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Showing posts with label Roundup:. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roundup:. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

This week we've reviewed Apple's new iBooks creation app for the Mac as well as a cracking pair of cameras and a cracking pair of graphics cards to boot.

There's also a great phone for the US, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx which takes the existing Razr and adds a huge battery.

Here's our full list of this week's reviews from the site.

Apple iBooks Author

Amazon's Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook, and even Apple's iBooks have been working on moving us away from reading physical books and embracing the digital revolution. But until now, there was very little to convince us how good an idea this could be, since the digital versions looked very much like their real-world counterparts, right down to the page turning effect.

But this is what Apple is trying to change with its new content creation app, iBooks Author. Its aim is to revolutionise modern textbooks by bringing interactivity to the learning experience.

Fuji X-S1

Always liked the idea of an all-in-one camera with a massive zoom capability, but hated the often all too-plastic feel? Fuji's X-S1 may, nay will, cause you to re-evaluate the humble bridge camera. Whereas Fuji has previously applied an 'X' - its signifier of a premium camera

- to the Leica-like FinePix X10, for the first time it gives a superzoom that same distinction.

This means that the new 26x optical zoom Fuji X-S1 figuratively sits above the existing Fuji HS20 and HS30 models, even though the latter boast 30x zoom (maximum 720mm equivalent telephoto setting in 35mm terms).

AMD Radeon HD7770

AMD showed its hand first in this year's GPU arms race with Nvidia by turning it into last year's arms race. While Nvidia has kept shtum about its upcoming new 'Kepler' architecture and looks to do so until spring, AMD stole the march and released the first of its new 7-series cards, the AMD HD 7970, a few days before Christmas 2011.

That sure was odd timing, but it taught us a lot about AMD's new Southern Islands architecture, specifically the 'Tahiti' chip. The HD 7970's whopping £440 price made all those neat features all but irrelevant to the gaming masses though, so we're putting our hopes on this HD 7770 to deliver the best bits of the new AMD architecture for a more palatable price.

Canon G1 X

The new Canon PowerShot G1 X - commonly shortened to Canon G1 X, or even Canon G1X - occupies the top spot in Canon's prestigious G-series compact camera range, offering a truly impressive array of high-end features.

Launched at CES earlier this year, the new digital camera is aimed at advanced photographers in search of a high-quality, take-anywhere primary camera and/or backup for their DSLR. It may not be the compact system camera (CSC) that everyone was expecting to see from Canon, nor is it a direct replacement for the highly popular Canon PowerShot G12 - rather, it's something in between.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx is the newest Razr to be released on the Verizon network. It takes everything you love about the Droid Razr, and fattens it up a bit with a whopping 3,300 mAh battery. That's a battery that's capable of 21 hours of talk time on a single charge.

And while we're excited to finally disconnect from that required midday charge, the true power of a battery that size comes in the form of 7 hours of LTE browsing per charge.

Razr maxx

This week's other reviews

Audio systems

Edifier Luna5 encore dock review

Camera accessories

Kenro Flash Meter review

Camera lenses

Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 AF DGX 2x review

Desktops

Packard Bell OneTwo L review

Graphics cards

AMD Radeon HD 7750 review


AMD radeon hd 7750 review

Mobile phones

Samsung Galaxy W review

Samsung Galaxy Xcover Extreme S5690 review

Samsung Galaxy Y review

Monitors

Hanns.G HL229DPB review

Scanners

Reflecta iScan 3600 review

Software

Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 review

Storage

Samsung SSD 830 512GB (Notebook Kit) review

Televisions

Kogan LED55 review

Tripods

Velbon Ultra Rexi L review

Velbon QHD-61Q review

Velbon qhd-61q



Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

This week we've reviewed a new budget tablet from Viewsonic, the latest-gen BlackBerry Bold as well as a plethora of other tech.

We also got hands on with a whole bunch of TVs over at CES in Las Vegas, in addition to checking out the UK debut of Netflix.

Let's get on with checking out all this week's reviews from TechRadar.

ViewSonic ViewPad 10e review

One of the best-looking budget Android tablets on the market, the ViewSonic ViewPad 10e has traded a sleek, ultra-thin form more reminiscent of its higher-end competitors for basic function. Having compromised on a number of key components, primarily the uncertified Android operating system, smooth user interaction is never quite on the cards. While to achieve such a low price point we know some corners must be cut, such poor craftsmanship to the point where the screen is easily coming free from the frame is inexcusable, no matter how much money it saves.

That said, for just £199 the ViewSonic ViewPad 10e is a well positioned entry-level tablet for those looking for the latest plaything and little else.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 review

It's hard to be massively excited about the BlackBerry Bold 9790. The Bold 9900 was a mobile phone to be excited about, since it was the obvious successor to the Bold 9700 and 9780 handsets, which seemed like they'd been around forever. But if you were to take the BlackBerry Bold 9900 out of the equation and judge the BlackBerry Bold 9790 on its own merits, you could quite confidently say it's a cracking little phone.

We're not massively excited by it but, geek-speak aside, just the specs alone make it worthy of a £350/$450 SIM-free price tag. If we were torn between the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and the Bold 9900, we'd pick this, albeit at the risk of grumbling about a smaller screen.

Hannspree SE40LMNB review

Can an app-less telly eschewing any semblance of home networking and smart TV cut it? Selling for less than £350, the SE40LMNB's is a bare bones experience indeed, though for owners of Sky, Virgin or Freeview HD set-top boxes and PVRs, it could be the stripped-down HDTV bargain you've been looking for.

The user interface in general is attractive and well designed, and there's no doubting that the SE40LMNB is easy to use. We particularly liked the speed of setup, the nicely designed EPG's thumbnail of the live TV channel, and the ability to customise the names of each input. Pictures lack sparkle, for sure, but contrast is decent and Blu-ray in particular is excellent. Besides, this is a 40-inch TV for less than £350.

LG 55EM960V review

This 55-inch OLED TV is jaw dropping. It's just 4mm thick and has the most amazing picture we've ever seen on a TV. We're excited, and so should you be. If you start saving now, you might be able to afford one by the time it goes on sale.

Samsung Series 8 S27A850D review

This is a seriously excellent computer monitor. While it's not quite at the very sharp end of technical innovation, it still packs some dazzling features and an excellent display.

Samsung series 8 s27a850d review

This week's other reviews:

Audio systems

Bayan Audio Bayan 7 review

Desktop PCs

Hands on: HP Omni27 review

Hard drives

Seagate Momentus XT 750GB, 2nd Generation review

Input devices

E-pens Mobile Notes for Mac review

Laptops

Hands on: Toshiba Qosmio F755 review

Hands on: Compal prototype Ultrabook review

Media streaming devices

Iomega TV with Boxee review

Iomega tv with boxee review

Mobile phones

BlackBerry Bold 9790 review

Orange San Francisco 2 review

Monitors

BenQ RL2240H review

BenQ EW2730V review

Philips Brilliance 248C3LHSB review

Samsung Series 8 S27A850D review

ViewSonic VP2365-LED review

BenQ RL2240H review

BenQ EW2730V review

Philips Brilliance 248C3LHSB review

Samsung Series 8 S27A850D review

Software

Hands on: Netflix UK review

Hands on: BlueStacks on Windows 8 tablet review

Microsoft Security Essentials review

Tablets

Hands on: Kupa X11 review

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition review

Televisions

Hands on: LG 55EM960V OLED TV review

Hannspree SE40LMNB review

Hannspree se40lmnb review

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Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

This week we've reviewed Google's new Galaxy Nexus - the first Android 4.0 handset as well as the new, souped up Apple MacBook Pro.

We've also checked out a brand new 46-inch LCD from Philips as well as Sony's whacky personal 3D viewer.

Read on for all the reviews posted on TechRadar this week.

Philips 46PFL9706H review

The Philips 46PFL469706H is a milestone in TV design. Picture quality on an LCD TV was simply not possible until now, and it's all made possible by the new 'moth eye' filter. It uses tiny nodules to mimic similar structures found on moth's eyes and is used to eliminate reflections on the screen, resulting in a greatly enhanced perceived contrast range.

You have to see it to truly believe it, but it takes this TV from being a great contender to a market leader. There are a few niggles in the form of 3D crosstalk and some input lag when gaming, but otherwise it's a phenomenal achievement by Philips.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus review

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the world's first phone to run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and comes with a plethora of top-end tech, including a huge but still massively high resolution screen.

There are some gadgets in geek-world that are announced and we just cannot wait to touch. Nokia's N95, the original iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and Palm's first Pre. And the Galaxy Nexus fits firmly in that category. The big selling point here is not so much the handset – it's what powers the Galaxy Nexus. Google has redrawn its Android OS in probably the biggest overhaul since it launched exactly three years ago.

Sony HMZ-T1 Personal 3D Viewer review

If you've got money to burn and you're a big fan of 3D and own a 3D Blu-ray player, the Sony HMZ-T1 could be right down your street. While we really can't imagine head mounted 3D displays taking off in quite the same way that Walkmans did a generation ago, we rather like Sony's HMZ-T1 personal 3D viewer.

It's a bold and exciting spin on a familiar concept, and one that actually delivers on its promise of a virtual cinema experience. Its 3D performance is particularly mesmerising and if we could see our thumbs, we think they'd both be pointing upwards.

Philips Fidelio AS851 review

The AS851 is the first Android dock to launch into a market full of 200 million Android phones. So it's sure to be a hit, right? If only it were that simple…

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (Late 2011) review

The late 2011 update to the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro is a mild refresh, but definitely a welcome one. It comes soon after a massive upgrade at the beginning of 2011, and the prices haven't changed, so we've no cause for complaint.

Apple macbook pro review

This week's other reviews

Cooling

Be Quiet Dark Rock Advanced C1 review

Cooler Master GeminII M4 review

Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO review

Gelid GX-7 Gamer review

Enermax ETS-T40-TA review

Mobile phones

Motorola Razr review

HTC Rhyme review

BlackBerry Curve 9380 review

Monitors

Asus VG278H review

Printers

HP Photosmart 7510 review

HP photosmart 7510

Televisions

LG DM2350D review

TV tuner cards

Elgato eyeTV Mobile review

Hands on reviews

Mobile phones

Hands on: BlackBerry Curve 9380 review

Internet

Hands on: Google Music review

Google music

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Friday, 10 June 2011

The 2011 Mid-Range SSD Roundup: 120GB Agility 3, Intel 510 and More Compared

A year ago whenever I'd request an SSD for review I'd usually get a 128GB drive built using 3x nm 4GB 2-bit MLC NAND die. These days the standard review capacity is twice that as most drives ship with 25nm NAND, using 8GB die. Seeing a bunch of scores for 240GB+ drives however is frustrating to all involved. At these capacities you're almost always looking at two die per NAND device, which has significant performance benefits due to interleaving. Most SSD controllers have eight NAND channels and with sixteen NAND deviecs with two die per device that's four NAND die that the controller can interleave access between for each channel. The 128GB drives by comparison halve the number of NAND, which only allows the controller to interleave requests among two die.


How read interleaving works on a single channel

Not only are these 240GB+ drives the best case performance you'd see from a particular SSD, they are also very expensive. At around $2/GB you're looking at over $500 for a high end 240GB+ SSD. I've spent the past few weeks gathering modern SSDs with 128GB of NAND on-board to provide a look at a more balanced point in the price/capacity spectrum.

Mid-Range 2011 SSD RoundupSpecs (6Gbps)Corsair P3 128GBCrucial RealSSD C300 128GBIntel SSD 320 160GBIntel SSD 510 120GBOCZ Agility 3 120GBOCZ Vertex 3 120GBControllerMarvell 6GbpsMarvell 6GbpsIntel 3GbpsMarvell 6GbpsSF-2281SF-2281Raw NAND Capacity128GB128GB176GB128GB128GB128GBSpare Area~6.9%~6.9%~15.3%~12.7%~12.7%~12.7%User Capacity119.2GB119.2GB149.0GB111.8GB111.8GB111.8GBNumber of NAND Devices81612161616Number of die per Device421 - 2211NAND Type32nm Toggle34nm ONFI 2.025nm ONFI 2.134nm ONFI 1.025nm ONFI 2.125nm ONFI 2.1Street Price$229.99$234.99$304.99$284.49$242.04$252.99Cost Per GB$1.797$1.836$1.906$2.222$1.891$1.976

Read on for our roundup of 120GB drives.

]]>

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

The 2011 Mid-Range SSD Roundup: 120GB Agility 3, Intel 510 and More Compared

A year ago whenever I'd request an SSD for review I'd usually get a 128GB drive built using 3x nm 4GB 2-bit MLC NAND die. These days the standard review capacity is twice that as most drives ship with 25nm NAND, using 8GB die. Seeing a bunch of scores for 240GB+ drives however is frustrating to all involved. At these capacities you're almost always looking at two die per NAND device, which has significant performance benefits due to interleaving. Most SSD controllers have eight NAND channels and with sixteen NAND deviecs with two die per device that's four NAND die that the controller can interleave access between for each channel. The 128GB drives by comparison halve the number of NAND, which only allows the controller to interleave requests among two die.


How read interleaving works on a single channel

Not only are these 240GB+ drives the best case performance you'd see from a particular SSD, they are also very expensive. At around $2/GB you're looking at over $500 for a high end 240GB+ SSD. I've spent the past few weeks gathering modern SSDs with 128GB of NAND on-board to provide a look at a more balanced point in the price/capacity spectrum.

Mid-Range 2011 SSD RoundupSpecs (6Gbps)Corsair P3 128GBCrucial RealSSD C300 128GBIntel SSD 320 160GBIntel SSD 510 120GBOCZ Agility 3 120GBOCZ Vertex 3 120GBControllerMarvell 6GbpsMarvell 6GbpsIntel 3GbpsMarvell 6GbpsSF-2281SF-2281Raw NAND Capacity128GB128GB176GB128GB128GB128GBSpare Area~6.9%~6.9%~15.3%~12.7%~12.7%~12.7%User Capacity119.2GB119.2GB149.0GB111.8GB111.8GB111.8GBNumber of NAND Devices81612161616Number of die per Device421 - 2211NAND Type32nm Toggle34nm ONFI 2.025nm ONFI 2.134nm ONFI 1.025nm ONFI 2.125nm ONFI 2.1Street Price$229.99$234.99$304.99$284.49$242.04$252.99Cost Per GB$1.797$1.836$1.906$2.222$1.891$1.976

Read on for our roundup of 120GB drives.

]]>

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