another review of accessories. We were asked about good coaxial cables and we decided to start with the company we were very pleased with already - connectionlab. Again, we have ordered these at www.connectionlab.co.uk and got a nice package two days later.
[source: facebook.com/connectionlab.co.uk]


We bought HCC-01 premium 0.6m coaxial cable. The company sells it also in 1m version.
First impression: the cables are solid, again. The contacts, plated with 24k gold look massive, which is good and gives the impression of good quality. Gold is supposed, to prevent it from oxidation and corrosion. This is what we like, you know that. Good, high-quality craftsmanship. The plugs itself are heavy and solid. These are copper and chrominium plated. These are just  an excellent piece of work.  What is more, it is said that the cable has outer cotton layer, so that it doesn't twist or break. It's a good promise.

How about working of those? The ConnectionLAB cables have 192 kHz data transfer rate. The copper conductors prevent signal loss. All of these works perfectly. I have tested these on my Creative headphones and a DVD Pioneer set. The signal was all absolutely fine, the sound is perfect. It's a straight up a high quality product. No matter what people say about insignifficance of the cable and accessories role, no matter the price. ConnectionLAB coaxial cables are totally RECOMMENDABLE!

czwartek, 11 lipca 2013

Supra High-Speed HDMI cable

Today something  different. Accessories post: supra HDMI cables. We use few different types of cables, although we have our better picks (connectionlab) and... worse (supra).
The Supra HDMI cable is of 2 meters. It supports 3D pictures too. Not too long, but fine. The packaging...Blister pack is something very common and does not look too sophisticated, but hey, these are just cables. It's just not too fancy. The cable itself is really thick. Is it good? No way. This is what I personally hate, because I can already imagine it breaking, and this usually happens very soon. The material does not look good either.
Well, I've used it to watch a movie on my blue ray player. The view was decent, or maybe I just thought so, because I was already biased because of the poor quality of the cable, as it seemed. but I realised that the view is really good. The blue ray quality was just perfect in fact, so I couldn't complain but... The sound was not. I am not sure if this was the case of one particular cable or really its size had something to do with it but the soud was awful. Well, if awful is too much to say, let me just say it's incredibly different, comparing it to the picture. I have mixed feelings bout this cable.
And it will not be my choice again.

środa, 10 lipca 2013

CREATIVE EP-510 Clip-On Earphones


We thought that after one bitter review of Instagram you could enjoy few good words about something. And this was my personal idea: my favourite mp3 earphones: Creative EP-510.
Why these? Well, I've been always a loyal and faithful follower of Creative brand in terms of audio devices. Second, I need these small earphones when I'm on the move: walking, running, traveling. For listening music at home I use different headphones but this is a different story. I've tested many in my life. Cheap ones bought on emergency (never again), Sony, Phillips, Panasonic. I've had Creative for, like, three times.


First of all, I am not sure if this is a disadvantage or not but their life is always about 1 year. I've had the same experiences with other earphones too. After about a year, the cable joints start to move and there are disconnects. It is a sign I need new ones. Is a year long or not? Well. It's up to you.
Advantages? The sound is BRILLIANT. As for small earphones obviously. Clear, clean sound with no distortions. Bass and high tones level is fine. They lack a controller that some other earphones have though...
What's more, they do not fall out. I've had a tremendous number of this happenieng whenever I did run with the earphones. I guarantee these are good for most kinds of sports.Especially that they have a clipper on the cable which reduce the weight.
Summing up: the price and the quality of these earphones are absolutely fine. These are not overrated and not underrated. If you look for a good quality earphones in reasonable price, this is it.

poniedziałek, 8 lipca 2013

Instagram


Yes, we have downloaded Instagram. Finally, because it is not anything new anymore. But as you can see, our blog is not only about new things but also the classics, so here it is, a short review of the most famous smartphone photos application.

 
How does it work? Very simply. You download the app, register and take pictures. First of all, we've downloaded Android version for Samsung Galaxy Gio. There is also Iphone version available.
The installation is really simple, shown step by step. Obviously we can use our facebook profile but we've chosen to do it on a respective account. So here's how Instagram works: you take a picture (and as we can see on tumblr, a picture of your cat or basically nothing important are the most common). Then you need to cut it to a square format. Rotate it, add a frame, adjust lightning - the standard things. Then the fun begins. You have 19 effect filters to choose from and what's left, you need to apply it to your photo. 
The filters are what made the Instagram a cultural phenomenon. The filters give you the effect of a retro photograph, film photograph, or a number of photography techniques such as cross-processing. We did over a dozen of photos. Good ones (as for samsung camera), worse, well lightened, bad lightened. Adding filters was fun. It litteraly made each photo look more appealing. And.... This is basically all. Well, of course, we can SHARE it. On facebook, twitter, tumblr and in many other places.
Why is Instagram a cool app? Because it's fun and because it enables you to make literally each photo more interesting. But more important: why is it bad? Well.. Because the traditional art of photography seems to be in danger. Now each kid can make what before could be done only by people with at least a bit of a skill. Besides... Look at Instagram photos. Their specific look. Is it really so cool?

środa, 3 lipca 2013

ConnectionLAB GSP-01 Home Theatre Wall Plate 9.2



After trying ConnectionLAB HDMI cables and our extremely positive impressions we decided to purchase their Home Theatre Wall Plate 9.2.

As you can see it is designed for connecting 9 loudspeakers, plus two subwoofers. The package we get includes a front a with sockets, flush wall socket and a set of 4 screws. The front panel is 145 X 145 mm big, white in colour with massive gold-plated speaker sockets, which we believe will work well and look good too. To be honest it looks good, it is not too bulky or flashy but solid and modern in look. This time look is especially important because it is a piece of equipment visible on your wall. And it does not look bad at all.



Who needs wall plates at home? Well, everyone who wants to keep at least a little bit of order around and would like to enjoy neat space in the room.  If you plan to have a home theatre at home, the wall plates are simply a necessity. Home Theatre is a pretty complicated system which requires many wirings and components which often get tangled and does not make enjoying your home theatre easy and comfortable at all. If you want to keep it clean, you use wall plates, we hope it is clear. ConnectionLAB GSP-01 wall plates 9.2. are cool not only because of its look but also being really functional.  9 loudspeakers is a nice home theater, plus you can plug in 2 active subwoofers. If it is too much for you, the producer offers the wall plates in smaller sizes too. What is important: we haven’t come across any problems with the signal. The vision and sound were as perfect as expected too. The set is easy to install. So if you are to install home theatre at your place – we totally recommend ConnectionLAB product again.