I have in my hands the Advent Vega, a 10.1″ 16:9 Android powered tablet computer.This is not a thing of beauty, but I’m going to recommend that you buy one. Why? Price and it’s hackable.
Even though I’m an iPad fanboy, I’ve come to realise that for many people shelling out £399 on a “gadget” can seem a bit much, even when that gadget is the magnificent iPad. So, what are the alternatives?
There are many Android and Windows tablets on the market right now, but they all have one major disadvantage when compared to the iPad, price. Why spend over £300 when for a few extra pounds you can get the iPad? Check out the Asus EeePad Transformer or the Motorolo Xoom both of which are top of the range Android tablets running honeycomb, but will set you back £350. If you managed to stretch your budget by £50 you would have an iPad 2 with its App store and range of accessories. Now I know these tablets are not quite like for like, but my point is that for most people the entry level iPad 2 will more than meet their needs. I know it works for me.
So, why did I buy an Advent Vega? The Vega has interested me for a while and it seemed to tick all the right boxes, however there is one glaringly obvious flaw with the Vega. The Screen.
Screen
Facts: 10.1 inch, 16:9 aspect ration capacitive touchscreen, a resolution of 1024 x 600 and also supports auto rotate and multi-touch gestures. It is very sensitive and will take some to time to get used to, but it’s safe to say that from an input perspective the screen is good.
The screen is let down when viewed from an off-set angle. It’s ok if you are using it on your lap or right in front of your eye line, but move off to the side and the screen becomes unwatchable or unreadable.
But let’s not get caught up with that, because the Vega really is actually pretty good and certainly great value for money.
Hardware
I paid £129.97 which gets you a lot for your money. In a tablet measuring 275 x 178 x 13.6 mm (W x D x H) and weighing 750g you get: stereo speakers, MicroSD Card slot, HDMI output, front facing camera, microphone, USB port and a headphone port.
It’s encased in black plastic, but it feels comfortable to hold and solid enough that I’m sure it can survive the odd knock.
Operating System
The unique selling point of the Vega is the active developer community, and before you all click away, it’s really actually quite easy to install a custom ROM on the vega.
Out of the box, the Vega runs Android 2.2 froyo which is ok, but I’m used to gingerbread, and frankly shipping froyo with a tablet is a silly business decision because it highlights how bad the operating system is and thus dosen’t allow the Vega to look and perform like it could.
If you buy a Vega you must install a different operating system on it. Developers call this installing a custom ROM, but don’t worry, this is not dangerous and it is impossible to brick your Vega. Just follow the instructions very closely and read various forums to learn what it is you’ll actually be doing. It is quite straight forward providing you have some patience and can follow instructions.
At present the best ROM to install is VegaComb which is a community built version of Google’s honeycomb (which was never open sourced) and transforms the Vega into an iPad competitor. Well ok, it doesn’t really, but what it does is highlight how quickly Android tablets are going to dominate the market once IceCreamSandwich gets released, because cheap tablets will flood the market that will actually be pretty good.
I had not used an Android tablet before (aside from a quick play in stores) and although I use an Android phone, the UI is different (thanks google!). However, it really isn’t hard to pick up and thanks to the Android Market all your previously purchased apps are available for you to download to your new device.
Apps
There really isn’t a lot of apps available for android tablets, but what I’ve found is that phone apps actually scale quite well on the Vega. On the iPad you get the choice of original 1x view or a 2x zoomed view which dosen’t always do the iPad justice. Apps on the Vega just stretch or zoom to fit the screen which can lead some odd views, but overall they seem to look ok.
I’m happy with the apps I have, I’ve basically just duplicated what I have on my phone and they all work fine.
Video
One of the main reasons I bought the Vega was so I could plug it into my TV and watch movies that I would store on the Vega, thus the Vega would become my main media hub. Unfortunately this isn’t quite perfect on vegacomb as it leaves a 2″ black bar down the right side and along the bottom. I can live with this for now and I’m sure it will be fixed soon enough. Apart from this, the HDMI out works well mirroring the Vega in every way. When you see the Vega outputting over HDMI to a 32″ LCD it looks great but this just demonstrates how poor the screen on the Vega actually is.
The Vega is perfectly happy to stream flash videos such as iPlayer but it will also play .avi and .wmv files through the QQ Player which is free to download in the Market. Video play back is smooth.
Camera
The Vega has a 0.3MP front facing camera which is compatible with Skype and Google Talk. It’s actually ok and you will use it to make video calls if that’s your thing. I can’t imagine ever using the camera to take a still image but it works, and so would do in an emergency.
Keyboard
There are many keyboard apps in the Market, but the stock honeycomb keyboard works well so I don’t see the need to recommend anything else. For instance I use Swype on my phone, but I would have no need for that on the Vega. I can type comfortably onscreen and there doesn’t appear to be any lag.
Battery
Battery life on the Vega is fine for a working day but I’ve found that it doesn’t hold it’s charge more than a couple of days on standby which is disappointing. I think the perfect example of battery life is to compare it to your smartphone. The more you use it the faster the battery dies! I haven’t run any tests but I reckon you can expect to get 5 or 6 hours of screen time which is acceptable.
Form
When holding the Vega in your hands it feels light and comfortable but also a little strange due to its 16:9 aspect ratio. However, I like this view and it sits well when rested on my lap. You can of course view it in portrait mode which is great for reading books and webpages. When compared to the iPad 2 the Vega feels better in the hand.
Real world use
I will mainly use the Vega in the house as a consumption device. I can see me surfing the web, reading email, updating twitter, or watching movies via the HDMI out, but other than those I’m not sure what else I would want to do on it. So if you’re in the market for a cheap Android tablet you could do much worse than the Advent Vega.
If you want to find out more about the Vega check out these resources:
The Sonos S5 is a compact speaker that delivers more than just music, read on to find out why.
The S5 is a high-performance, all-in-one wireless music system that delivers crystal-clear, room-filling sound. Simply plug it in wherever you want music and enjoy. The 5-driver speaker system is individually powered by 5 dedicated digital amplifiers and includes 2 tweeters, 2 mid-range drivers and 1 subwoofer for high-quality sound that rivals much larger, more complicated audio equipment.
Source: http://www.sonos.com/products/zoneplayers/s5/default.aspx
So how does the Sonos S5 live up to these bold claims made on the Sonos website?
I’ve owned the S5 for around nine months now and I am thrilled with its performance, from the sound quality right through to the additional music services that compliment your existing music collection.
The Sonos iPad app really is a joy to use. It's free in the App store. An Android app is also available.
So how does it work?
In addition to the Sonos S5 you need a device called a “zonebridge” which connects to your router and provides the S5 with the wireless internet access that really shows off the S5 for the magical device it is.
I should come clean now, the Sonos only works work with additional software. In other words you need to install software on your computer, your iOS device or your Android phone. You can also buy the Sonos controller, but that’s an expensive remote. However, once you have these installed you have probably the best remote control you will ever have seen. If you have multiple Sonos speakers around the house, you can control them all from the one remote controller. This means you can specify what you can listen to in each “zone” or room.
It only takes about half an hour to get the Sonos up and running – from un-boxing to installing the zonebridge and the sonos software on your PC. While it’s not quite plug and play, the effort is worth it as in the future everything can be controlled via the apps.
Getting music “into” your sonos is simply a matter of selecting the music on your computer or selecting an internet radio station. All music is streamed either over the Internet over over your home network.
The front view of the Sonos S5
So, what makes the Sonos so compelling?
It’s not that you can listen to your favourite radio stations and it’s not that you can stream your own music collection. What sets it apart is the additional music services that integrate into the Sonos such as my favourite Napster. This is a paid service (£5 per month) that adds significant value to my limited music collection. Many of you will be familiar with Spotify but at £10 a month I do not value it more than Napster (yes I could take my collection on a mobile device, but for the same price I can do that with Napster). Other services includer Last.fm and deezer – both of which offer streaming with limited functionality. I am a recent convert to Sticher radio and I use that to easily listen to my favourite podcasts.
One of the lesser known functions of the sonos is the ability to input audio, therefore allowing you to plugin your phone, iPod or laptop and use the Sonos as an external speaker. This function works well.
Sound quality.
The rear view of the Sonos S5. This is where the power, headphone and auxiliary ports are located.
The Sonos S5 provides good quality sound (as you’d expect from a speaker in this price range) even when streaming lower bit rate tracks. Obviously the better the quality of the digital audio the better it sounds but overall I am very satisfied with this speaker. I am no audiophile but both bass and treble appear to perform well.
Conclusion This post was sparked by the theory that the Sonos S5 could be the ultimate kitchen radio, so is it? I have to say that in my kitchen it most certainly is the daddy of all home music systems. It has reintroduced me to music and I now consider myself to be an avid radio listener. I much prefer powering on the Sonos S5 compared to watching the TV (in the kitchen). The breadth of options that the Sonos S5 brings definitely means that this is superior to the standard FM or DAB radio and the sound quality is superior to our Sony Hi-Fi, therefore making this the ultimate kitchen radio for me.
If you are considering a speaker dock or a wireless speaker system you should gives serious consideration to the Sonos S5, you will not be disappointed.
Not much to note of the side on view, except the nice, clean design.
This post will detail how Apple replaced my scratched iPad 2 screen free of charge.
I recently took delivery of a new iPad 2 and have been having lots of fun with it. So much fun, that somehow, I managed to scratch the screen. Nightmare! A google search for “how to fix a scratched iPad screen” or “scratched iPad screen” revealed some home made fixes, none of which I was prepared to try on such a new device. The google searches also revealed that scratches aren’t covered under warranty, so how did I fix my scratched iPad?
After much thought I decided that I had to speak to Apple to see if they had any suggestions. This involved a trip to the Apple Genius Bar (If you have never been to the Genius Bar before, it really is a treat). Apple does not call these guys geniuses for nothing, they are well trained in customer service and are very knowledgeable on Apple products.
I was met by a Genius who quickly identified the scratch and sympathised with me. I explained that I didn’t know what happened (I honestly don’t, I can only suspect that it occurred while I cleaned the screen) and that I always try to take care of my gadgets. After some consideration the genius offered to repair the iPad under warranty for free. This was a fantastic piece of customer service. There I was, a disgruntled Apple customer who honestly thought he had bought a lemon, but now, Apple have demonstrated quality customer service and have restored my faith in Apple products.
[As a side note, Apple would have charged me £199 (including VAT) to repair the screen.]
So there you have it, if you have a problem with any Apple product, make sure you speak to Apple or visit the Genius Bar as they will offer you advice and may even repair it for free!
Screen Protector
After taking delivery of my replacement iPad 2 I decided that I needed the security of a screen protector. Call me paranoid, but after my first iPad 2 got scratched so easily, I just had to have an extra layer of protection, so I ordered one from Ebay. It was easily fitted and does not make the screen any less bright or usable, but it does make the iPad slightly less attractive to look at!
I ordered an iPad when Apple had their Black Friday sale and to be honest I was not sure I really needed it or would actually like it. Remember that I ditched the iPhone for Android!
First impressions of the iPad were not good. It’s heavy and the aluminium back make it cold to touch and without a case it can on occasion dig into your hands and give the impression of being sharp. However, these initial thoughts on the iPad’s form factor was quickly squashed after using the device.
I have a 10″ netbook which I have enjoyed using for two years. While it is a pain with some tasks, overall it has been £250 well spent and continues to serve a purpose today. How then can a £390 10″ iPad compete with that?
To put it simply, it not only competes with, but out muscles the netbook on many levels. I have never been so taken with a device, even my first iPhone was not as compelling as this iPad.
After un-boxing, which is always a joy with Apple products, I fully charged the iPad and after a couple of hours synced it with iTunes and got all my apps (that I had previously used on my iPhone) on to the device.
Now I faced a dilema: I would now have two portable devices running similar (if not the same) apps, therefore did I really need the iPad?
Quick answer: YES! Immediately the device becomes second nature.
If I want to read the news headlines at breakfast, I reach for the iPad;
If I want to check twitter, I reach for the iPad;
If I want to check email, I reach for the iPad;
When I want to draft a blog post, I reach for the iPad;
I’ve got meetings at work, I load up the iPad with the relevant documents;
If I want to make edits or touch up photos, yes you guessed it, I reach for the iPad.
So what makes the iPad so compelling?
The battery life is just awesome . It seems to last for days.
Instant on. Just like your iPod, this thing is just in standby and as soon as you unlock the screen you’re good to go.
Screen. While not the retina display seen on the iPhone 4, the current iPad screen is still really good. NB not good in bright sunshine, but that’s not an issue for me in Belfast!
The speakers are surprisingly good e.g. handy for the bathroom or listening to in the holiday apartment.
Built-in microphone. Seriously, skype has never been so easy. You can even do one way video.
Apps – the app ecosystem on iOS is really good and there are plenty of good apps that utilise the iPad’s full potential e.g. flipboard, filterstorm2.
I could really go on and on, but this is a mini review and after the above the iPad comes into its own when you discuss individual apps, which I plan to do at a later date.
Would I recommend one? Absolutely, but I’d wait until the next generation which should be announced in the next couple of months. Also keep in mind that Android 3.0 has been announced which looks to be a really cool tablet operating system and will give the iPad a run for its money.
I’ve recently taken delivery of the Pure Highway, which is an in car DAB radio solution. This is a handy device if you enjoy listening to 5 live or talksport, or any station that broadcasts on MW and DAB. It connects to your existing stereo through the aux in or via FM transmitter. you can also plug you MP3 player into it and you can also take it with you as it can operate on batteries and work as a portable DAB player.
Highway is a unique, easy to fit in-car DAB digital radio that also enables you to listen to your iPod/MP3 player.
…easily attached to your windscreen with a removable flexible mount (just like sat nav).
Highway is packed with great, easy-to-use features such as ReVu™ to pause and skip back through live DAB radio, quickSCAN to find free FM transmission frequencies
One criticism is that it’s not a pretty solution. You have to have the aerial stuck to the windscreen and the cable then runs around the screen and plugs into the unit which is attached via sucker to the windscreen. A power cable is then attached to your car power supply (in my case the cigarette lighter!). So, not ideal but I don’t care about that!
As a DAB radio it performs admirably. It auto scans on start up and quickly finds DAB stations in your area. If your new to DAB then all you need to know is that there is no need to know your favourite radio stations frequency, you simple scroll through list by station name. The Highway comes with 20 presets, plenty of room to add your favourite stations.
The Pure Highway is available now priced at a respectable £69.99.
