When you talk on a nationwide radio show, you're supposed to be kind of careful about what you say.
Funnily enough though, some of the most entertaining radio happens when people forget to be careful. So when Mike Hosking brought up the issue of how recyclable Nespresso coffee pods are, I felt obliged to chip in with my views on the quality of the end product.
Given I'd had zero positive experiences with capsule coffee makers up till that point, it wasn't perhaps the greatest 2 minutes of radio publicity the team at Nespresso could have hoped for.
Entertaining? Possibly.
Since then, to Nespresso's credit, they've gone to great lengths to get me to change my mind...
I have a pretty useful espresso machine at home, better than entry level but nowhere near top of the line either. Despite a lack of bells and whistles, the Domestic Manager and I have come to rely on it as one the most essential appliances in our kitchen. She's a flat white kind of a girl, I'm a double-shot bowl latte guy. I'm no barista, but these days I can create a cuppa good enough to have high expectations of any real cafe's cup of joe.
In saying that, I am also a bit of a caffeine slut. If I'm feeling coffee deprived in the morning, my standards will drop dramatically and if I haven't dosed up by at least 10am, the withdrawal symptoms really start to kick in and I've even been known to resort to instant just to prevent myself going into shock.
This is why I've happily sampled capsule coffee when served to me at friends' houses, when it's the only option at workplaces and when that's the best thing on offer in hotel or motel rooms. All of them were gross.
This is why the team from Nespresso gagged and bound me, put a bag over my head, loaded me into a van and spirited me off to the nearest Nespresso kiosk to set me straight.
There I met a dark stranger named Chad who changed my life.
After discussing how I prefer my coffee, what kind of beans I use, how many coffees usually drink and when I usually down them, Chad proceeded to lead me on a magical journey of caffeinated discovery, featuring the best flavours from both South America and Africa.
Like an alcoholic let loose in a craft brewery, I even got to sample George Clooney's world-saving blend from South Sudan - a coffee that wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was nice to think I was doing my small part to restore basic human rights, democracy and some semblance of society to a war-torn, third-world nation. Amazing what you can achieve with a simple cup of coffee.
As I said earlier, I like a latte (been living in Auckland too damn long) and I think the main problem with my earlier capsule taste tests wasn't just the quality of the coffee, but the texture of the milk. Not all capsule machines include any kind of milk frothing option and splashing some Lite Blue into your mug straight out of the fridge kind of ruins the effect.
Enter the Latissima Touch from Delonghi, the machine that blew my prejudiced mind.
This is a machine capable of producing a genuinely good coffee, including milk heated and frothed to your taste with the push of just 3 buttons. I can't deny it, a process this simple definitely appeals to my overriding sense of laziness.
There's no fiddling around grinding beans to the right consistency, tamping it down, frothing the milk with a wand that sometimes doesn't do what you thought it would for no real reason and then having to clean the whole lot out.
With the Latissima Touch, just bung the capsule in, push the coffee button, push the milk button and you're done. To clean, it's just a matter of holding down the cleaning button. (I know, complicated right?) A minor annoyance is having to hold the cleaning button down for the whole 15 seconds or so the process takes, but I can just about cope with that.
The milk canister is self sealing and because the milk isn't heated till it's poured, you can keep the whole container in the fridge to avoid any waste. When it's time to clean it, the dishwasher-safe components all snap or screw out so easily it's hard to believe how well designed this machine is for the price.
Of course, you are left with Mike Hosking's original issue of dealing with the discarded capsules. While they are recyclable, because of the grounds inside they're not able to be put into your household recycling bin. To their credit, Nespresso have taken serious steps in the right direction offering hundreds of used capsule collection points around the country and recently even a specially designed bag you can hand over the counter at any Post Shop.
This isn't as easy as washing used grounds down your waste disposal, but the rest of the process is just so much less hassle and mess it makes it well worthwhile.
There's a massive range of different blends available, which means I can easily swap between the capsule I prefer and the one the Domestic Manager likes. There's even a selection of de-caf options that almost taste like proper coffee!
But the real bonus of using the Latissima Touch is, compared to my old espresso machine, it's actually quite portable. We took it away with us for the weekend and became instantly popular with all our caffeine-deprived friends. You don't want to be bogged down with grounds and steam wands when you're camping, but popping in a pod and pushing a few buttons is a doddle.
The upshot is, I can now brew my own Nespresso bowl latte and it's virtually indistinguishable from the one I'd make with my old conventional machine. (I don't want to admit some days I think it tastes even better, because then everything I said on the radio that day would be mere uninformed spouting-off, and we couldn't have that)
Click here for more information on the Nespresso Latissima Touch from Delonghi
As the market leader in activity trackers, Fitbit is constantly under pressure to come up with something new. It's a balancing act. How much can you improve your product without leaving behind some of the existing features fans know and love?
At first glance, there doesn't appear to be a major difference between the Fitbit Charge 2 and its predecessors, the Charge and Charge HR. However, the reality is there was a shopping list of minor improvements Fitibit users had been asking for and the Charge 2 has checked a lot of those items off.
Firstly, the heart-rate monitor is standard now. As it should be in any tracker. I don't understand why people would choose a device to track their fitness that's only capable of doing half the job. Questions will always be raised over the accuracy of heart-rate monitors on any wearable, but as I've said in the past, as long as the readings are consistent from one workout to the next, that's all you need to see if you're making any progress.
The most obvious enhancement is the screen. It's bigger and it's curved. This means you get more information at a glance and the curve gives the impression of a slightly more streamlined accessory than ever before. There's a major problem with the new screen though... well, it's a problem for me anyway. I can't read it on my runs. Even when it's not super sunny, even without my sunglasses on, I still struggled to make out the white characters on the black display. This seriously bummed me out, because one of the things I've always been impressed by is Fitbit's simple, readable display. When you're sweating your guts out, either on a run or at the gym, you want your workout information with one quick look. While more details are available to you with a simple tap of the screen, it's no use to me if I can't read those details in bright conditions.
Despite the sleek, new curviness, the Charge 2 is still not a piece of elegant evening wear either, although there's now a wide selection of band styles and colours with the promise of more designer options to come. You can even pay a bit more and choose to have the casing in gunmetal or rose gold.
The important thing to note here is the straps are now completely interchangeable, easily popping off and on. Not only that, but the strap is now moulded, not layered, which the Fitbit team assures me will prevent any of that unsightly bubbling we've experienced after prolonged use with previous models.
The elastomer (rubber-like) material the band is made of is still as comfortable as ever which means like other Fitbits, the Charge 2 is one of the only trackers I can stand to wear to bed to record my sleep patterns. This often makes for disturbing reading given my 3AM alarm, which, as usual can be set as a silent but violent vibration on your wrist.
Like the other top-end Fitbits, you can receive call, text and calendar alerts on the Charge 2 and I don't know whether I just imagined it, but I feel like this feature worked a lot better this time round as I didn't experience any delay between the calls/texts and the alerts like I have on previous models.
As usual for Fitbit, battery life on the Charge 2 is excellent, comfortably seeing you through 3 or 4 days and also as usual for Fitbit, they've come up with yet another bizarre charging cable. This time it's a sort of bulldog clip arrangement to hold the body of the Charge 2 in place. It's actually much simpler to use than the convoluted take-it-to-pieces and shut-it-in-a-little-box system Fitbit put us through for the Blaze, but it's still pretty cumbersome compared to the magnetic cradles and wireless charging options other devices provide. It's not a big issue - in fact, I've almost started to look forward to unboxing the next new Fitbit just so I can see how crazy its charging cable is.
One little addition which has turned out to be more fun than I anticipated is the choice of a 2 or 5 minute deep breathing exercise. Don't ask me how, but the Charge 2 tells me it's sensing my breathing patterns then gives me cues to inhale and exhale. I found this genuinely calming. Of course, when the machines finally take over, I suppose our wearables will all just tell us to exhale, leave out the inhaling bit and that will be the end of that. Quite a relaxing way to go, I suppose.
As with other recent Fitbits, you can track your choice of 7 different activities, from running to yoga. I'd still like more options to select from (like aerobics or different sports) but that may come in future updates.
Which brings us back to the Fitbit app itself; as usual, the real star of the show. I've used many different fitness apps and this is still one of the most user-friendly, with the ability to manage multiple devices and now featuring "Adventures" challenges, where you are rewarded on your step journey with views of some of the world's most picturesque hiking trails - another feature I became more addicted to than I thought I would.
It's a shame the Charge 2 is still only rain and sweat resistant, not actually waterproof like its new sister, the Flex 2. Apparently it's tricky to manufacture a device that can measure altitude while keeping water out as well. Given I have no interest in how many virtual stairs I have climbed but I do sometimes go underwater, I would have voted for a waterproof device. Maybe there are more stair-climbers than swimmers out there, but I doubt it.
The Charge 2 is a better looking, more functional member of the Fitbit family. A lot of improvements have been made and while there's still plenty of room for further development, it's a well-tracked step in the right direction.
Click here for more information on the Fitbit Charge 2
I am no gamer.
Oh, I've played computer games over the years.
I wore out the joysticks on my brother's SEGA SC-3000 playing Star Jacker.
I remember doing pretty well on a hand-held version of Donkey Kong.
I've tried (and failed) to keep various incarnations of Lara Croft alive.
I got Crash Bandicoot all the way to the lab at Cortex Industries to battle his evil creator.
Then I had kids and the real games began.
Still, it wasn't long before I was installing games for them to play instead. I'd show them what to do and very quickly, they'd show me what I was doing wrong.
Then they were installing their own games and complaining our computer was too old, the internet connection was too slow and our family was super uncool and the laughing stock of all their friends.
Star Jacker suddenly seems to be a long time ago.
But if I was a gamer, I'd need a groovy keyboard, obviously...
The Masterkeys Lite L Combo from Cooler Master was an absolute revelation to me. I literally had no idea such a thing existed. Not once, in all my years of computer use had I thought to myself, "I wish my keyboard and mouse were flashing in rainbow colours right now."
In fact, at the risk of sounding like a complete fuddy duddy, I'm not a massive fan of flashing lights, full-stop. My two biggest bugbears are bluetooth devices and charging devices. I don't know why these things always have to flash coloured lights at you to let you know they're working. You can tell if the bluetooth is connected because noises come out of the right bits. You can tell if the charger is charging because it charges. Stop with your stupid lights already.
So you might think I'd be a hard sell when it comes to an RGB keyboard and mouse combo.
Except...
I do like things to match.
If you're a regular reader of these reviews, you'll know the glennzb household recently had to upgrade its PC due to the existing one melting. Somehow this meant a mid-level gaming rig appearing in the house and being installed in Monster Number Two's bedroom. I'm not entirely sure how she negotiated this turn of events, but I think it had something to do with cashing in early birthday and Christmas presents for the next 3 years.
The point is, the new computer glows red like a malevolent super-intelligence... which I suppose it basically is.
Again, while I don't really understand why it lights up, (I know it's running, otherwise I wouldn't be able to use it to type this review) at least it has the decency to light up in the best colour possible.
Of course, there's nothing like a new piece of kit to make the old bits that plug into it look decidedly shabby, especially when one of those bits is the keyboard from the Gateway computer I used to own in 1999.
Remember when PC's were that brownish-creamish-off-white-ish non colour? Yep, that's what I'm talking about. Obviously years (decades) of use meant that keyboard was more off-white than ever. Still worked though. And once or twice a year I'd tip it upside down and shake all the food out of it. Retro.
Needless to say, Monster Number Two didn't approve. She didn't want it attached to that shiny, new black-and-red box and she certainly didn't want it in her room.
Enter the Masterkeys Lite L Combo from Cooler Master. Black is still the new black, especially when you can highlight it in the colour of your choice. Of course, most normal people would go with red but there are few weirdos out there who insist on liking other colours. They'll come round.
There are several different ways to colour up the keyboard, you can pulse on and off, flash on your key press, have the whole palette flowing across the keys or even choose different colours for different sections (eg: number pad, media controls etc) All fun stuff but as I say, pretty sure everyone usually wants red on all the time.
The accompanying mouse also lights up in various modes and both it and the keyboard connect via USB. The leads were plenty long enough for easy installation.
The Lite L keyboard is not mechanical, but that didn't bother me as I have never used a mechanical keyboard so don't know what I'm missing. Instead it appears to be somewhere in between your stock-standard membrane setup and the fancy-pancy high-end (and much more expensive) mechanical options.
Cooler Master calls this a "mem-chanical" keyboard which results in a satisfying clackety-clack sound and feel and also means it's virtually spill-proof as each key is completely self contained. Whether any of this gives the hardened gamers out there much advantage I couldn't tell you. All I know is Monster Number Two gave it the thumbs-up and she puts in a lot more cyber-hours than I do.
The Masterkeys Lite L certainly seems durable, right down to the sturdy rubberised feet that pull out underneath. You know, the ones you always snap off accidentally on cheaper keyboards? No chance of that here, these babies are rock solid.
What I would have liked is some kind of helpful setup software. There's a brief manual in the box which explains how to plug things into computers, but absolutely no guidance on how to use the function keys to select the colours and patterns of your choice. This meant I had to do what I usually do; push all the buttons at random till I got what I wanted.
I was also slightly confused by the lack of an apostrophe. Oh, the physical key is where it's supposed to be (complete with the usual upper-case quotation marks) but there's no actual apostrophe printed on it. I spent ages looking for it and felt really stupid when I just pushed the normal button and my apostrophe appeared on screen.
I mean, what's that about?
Is the Masterkeys Lite L combo something you need? Of course not. But if you want your computing experience to look as cool as it feels, this a fun PC accessory that won't break the bank.
Click here for information and pricing details on the Cooler Master Lite L Keyboard and Mouse
Times have changed.
Unless you live alone, the router your Internet Service Provider provided you with is not up to the job.
In fact, even if you live alone, do the math...
Your phone. Your laptop/iPad/tablet. Your TV. Maybe your heatpump. Your security system. Possibly even your fridge and your washing machine.
(Yes, of course there are WiFi washing machines. Don't pretend you haven't always wanted one)
Now extrapolate that over a household with four or more occupants.
Then, if any of those occupants are teenagers, multiply internet usage by a factor of 10.
Like I say, that entry-level router just ain't gonna cut it no more.
So why not choose something absolutely enormous?...
The Taipan AC3200 from D-Link is much bigger than this photo may lead you to believe.
In fact, however big you think it is right now, you're underestimating it by at least 25%. I can only assume the designers (if there were any) were inspired by the alien mother ships in Independence Day and decided to come up with something slightly bigger again.
It's not just that the Taipan is large, it's also the most impractical shape. It reminds me of when you're trying to cut pumpkin into equal sized pieces and you end up with a bit that isn't square, isn't triangular and has 17 corners. Except way bigger. And blue.
Oh, did I mention the SIX ANTENNAE? Admittedly, these are about the same length as any other WiFi antenna, but they're twice as wide. At least they sit subtly, flush with the rest of the device, right?
Nope.
Not in any way whatsoever. The antennae stick out a mile in every direction ensuring the Taipan takes up about twice as much space as it was already taking up. Which was all of it. And then some.
That being said...
Does it... you know... work?
You better believe it.
I'd done a little homework on the Taipan before I got my hands on it and was really looking forward to the prospect of 2 seperate 5Ghz SSIDs to play with, as well as the more conventional (but crowded) 2.4Ghz range. In theory, that means you essentially have the option of connecting to 3 different routers in one modem.
Once I had the Taipan all connected and powered on, I got a bit confused with the setup... until I stopped trying to interfere with the wizard and just let the modem do the work for me. That's right, it turns out D-Link knows more about setting up VDSL connections than I do. All I really had to input was my ISP username and password which was easily found on their website and the Taipan figured out the rest.
Trouble is, hardly anything I own recognised the 5Ghz SSID options. I tried to force the phones and tablets that could see the 5Ghz profiles to use them, but they promptly forgot them in preference to the standard 2Ghz option. Turned out, it didn't matter at all because once again, the more I let my devices connect automatically, the better everything worked.
The Taipan's range was noticeably better than that of my previous, boring, ISP-supplied router, easily covering my entire 3-storey house.
But what impressed me straight away (and has continued to do so) is the sheer reliability. Nothing stops to buffer anymore, not on the PC, the phones, the iPads, the laptops or the Chromecast. The Taipan decides how much bandwidth is required for which task and seems to do an amazing job of keeping everybody happy.
I can only imagine how my user experience will be enhanced if they ever get round to putting fibre down my street. (Seriously, 2018? What are you waiting for? Kanye to be president?)
The question is; is the Taipan AC3200 $500 better than your existing router? (which I'm assuming was probably free when you signed your life away to your ISP for a discount off your Sky subscription or free access to Lightbox)
Well, if the movie you're streaming ever ground to a halt just when it got to the good bit, causing you to reload it, then fast forward through it to get to where you were up to, only to overshoot the mark by 5 minutes thereby completely giving away the plot twist... then I think you'll agree, $500 is a small price to pay.
Make no mistake, the Taipan is the wackiest looking piece of tech you'll ever see. It's too wide to fit on a shelf. It's too high to fit under anything. And if you decide to hang it on the wall like a piece of modern art, good luck getting the power, modem and ethernet cables to it without creating the impression of a giant, blue robot spider sitting in the middle of an unsightly techno-web.
But man, this thing works. So just give it it's own bedroom. The guest room maybe. How often do you have visitors to stay anyway?
Click here for more information on the Taipan AC3200 from D-Link
I've been dabbling in the area of mini or "small-form-factor" PC's for a little while now (and not just since my old desktop melted on me a few weeks back)
We seem to be getting closer and closer to a time when, due mostly to the increasing acceptance of cloud storage, the box we use to access our cyber lives is becoming less of a focus and maybe even less important.
As long as we can upload, download and stream at a timely pace, considerations like storage space and graphics capability have become slightly niche.
So when Intel offers us their NUC (Next Unit of Computing) in a box claiming it to be a "complete mini PC," it's probably worth a test drive.
The NUCFPGYH is not a very catchy name but it is tiny - about the size of a can of spam and significantly lighter.
There's nothing flashy about this at all. In fact, it's probably the most inconspicuous computer I've ever seen; it even includes a bracket that allows you to screw it to the back of your TV or monitor so you can't even see it.
In spite of that, I was surprised to discover how many ports and slots there are available to plug things into this thing. Unlike some other similar devices, there is still a VGA plug if your monitor is not HDMI capable. You can choose to connect via ethernet or wifi. There are audio options too; headphone jacks, Toslink jack or of course you can go HDMI for full 7.1 effect. There are even 4 (count 'em FOUR) USB 3.0 ports.
So many options. This seems to be what Intel is trying to achieve with this NUC line, something you can use the way you want. Of course, a lot of that depends on what's under the hood.
It's all about the processor really and Intel's quad-core Pentium N3700 is pretty grunty given what my performance expectations were. Multi-tasking doesn't seem to be an issue and I was actually really impressed with what Intel has squeezed out of an integrated graphics module. Video playback is flawless and I was even able to participate in a first-person shooter melee with no noticeable lag (other than my own useless reaction time, obviously) Admittedly I kept the display settings for the game on low and it took a while to load, but I still had fun.
The real limitation with the NUCFPGYH is storage. Now I know at the start of this review I claimed that storage is becoming less of an issue, but there's a happy medium Intel has missed here. There's only 32GB of on-board memory pre-installed. These days that's low even for a smart phone, let alone something that claims to be a "mini PC."
Because the NUCFPGYH runs the full 64bit version of Windows 10, almost half that storage space is eaten up in system files alone. This meant updating Win10 to it's latest version was virtually impossible, as the update preserves the original files in case you decide to revert back.
Of course, a lack of physical memory also leads to other performance issues as there's less space to cache running operations and services.
The solution?
Review Number 2: The newest SSD from Crucial, the MX300.
Thanks to this latest innovation from Crucial, I suddenly had 750GB of extra storage to play with, more than enough to help with my updates and to give me somewhere to store first-person shooter games to.
You see, the NUCFPGYH comes with a mount and a connector so you can install a 2.5inch drive like the MX300. Not what you want to hear if you are too scared to unscrew the cover from a computer, but music to the ears of an upgrade addict like me.
The bad news is, a drive as cutting edge, as quiet and as fast as the Crucial MX300 isn't cheap. In fact, by adding it to the NUCFPGYH I turned a sub-$500 PC into over $800 worth of kit. But man does it fly now. (I was going to say it purrs, but the SSD runs pretty much silently so there's almost no noise at all.)
Of course, you can always save some coin by going old school and there are perfectly adequate 2.5inch hard drives out there for under $100 that will do the job. Let's not forget the SDXC slot too, although obviously the transfer speeds to a memory card won't stack up to the impressive rates offered by the Crucial SSD. The MX300's spec sheet boasts a life-span of 1.5 million hours, so that should give me plenty of time to upskill on my first-person shooter techniques.
In the end, Intel's NUCFPGYH really does live up to it's claims of being a genuine home PC. It's fast, it's powerful and the graphics are better than expected. You will definitely need to add in some extra storage though and Crucial's MX300 SSD will turn Intel's useful little box into a rocket ship.
Click here for more information on the Intel NUCFPGYH mini PC
Click here for more information on the Crucial MX300 SSD
Sometimes something small can have a major impact.
I recently found myself in the middle of one of the worst crises I have ever faced; my PC melted. I don't even like to talk about it, the memories are too painful. Let's just say you never want a burning smell to be coming out of your motherboard and leave it at that.
Once I had stopped sobbing, banging my head against the table and asking, "Why? Why? Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" I realised the full gravity of the situation. I no longer had access to the 1550 albums in my music library or the 35GB of family photos dating back to 2001.
Luckily, I had a PC on a Stick.
If you haven't come across one before, it's hard to get your head around how something smaller than a smart phone could function anything like a desktop computer. I'm here to tell you Intel's PC on a Stick definitely delivers.
The concept is simple enough; plug a half decent processor into any display and you're well on your way to no-frills home computing. Of course, while the device itself isn't much bigger than a couple of match boxes, in reality you will need a few other bits and pieces to make it work.
Computers don't just magically control themselves (well, except in the Terminator movies and that goes badly for us humans) So some kind of mouse and keyboard arrangement will be required. The PC on a Stick will run on any monitor or TV with an HDMI port and is bluetooth and wifi enabled which means you can connect whatever controller you like. I decided to plug mine into the TV in my lounge, so I figured a wireless keyboard and mouse was the way to go.
I was surprised to find a full-sized USB 3.0 port and 2 micro USB 2.0 ports on such a small device. It even ships with a micro-to-full-size USB adapter to make life easier still. Of course, like any computer, there's nothing stopping you connecting a USB hub for even more connectivity.
The PC on a Stick runs the full desktop version of Windows 10 pretty seamlessly. On paper, it may appear a little under-powered with only 2GB of ram available, but the quad-core Intel processor helps speed things up. Sure I found running too many programs at once did cause a slight memory traffic jam although in saying that, I was still able to create multiple user profiles and switch between them without too much delay.
I had no issues installing common programs like Office and iTunes and these functioned exactly as they should.
What really blew me away was how I was able to access all my old files from my smoking PC.
I know it may sound old-fashioned, but I still keep all my photos and music on hard drive. This is not because of some fuddy-duddy, superstitious fear of cloud storage. It's simply because that's the way I've always done it and I can't be bothered changing.
In truth, I actually do a bit of both - a kind of belt-and-suspenders approach that will hopefully prevent me ever losing anything truly precious. The point is, I wanted to access my library of sound and vision which was still sitting there on a 4TB hard drive.
Turns out, not a problem. I simply plugged that hard drive into a SATA docking station and presto! The PC on a Stick went from having a mere 32GB of storage to 4 terabytes. The transfer rate was totally adequate and I found I was even able to access my existing iTunes library, smart playlists and all, with no problem whatsoever.
This meant I was able to use the PC on a Stick as a temporary portal to my old cyber life while I researched up a new computer.
It's possible I would have considered not even replacing my old, melted box at all, if it wasn't for the fact my youngest monster considers herself an online gaming expert who requires a dedicated graphics card and enough processing grunt to drive it.
While it's true you won't be running Doom or Skyrim with only 2GB of ram, I had absolutely no complaints about playing video, either stored locally or online. That makes the PC on a Stick a genuine alternative to something like Chromecast, with the added functionality of being able to browse the net, check your emails and update your social media streams.
As I was using it on a 42inch telly in the lounge, I had to adjust some of the graphics settings so I could still see text and other objects from the comfort of my couch across the room. This did lead to some limitations when certain windows appeared too large for the display and I couldn't access all the buttons or links I wanted to.
Perhaps not the ideal family computing solution, Intel's PC on a Stick certainly stepped up to the plate in a temporary capacity and priced below $250, it wouldn't be a crazy idea to have one on standby, just in case.
I think it would be ideally suited to someone who works out of various offices in different locations and wants to take their own desktop experience on the road with them. A fraction of the size of a laptop and virtually weightless, the PC on a Stick could revolutionise the way we move our computing needs from place to place.
Click here for full specifications and pricing information on the Intel PC on a Stick II
As usual, Samsung and Apple seem to be the ones making all the noise about smart watches, but they're only one side of the equation. There are still plenty of Android Wear devices to choose from too. The question is, do they match up?...
The ASUS Zenwatch 2 is a very elegant looking piece of kit.
I think everybody's finally agreed to make their watches actually look like watches which is a tremendous relief. Personally, I found the two-tone scheme of gold and gunmetal on the watch I reviewed super-styley. The blue leather strap made a nice change from your bog-standard black too, and this is relatively easy to swap with any band of the same size assuming you have the right tool. (In my case, a pin)
The casing has it's pros and cons. While it is very slim, especially compared to something like the Huawei Watch, I felt it's wider and longer than really necessary given the screen doesn't go anywhere near the sides, top or bottom. Don't get me wrong, it's not ridiculously large, it just looks slightly oversized on my delicate lady-wrists.
That all means the screen is plenty big enough, and while Samsung, LG and Huawei have all moved towards round faces, ASUS gives you the more familiar aspect when it comes to reading messages and other notifications.
As usual, the OS itself doesn't offer too many differentiating features from any other Android Wear device, although I was immediately impressed with the large selection of classy watch-faces to choose from straight out of the box. Using the ASUS Zenwatch Manager most of these faces are pretty customisable too.
Significantly, the Zenwatch 2 has a speaker as well as a microphone and the latest Android update means you can now conduct phone calls on the watch itself, just like a secret agent. This was a feature on some of the early Samsung smart watches but for some reason it's disappeared from recent models. I love it, because (as horrifically lazy as this sounds) it's way easier to raise your wrist to your face to answer a call than to dig your phone out of your pocket or handbag.
Another unique little perk on the Zenwatch 2 is the ability to silence alarms by covering the watch face with your hand. If you're as uncoordinated as I am when you first wake up, this makes my 3am start fractionally more bearable.
The charging process is well worth discussing. Firstly, I had no problem squeezing two full days out of this device on a single charge; quite impressive compared to most of the other fully-specced smart watches I've tried. It also charges incredibly quickly, with a very user-friendly magnetic charging cable which magically fits itself into place once you put the Zenwatch 2 anywhere near it.
That's about where the differences end and this thing starts working pretty much like any other Android Wear device... which is not to say I was disappointed. Since the last time I tried Android Wear, things seem to have progressed a little. Obviously more apps than ever feature Wear-specific functionality these days, including various media players, email clients and even banking apps. You can receive notifications from anything installed on your handset, but how useful those notifications are depends on whether the developer has done any tinkering with Android Wear in mind. For example, any email client will push notifications of new mail through to the watch, but not so many will enable you to read the whole email or reply, delete or forward.
As always, the best way to control this watch is to talk to it, something I've struggled with a bit in the past, but Google voice recognition seems to have improved exponentially and I think yabbering to my wrist is now may favourite way to text and email.
In terms of a basic media remote, the Zenwatch 2 proved to be incredibly versatile, automatically recognising whatever I was playing on my phone, whether stored locally or streaming. Again, some media apps offer more Wear-functionality than others but as far as Play, Pause, Skip and Volume goes, those controls seem to work on pretty much anything.
What the Zenwatch 2 ISN'T, is a fitness tracker. Sure it'll run apps like Google Fit and Endomondo, but with no heart-rate monitor (and especially with a leather strap) why would you bother? It'll still count your steps, but doesn't everything?
The other big weakness for me was the motion sensors (or lack of them). Supposedly the watch screen should appear automatically when you turn your wrist to look at it. I found this simple function only worked most of the time. Just not good enough when this is the first thing any watch needs to do. You can, of course, turn the display on manually using the faux winder button on the side, but surely something as straightforward as telling the time should be a no-handed operation.
Like every other Android Wear watch I've ever worn, the default vibration for notifications is pathetic and I was inclined to miss them if I was even remotely distracted. Luckily, there is now an app called Feel the Wear which allows you to customise vibrations of different strengths, lengths and repetitions for each app on your phone. It works extremely well and solves the missed vibration issue instantly.
It'd be nice if there was a light sensor to adjust the screen brightness automatically, but when you're paying about $150 less than it's nearest rival, I guess you can't have everything. The point is, The ASUS Zenwatch 2 gives you nearly everything - and more importantly, it looks about four times more expensive than it is. It's slim, it's classy, it has great charging features and (unless you're a fitness freak) all the functionality you'd expect. Perhaps not the best smart watch on the market, but the Zenwatch 2 may be the best value for money.
Click here for more information and pricing on the ASUS Zenwatch 2
Over the last year or so, fitbit has firmly established itself as New Zealand's (and indeed the world's) favourite brand of activity tracker.
Even when you add genuine smart watches like the Samsung Gear S2 and the long awaited Apple Watch into the equation, most people would rather wear a fitbit.
Trouble is, how does fitbit improve on a device that basically works pretty well already?
The fitbit Blaze is obviously much better looking than anything fitbit has produced till now. My previous experiences with fitbit trackers had led me to believe nobody there really cared what these things looked like as long as they were comfortable to wear and most importantly, did what they said they would.
Because they DID do what they said they would, that was absolutely fine by me. I was more than happy to wear a thick black rubber band on my run or to the gym. But would I keep it on to go to the movies or a restaurant? Perhaps not.
Even once available in other colours, the fitbit Surge still looked like what it was; a great big sports tracker. Not a watch.
The Blaze fixes that.
Technically, there isn't a massive difference between last year's Surge and this year's Blaze. The functionality is almost identical with a couple of minor variations I'll get to shortly.
Physically, the Blaze and the Surge couldn't be more unalike.
While the square, angular appearance of the Blaze may not suit everyone's style, you can't deny this thing is very stylish. Not only is the standard sports band available in 3 colours, you have 3 choices of leather or even an all-stainless steel band with metal links.
The real beauty of all this choice is how easily interchangeable the bands are; the body of the Blaze just pops out of one metal frame into another, allowing you to mix and match your watch to any occasion, sporting or social. (Listen to me, talking about what to wear to social events like I'd have any idea)
The other big advance from any previous model is the colour display. How fitbit got this far in basic black and white is a bit of a mystery, or probably more a testament to how much people love how easy these devices are to use. I can't imagine anybody buying an Apple Watch with a grey scale watch face that only sort of resembles a watch face, yet that's basically what you got with the Surge.
The Blaze's screen is crystal clear colour, and has a light sensor adjusting it's brightness for any conditions inside or out. Frustratingly, there are still only 4 clock styles to choose from and I can't say I love any of them. Despite that, they're all a million billion times better than what we had before. Perhaps we'll get more options in a future firmware update.
As with previous fitbits, you don't so much pair the Blaze with your phone, you pair it to your fitbit account. These days you can have several devices synced to that account should you wish. Although you don't need a phone to run it, like the Surge, you can receive text, call and calendar notifications from your phone, although you still can't reply like you can on many smart watches.
The music controller looks great. You access this with a down-swipe on the main clock screen. However, it usually didn't work if the phone was connected to another bluetooth device, which is how I usually listen to music.
This makes me wonder if fitbit is overextending itself delving into the whole smart watch area to begin with. The thing I have always loved about fitbit devices is they just work. So why introduce features you can't count on?
Another niggle is the move away from an on-board GPS. This means if you want to track your run, you need to take your phone with you as the Blaze will use the handset's GPS instead. This seems a backward step from the Surge which did all its own tracking.
My final frustration is the introduction of automatic exercise detection - this isn't unique to the Blaze; it's a feature added to both the Surge and Charge HR last year. In theory, it's really convenient to have your tracker figure out you're doing exercise and record it without you thinking about it. What I don't understand is why it does it secretly and doesn't display your run or workout on screen once it's realised that's what you're doing. To do that you have to select your exercise and fire it off manually.
The good news is, the new colour display is even more clear and easier to read than the Surge, allowing you to scroll through time, distance, heart-rate etc with a tap of the screen. For runs you can set a secondary stat display (pace, distance, etc) although for some reason, when I chose distance, this smaller number displayed in miles instead of kilometres, a minor bug I'm sure will be remedied in future firmware updates.
Battery life, as usual, is outstanding. I can easily squeeze out 4-5 days with no trouble. And just when you thought fitbit's charging cables couldn't get any weirder, the Blaze comes with its own little clip-shut charging box you have to put the main watch case inside. It's not really a hassle, it's just really, really weird. Charges damn fast though.
I feel like I've made too many complaints about a device I actually like very much. All the usual fitbit stuff works brilliantly - accurate and reliable heart rate monitoring, step counting and sleep tracking all synced directly to your account. It's light, comfortable, looks good and I wear it everywhere, not just to the gym. There's even a series of FitStar workouts built in for a quick, D.I.Y. personal training session.
If they could just get those added extras to work more reliably, I could take the Blaze seriously as a smart watch and not just an experiment.
Click here for more information on the fiftbit Blaze smart fitness watch
There are some really flash laptops, tablets and 2-in-1's out there these days. They get thinner, lighter and more powerful every day.
But what do you really need to get the job done?
The Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook has definitely made me think again.
When I opened up the ThinkPad 11e for the first time, I struggled to remember if had actually used a Chromebook before, or if I'd taken one look at the ram and storage specs and lumped them in with some of the grossly under-powered Windows notebooks I've tried and rejected in the past.
If that is what I have done, more fool me. Because it turns out the ThinkPad 11e is a very useful, reliable and surprisingly versatile tool indeed.
Physically there's not much to turn your head; it's dark grey and boring. But boring in a good way. Several notebooks and tablets I've handled recently were akin to balancing slippery pieces of glass on your lap. How long you could own one of those beautifully fragile works of art without cracking, chipping or shattering it is definitely up for debate. On the other hand, the ThinkPad 11e is about as solid as it gets - super heavy-duty hinges and even a rubberised surround on the lid/display half which means I'd confidently let my kids bung it in their school bag. I might even trust myself to carry it under my arm across a tiled floor. (I'm extremely clumsy, so that's a lot riskier than it sounds)
The keyboard is perfectly spaced out and nicely responsive, but this is where I ran into my first conflict with Chromebook philosophy. There's no Home key. No End key. In fact, there isn't even a Caps Lock key. This really had me stumped for a while, but some intensive Googling revealed the trick; ALT+SEARCH TURNS CAPS ON. A BIT MORE LABOUR INTENSIVE, BUT YOU GET USED TO IT. Yes, that's right, there's a Search key where Caps Lock usually is. That's what you have to understand about Chromebooks; they're really just an internet browser in physical form.
This was going to take a bit of getting used to.
(There are many other keyboard shortcuts that are worth training yourself to use. Click here for some of the most important)
What I found a bit too frustrating was the lack of left and right buttons on the trackpad. One button just isn't enough for me, but that was nothing a wireless mouse couldn't sort out.
As I've mentioned in other reviews, I'm a Windows guy. I like to be able to change settings, personalise home and logon screens, in short, fiddle around under the hood. However, because I've always used Chrome as my preferred browser, it was very difficult to shake my Windows habits while using the ThinkPad 11e.
Not all the differences are negative though, not by a long shot. The ThinkPad 11e comes in both 2GB and 4GB ram configurations. I'm only using the 2GB version and yet not only was it lightning fast to start up, it was also unbelievably easy to SET up.
Remember (and this is as much a note to me as it is to you) a Chromebook is really just Google Chrome with a keyboard attached. This means your settings, bookmarks, passwords and preferences are all right there in front of you from the moment you log in to your Google account.
One of the pitfalls of doing reviews like this is the time I have to spend setting up new devices and phones. With the ThinkPad 11e it all happened automatically and virtually instantly. And that's on 2GB of ram. Meanwhile, a Windows machine running on 2GB of ram would probably still be starting up by the time you finished reading this review.
Onboard storage is the other issue that has always made me shy away from the world of the Chromebook, but again, here I think I may have made a mistake. If nothing else, Google is all about working in The Cloud. After using the ThinkPad 11e for a short time, I realised most of the things I carry around with me on my laptop's hard drive would be a lot more useful to me if I could access them from anywhere and from any device. Old habits really do die hard. The ThinkPad 11e has a mere 16GB of storage space (and once you take off the space used by the O.S. and apps, that's more like 8GB) but who needs it? And if you do need more for large media files or the like, there's a slot for memory cards anyway.
The other steep learning curve for me was dealing with extensions rather than applications or programs. The fact is, there's not really much stuff you can install on a Chromebook. But there are heaps of ways you can use your browser to watch, play, edit and publish. By doing these things online, rather than on your device, you keep storage and processing power free to keep things running smoothly and above all, reliably.
Sure the display is not the sharpest or brightest I've ever seen and obviously the processing power and graphics capabilities would never support high-end gaming. But that's not what the ThinkPad 11e is for. This is a machine with more than enough battery life to get you through the day, that'd probably stay in one piece if you accidentally sat on it on the couch and it syncs effortlessly with your existing Google settings and preferences.
Pretty good price too.
If you need a solid performer to take back to school or uni, I really encourage you to sit down with one of these and have a decent play. Yes I was up and running in under 5 minutes, but the ThinkPad 11e has changed the way I think about mobile computing forever.
Click here for the Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook's full specs and pricing
