Archive for August, 2008
Review of Logitech Audiostation Express iPod Speakers (63% OFF!)
Technical Details
- Product Description: Logitech AudioStation Express - portable speakers with digital player dock
- Product Type: Portable speakers with digital player dock
- Speaker Type: Active
- Audio Amplifier: Integrated
- Connectivity Technology: Wired
- MP3 Player Compatibility: Works with the new iPod nano, iPod classic, and iPod touch,IPod mini, iPod (4G), iPod nano, iPod with video (5G), iPod with colour display
- Remote Control: Remote control
- Battery: 6 x battery - AA type
- Manufacturer Warranty: 2 years warranty
The world’s not short of iPod docks. Whatever your budget, whatever your space, there’s sure to be a few products competing for your hard-earned. Logitech has been more successful than most at marrying decent performance to eye-catching prices, and its Audiostation Express is another one off the middle of the bat.
Built for outdoors use
Bundled with a protective case and able to run off batteries as well as mains power, the Express is clearly targeted at those who enjoy an outdoor tune or two.
There’s no charging loop in the unit, though, so you’ll rely on regular alkaline batteries (six AAs, in fact) to provide the juice – Logitech claims up to ten hours playback time. Don’t forget to pack plenty of spares if you’re going away for any length of time.
Big means beautiful sound
Its dimensions aren’t the smallest, further limiting its attractiveness as a portable option, but the relative bulk means the Audiostation Express scores comprehensively where it counts: compared to virtually every similarly priced rival, the Logitech serves up greater bass reach and solidity.
Reviews
1 - I had previously had the Logic 3 (7) and had sent 2 back as I thought they were faulty - but since realised they were just poor quality. The sound distorted at low volumes and when the music was very quiet (especially classical music) the machine kept turning itself off! So after 2 I decided a different machine was in order. I looked at various makes and after reading lots of reviews decided on the LOGITECH - it is excellent. It arrived really quickly and was very easy to set up and use. The plug is pretty small - compared to the Logic 3 brick! The sound is really good at both low and high volumes. I had to tweak the I-pod equalizer to get a bit more bass - but this was quick and easy to do. It is quite chunky, but very light and comes with a protective case - not sure if I would pack it in my suitcase though. I am really really pleased with the LOGITECH and would highly recommend it as offers excellent value for money and the sound quality is great.
2 - Aesthetically it’s very nice. The unit is sleek and in fitting with the style of the ipod. Most importantly, the sound. I found that it was a little too much bass. There are no EQ settings on the speakers themselves, however, by using the EQ on my Ipod I’ve found it much better. Otherwise, the audio clarity is very good, I’ve not noticed any distortion at high levels, so despite the portable nature of the speakers, they have some punch behind them. Overall, for the price, it’s a good set of speakers for the ipod.
RRP £79.99
Now £29.99! with FREE UK Delivery!
Review of Canon Pixma iP4500
Technical Details
- Type - Inkjet printer
- Format - A4, A5, B5, Letter, Legal, 10 x 15 cm, 13 x 18 cm, business cards
- Paper - Paper type: 64 to 105 g/m² and up to 273 g/m² for special supports
- Fast mono mode - 31 ppm
- Standard mono mode - 14.8 ppm
- Fast colour mode - 24 ppm
- Standard colour mode - 11.6 ppm
- 4″x6″ photo mode - 36 secs
- Supplied software - Windows: Easy Photo Print, EXn Easy-WebPrint, PhotoRecord, CD-LabelPrint
- Supplied software - Mac: Easy Photo Print, CD-LabelPrint
 |
Picolitre size The size of the ink droplets can vary, and it is this that you quite often see quoted in printer specifications as a Pico litre rating (pl). The Smaller the nozzle jet, the tinier the ink drop, so the more detailed the print image will be. |
 |
Ink tanks/Cartridges To minimise ink wastage and protect the environment, Canon’s Single Ink system uses transparent, individually replaceable single colour ink tanks. Each tank incorporates an LED that fl ashes slowly to indicate when ink is low, or rapidly when the tank is empty. To ensure hassle-free installation, the LED also indicates when a tank is incorrectly installed. |
 |
Auto Duplex Built-in Auto Duplex printing capability is compatible with photo paper as well as plain paper feeding from both Rear Tray and Cassette. |
 |
CD/DVD Printing Built-in tray guide assures easy handling. Precise, fast, high-quality direct printing on DVD/CD media can be ready just with a tray. |
 |
Auto Image Fix Not every photo is perfect; that’s why Canon introduces Auto Image Fix. It automatically analyses your photo, and then enhances skin tones, colour contrasts and saturations. Simply scan, and edit them with the easy-to-use software. Then reprint them to share with family and friends. |
 |
ChromaLife 100 ChromaLife100 is a system that improves the beauty and permanence of printed images, realised with the combination of selected Canon inks and papers. By printing with the ChromaLife100 system, your printed photos will resist colour fading for longer, so they can be shared and enjoyed across generations. |
Reviews
Canon’s Pixma ip4500 boasts some fearsome specifications for £62 £58.80. Built-in duplexer; two paper trays, allowing you to either use the top-loading paper tray or the paper cassette built into the bottom of the unit; a plastic adapter for direct printing onto CDs and DVDs.
The front of the unit is sparsely populated, with no LCD screen or memory card reader: a PictBridge port is the only concession to standalone printing. But for purists who edit their images before printing them, the ip4500’s four-ink system offers excellent quality. At best settings, on Canon’s top-end PR101 paper, prints are indistinguishable from traditional lab results.
Despite offering four-colour photo printing, the ip4500 uses five ink tanks: four small colour units and one large 520-page PGI-5BK cartridge for text-only jobs. Text quality is another strong point. Although very close inspection revealed inkjet’s trademark feathering, even on cheap paper text printed well enough to be mistaken for laser output from normal reading distance.
By default, the ip4500 builds in a significant drying time for each page it prints, and our initial testing revealed a disappointing print speed of 4.5ppm for A4 mono. Getting rid of the drying time raised this to a more acceptable 10ppm. Just don’t be fooled into thinking the duplex mode will save you time as well as money: in simplex mode, our A4 document took under five minutes; duplex mode for the same document more than doubled the time taken. Photo printing was more rapid - a top-quality A4 print finished in 1min 32secs, and 6 x 4in prints emerged at just under two per minute.
Our real-world tests show that print costs aren’t the cheapest at 34p per 6 x 4in photo, but when the ip4500 excels at printing just about anything - and is cheaper than the outgoing ip5300, which it replaces - a place on the A List is assured.
Source: pcpro.co.uk
1 - Superb quality, sleek looks, reasonable footprint, non-vanilla colour scheme - all reasons for choosing this printer aside from its main selling point..superb picture quality. Yes..I thought long and hard before choosing this printer. I previously used Epson and HP, both reasonable but both, especially the Epson suffering from reliabilty issues. As with all printer purchases, one has to look at the whole life of the product - the printer is the initial and often cheapest part of the deal. We all know that Printer Company’s make their money of ink sales, and I was fearful of the Canon ink being at a premium.This has proved not to be the case, with the ink no dearer that other manufacturers. The cartridge set up on this printer lends itself to to ink economy with its separate units, and that is all before you even consider ink re-sellers. Quiet in operation, superb printing in all modes, including photo reproduction, excellent connectivity and great looks make this a definite recommendation
2 - [+] Best photo printing quality, I like this printer. When you printing best quality photo, this printer can make a delay for dry the ink at the paper. And this printer is ease of use, with 5 cartridge (2Black and 3 Color) make a fantastic colour. Canon Pixma IP4500 can print bordless too using Canon Easy Photo Print Software. This printer have USB connection to used with your digital camera for printing. Valueable price for this printer, you don’t need spend much money to get this best printer. Can print CD Label/Cover like Epson R230. Big design make this printer look strong. Complete installation guide book. With quite sound while printing, not like other Canon Pixma IP series. I recomended this product if you want make a photo printing studio.
3- Really impressed with this printer. Easy start set up sheet does not give very clear instructions but managed okay, found much better instructions on CD later on. Just printed off my first photo and is every bit as good as a photo shop - then found out that I had not even used photo printing settings!! I like the software included which allows basic editing such as red eye, colour adjustments, cropping etc to be done alongside altering the printer settings & choosing the print quality etc - makes it an easy & quick all in one process. Good looking printer, but it is not small so check dimensions if size is critical. I like the front loading cassette where you can put everyday paper, saves paper flopping about, getting dusty. Used rear (top) feed for photo paper, fed through very smoothly and straight. Highly recommended. Chose Canon as I am impressed with their cameras, and I have never been impressed with Epsom or Lexmark printers in the past. Glad I did.
Currently 5% off in UK - £58.80
Buy the Canon Pixma iP4500 with FREE delivery to UK
31% off in US - $129.99 $89.78
Buy the Canon Pixma iP4500 in US and get FREE shipping
Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive (30% OFF)
The Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB
Technical Details
- Easy to set up, easy to use- just plug it in and it’s ready to use
- USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility
- Fits right in - Takes no more space than a paperback book
- Smart and energy efficient - Turns itself on and off with your computer
- Works with both Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
Review
The Western Digital My Book Essential is a clear leader in the race for the peak of external desktop drives. Its 500 GB drive runs at 7200 RPM with up to 100 MB/s transfer rates. Its breakthrough 16 MB cache makes this hard drive suitable for high-performance home and business computing, as it can handle both data-intensive applications and high-end multimedia applications. It offers average latency of 4.2 ms with an average seek time of only 8.9ms; and average write time of 10.9ms, resulting in both greater efficiency and safer data transfer.This hard drive is shipped with free Google software, which catalogs each and every file in your computer for helping you locate it as and when needed. Using this software you can very easily manage your photos. Think of this as the ultimate answer to all those boxes of photos and slides!