Still One of the Best Ways to Upgrade

Well this is exciting.

It's been a fair old while since I upgraded the storage in a computer.

I still recall the first time I attempted this on a desktop PC many years ago. All I wanted was a bit of extra space for my music and photos, yet I was blown away how the installation of a larger, newer hard drive boosted almost every aspect of that computer's performance; boot time was slashed dramatically, apps launched faster, it was like a having a whole new machine.

Best of all, it was a pretty easy thing to do. Unlike a RAM upgrade or swapping out a graphics card, back in those days replacing a hard drive was simply a matter of opening up your PC cabinet, sliding the new drive in place, plugging it in then running some cloning software to copy your info across. Easy.

Time consuming, sure. But easy.

Solid State Drives made this even easier; they were smaller, lighter and faster.

But in recent years things have shifted again. NVMe is the standard SSD format now. Is it still an easy upgrade?...

Thanks to Western Digital, easier than ever.

WD has a whole new range of storage options to suit everyone's needs. I've been using a selection of them over the past week or so and I'm here to tell you, bigger space at faster speeds is still the single greatest thing you can do to upgrade your computing experience.

I started with the WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD - talk about throw everything including the kitchen sink at it. This is the ultimate solution for NAS caching and storage - think network backups or perhaps shared media for a small business scenario. In simple terms, what Western Digital is going for with its Red range is high capacity, super fast storage capable of being accessed by multiple devices simultaneously.

If that sounds like something that could prove pretty useful in this brave, new hybrid working environment, you're spot on. This is the ideal storage option for teams accessing files both in the office and remotely, so obviously I decided to just bung one in my laptop and see what happens.

It goes without saying, a high-end, high-performance, ultra-durable piece of kit like the WD Red SN700 would be complete overkill for my trusty little 13-inch, several-years-old laptop but the 2TB capacity was an irresistible step up from the 500GB module I was already using. The question was; how do you actually go about swapping out an NVMe card? Have you seen them? They're smaller than a stick of gum.

If you've already done this before, you'll know I'm over-dramatising somewhat. If you haven't, the good news is Western Digital offers an idiot-proof cloning solution, courtesy of a bespoke version of Acronis True Image, easily downloadable direct from the WD website. In fact, WD offers quite a suite of software for download to compliment your new drive but we'll cover some of the other options off shortly. The main event here is copying everything from your existing primary drive to your shiny, new Western Digital NVMe.

It would be highly unusual for any laptop to offer a second space to install another drive into so you'll require some sort of USB enclosure. This is literally just a case that lets you plug in your new NVMe just like any other external storage - NVMe enclosures are widely available and fairly inexpensive. 

Once you've downloaded Acronis True Image and plugged in your new drive, it's literally a matter of pushing the "Cloning" button on the app. I couldn't believe how painless the process was, even compared to the last time I did it - that involved creating a bootable version of True Image and running everything from the Windows Recovery menu. Not anymore; just plug, play and away we go.

Obviously the cloning process takes a while - but not anything like the hours I used to have to wait for back in the bad old hard drive days. Once complete, all I had to do is open up my laptop, remove the existing drive, insert the WD Red SN700 and I was good to go.

There's always a moment's nervousness when you boot up after swapping drives but in this case, the moment was short. Thanks to the incredible 3400MB/s read - 2900MB/s write performance, even booting up my laptop is faster than ever. As I expected, games and other programs also load faster and of course, with 2TB of storage I now have plenty of space to load quite a library of games directly onto my local drive, as opposed to the external storage I was using before.

The Red SN700 comes in a range of sizes, right up to 4TB. It's not cheap - but then remember, this really is top of the line, designed for some pretty brutal use cases.

Perhaps a more budget-friendly alternative is the WD Blue SN570. There's no 4TB option here - the range starts at 250GB and goes up to 2TB - but you still get lightning-fast read and write speeds. Given I'd already upgraded my laptop with the Red SN700 drive, I decided to leave my 1TB Blue SN570 in the USB enclosure and set it up as a media server for everyone to access at home.

This is where some of Western Digital's other downloads came in handy - especially for my iMac. Now you may be thinking, "What's he talking about? You can't use drives like these with a Mac. Certainly not if they're formatted as NTFS."

Well, that's what I thought anyway. F.Y.I. NTFS is how PC storage is organised for efficient transfer of files - especially large ones like video files. To my surprise, it turns out you just need the right tools for the job and the Western Digital website offers plenty of tools, including drivers to make NTFS devices discoverable on a Mac. In next to no time I had my media files transferred to the Blue SN570 and was streaming them all over the house via Plex Server. Yay.

Then again, if you just want a good, old-fashioned external device for backups and the like, WD has got you covered there too. The My Passport portable drive requires virtually no setup at all; just plug and play using the included USB cable. While the write speeds don't quite match those of the NVMe cards, the storage capacity is what it's all about - starting from 1TB all the way up to 5TB. Best of all, the WD Discovery app for both PC and Mac is already pre-installed on the device - you don't even need to download it.

That's just a sample of the latest storage options from Western Digital but as you can see, there's something for everyone, featuring huge capacities, excellent speeds and an impressive line-up of software utilities to get your drive working the way you need it to as efficiently as possible. One thing hasn't changed; upgrading your drive is still easy and still the quickest way to give your computer a new lease on life.

    

Click here for more information on the WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD.

Click here for more information on the WD Blue SN570 NVMe SSD.

Click here for more information on the WD My Passport portable drive.

As Light as a Mouse... Without a Tail

I've said it before and I'll admit it again; I'm not much of a gamer.

I like playing them, I just don't have time to play them properly. To be honest, I don't understand how anyone does but maybe they're just better at time-management than me.

If I'm totally honest, the thing I appreciate most about gaming is the way computing technology has been forced to advance to keep up; mostly it's about speed - faster processors, more powerful graphics... even better sound capabilities - how long would we have had to wait for this stuff if we were just using computers to check our emails and watch cat videos?

The same applies to hardware. How good does your keyboard and mouse really have to be to write a review for a radio station website?

On the other hand, if you're desperately trying to avoid being eaten by hungry dinosaurs or gunned down in a multi-player battle royale, a bit of extra mouse button speed might make the crucial difference.

One that doesn't slip and slide in your grip once things start getting heated would be helpful too.

That's why I loved the HyperX Plusefire Haste so much; a fully programmable gaming mouse with a unique honeycomb design to keep it absolutely as light as can be.

Now... if we can just get rid of that pesky cord...

Most of what you need to know about the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless can be found in my previous Pulsefire Haste review. For all intents and purposes the new cable-free version is basically indistinguishable; the size and shape is the same, button layout identical, even the pattern of hexagonal holes both top and bottom matches up meaning despite this device now incorporates 2.4Ghz wireless technology, it's still essentially weightless.

That, combined with its long, slim shape, concave buttons and IP-rated sweat-resistant, matte finish all adds up to an extremely comfortable user experience, even if you do have the time to game for hours on end.

Again, like the original corded Pulsefire Haste, this one includes a spare set of PTFE skates to keep things as frictionless as possible on your desktop or mousepad and grip tape pads you can stick onto the buttons and side panels to keep it firmly clasped in your hand at all times.

Finally, as with the original, all the buttons are fully programmable - which you'd expect - as is the RGB scroll wheel and other settings like Polling Rate and Lift-Off Distance. This happens via the HyperX NGENUITY app which, unfortunately, is still only available for PC - no MacOS version although the mouse works perfectly with Apple devices.

The big, obvious difference is the wireless USB dongle. It's USB-A so you'll need an adapter or hub if you're planning on using the Pulsefire Haste Wireless with a USB-C only laptop. There's no pairing required - simply plug the dongle in, turn on the mouse and you're in business. Assuming it's charged, obviously. 

That probably won't be an issue; HyperX claims up to a hundred hours battery life on a single charge - pretty decent. Although this mouse is wireless, there is still a cable in the box - a USB-A to USB-C for charging. I also found I needed to plug the mouse in to update the firmware too. That's because when on battery it automatically shuts off if not in use - after a minute or so. 

You get one other cool thing in the box; a little round USB-C to USB-A adapter you can pop on the charging cable once you're finished topping up. This gives you a convenient slot for the USB dongle (which can slot conveniently into the base of the mouse when not in use).

And that's all there is to report. In all other ways this wireless Pulsefire Haste works just as well as the corded one. If there's any lag at all, this very amateur gamer has yet to detect it. I loved the non-slip feel and lightness of the original and the new one is just as much a pleasure to use...

...Especially on the Pulsefire Gaming Mat, another exceptionally well engineered accessory from HyperX.

I was lucky enough to be sent the XL sized gaming mat - that means it doesn't just provide all the workspace I need for the mouse to do its thing, it actually serves as topper for my whole desk. It's a superbly manufactured piece of kit - from the durable anti-fray stitching around the edges to the luxurious padding to the funky, red/black rubber, non-slip surface underneath.

In fact, it's well worth checking out HyperX's entire range of pads and mats - there are RGB models and there's even an XXL mat that would literally be too big for my desk.

Ultimately, after trying headsets, mice and yes, even gaming mats, I've come to the conclusion this outfit really knows what they're about. This is the kind of high-quality gaming gear that sets the standard for other ordinary PC gadgets to follow.

    

Click here for more information on the HyperX Pulsefire Wireless gaming mouse.

Click here for more information on the HyperX Pulsefire XL gaming mat.

This Might Be My Gadget of the Year

When Google came up with the Chromecast, there must have been a heck of a lot of back slapping and self congratulation going on. Just as the world was discovering it could now access unlimited video and audio content online, Google was providing a way of getting that content out of your phone and onto your TV screen.

Personally, I couldn't believe how cheap it was considering how amazingly well it worked. In fact, in other reviews I've often referred to the Chromecast as the prime example of design excellence; it's cheap, simple to set up and use and above all else, it works.

That was 2013. A couple of years later, the second generation arrived with added 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity to further enhance the Chromecast's usefulness - despite the fact I'd rarely encountered any issues with the original model's strictly 2.4GHz connection.

By 2016, it was time to introduce 4K and HDR with the Chromecast Ultra.

Each device stayed true to the core strengths of the original though; well-priced, simple, reliable.

If it ain't broke... yet in late 2020, Google announced a major upgrade indeed (or deviation perhaps?) - the Chromecast with Google TV. For some reason it's taken nearly two years to arrive in New Zealand but now at last we can find out if all the extra features really add up to a better device.

Firstly, if you're one of the surprising number of people out there who still don't own a smart TV, today is a good day. Although the Chromecast with Google TV isn't really much bigger than its immediate predecessors, it ships with the Google TV OS installed. This means for just $110, your previously dumb telly can smarten up from the moment you plug the new Chromecast into one of its HDMI ports.

A USB wall adapter and power cable are included in the box and it's probably a good idea to use both, rather than just plugging the power cable into one of your TV's USB slots - this new Chromecast is a bit more fussy about how much juice it needs to fire up.

The first thing you'll notice is how quickly it does power on, at which point there's a bit of setup to do; not least of which pairing the compact remote that also comes with it.

Apart from the Google TV smart powers, the remote is reason enough to snap one of these things up today. Remember, this still functions just like any other Chromecast but now you have a physical remote to play, pause, skip etc - meaning you don't have to fiddle around with your source device (phone / tablet / PC) once you've started streaming. So much more convenient.

Of course, being an actual Google TV device, chances are you won't need to stream to it anymore anyway. Common apps like TVNZ+, Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are all preinstalled - all you have to do is log in and away you go. What's more, you have access to thousands (yes, thousands) of other apps via your Google account. What's even more, you can sideload other apps if you have particular unusual favourites.

Of all the smart TV interfaces out there, Google TV is surely one of the most versatile. Despite this rather overwhelming selection of available content, the home screen is very intuitive - learning your preferences and offering you similar things to watch. I particularly like the row of "Continue Watching" icons - doesn't matter which services you're currently using, your partially completed movies and shows will show up there for easy access.

Take my advice though; although you can access a comprehensive Settings menu (just like on any other Android device) try to resist fiddling around with things too much. I made some adjustments to the sound preferences and the next time I tried to watch Netflix, none of the episodes would load. It took me several hours of frantic Googling before I discovered the wrong sound settings can interfere with what you watch on Netflix. Who knew?

The remote control, although quite small, has everything you need within easy reach. There are shortcut buttons for YouTube and Netflix and there's a dedicated Google Assistant button if you find voice searches more convenient than steering a cursor around an on-screen keyboard. Best of all, many buttons are programmable - the volume buttons can be trained to run your sound system. The power button can turn your TV on and off. Just like every Chromecast to date, the remote is simple, user-friendly and it works.

You don't even need Wi-Fi to make the use Chromecast with Google TV. If you have a USB-C hub with an ethernet adapter or something similar, the Chromecast will happily connect via hardline LAN instead - although bear in mind you'll probably need a stronger power supply to run a hub or adapter like that. Please note, I had no reason to connect via ethernet - at well over 150MB/s from my Wi-Fi router I have plenty of bandwidth to run everything I want to watch in crystal clear, 4K Ultra HD.

In theory, you can also add extra storage via an external USB-C hub. I've tried. And failed. Turns out the Chromecast with Google TV will only recognise drives formatted to the FAT32 system - not exFAT or NTFS. This isn't very useful as FAT32 won't support large file sizes. Therefore, if you want to stream locally-stored, high quality video, you're better off setting up your own media server and accessing from the Chromecast that way.

An extra bonus for someone like me is I can now use my Philips Hue light system full-time. Previously I was relying on my smart TV's built-in streaming apps for services like Netflix and Apple TV+. But because those apps are built in, you can't feed the video signal through the Philips Hue Sync Box. Thanks to the Chromecast with Google TV, that's all changed. I'm now watching everything from the Chromecast which is plugged into the Sync Box. Confused? Just know I now have all the pretty lights all the time and that makes me happy.

In fact, everything about the Chromecast with Google TV makes me happy - from the user-friendly remote to the intuitive home screen layout to the sheer number of apps available to the fact I can set my favourite pictures of the dog as a screensaver. Thankfully, although this latest Chromecast offers exponentially more functionality than any of the previous models, the simple, affordable, reliable design ethic still shines through.

That's why this might very well be my device of the year. Shame we had to wait two years to get it.

Chromecast with Google TV is available from Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at Noel Leeming, The Warehouse, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and PB Tech. RRP; NZ$110.00

Digital Drawing Is a Reality

This may be the review I've never been less qualified to write.

I can't draw. I'm really bad. I took Art for a bit at school until one day we had to partner up and draw portraits. I got the general gist of Brendan Malone's body okay but once I got to his face... total nightmare. I mean, he wasn't exactly a fashion model or anything but the way I got his eyes so asymmetrical - it still makes me shudder, just thinking about it.

I changed to Art History after that.

If I'm being perfectly honest, even colouring in was never my forte.

And if I'm being even more honest, handwriting isn't really my thing either.

I put this down to the time I spent working as a storeperson in a warehouse. I seemed to spend half my day signing packing slips as fast as possible so truck drivers could get going the moment I'd loaded or unloaded their cargo.

As a result, even my signature became a meaningless, indecipherable scrawl.

So I can't draw and I can't write. Why wouldn't I agree to review a digital drawing tablet?

To be fair, I don't think I'm the target market for the Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium. I'm pretty sure it's aimed at professional creatives; people who actually make their living in graphic arts, animation and other similar visual outlets.

However, if you're one of those people, or you at least have some of those skills and you like to use them, I can probably share some of the important features of this device, even though I have no idea how to use them.

When I first unboxed the Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium, oddly my first thought was, "What great value for money!" Although I only had a vague idea what this thing was for, I was immediately struck by the build quality and the sheer number of accessories included in the box for just NZ$549.99.

Not only do you get the tablet itself, in all its wonderfully tapered ergonomic glory, you'll also find a very long USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a USB adapter if you only have USB-C ports to plug into, a USB dongle for wireless connectivity, not one but two pens (we'll get to those shortly), six standard nibs, four felt nibs, a nib extractor and the weirdest glove I've ever seen.

You'll also find an incredibly premium, hard case for the pens, nibs, extractor and USB dongles. Not to mention a luxurious, felt-lined satchel for everything; tablet, cable, case - the lot. Even before I'd tried using any of it, that seemed like a hell of a lot of gear for the price.

There's a thin pen with two programmable buttons and an eraser on the end. This feels light, like a felt pen or pencil. Meanwhile, the other thicker pen has three buttons and an eraser. It feels much more like an expensive fountain pen or at the very least, the kind of high quality ball-point you might steal from a fancy hotel room.

The tablet itself is slim, yet solid and as I mentioned, it curves away at the bottom giving you a comfortable surface upon which to rest your palms. There are three buttons at the top; these can each be programmed to do things like launch the Xencelabs settings app, or swap control from one display to another. The are also LED corner indicators showing you the borders of your 16:9 workspace - these can be customised to the brightness and colour of your choice.

Perhaps the ultimate beauty of this Pen Tablet is the fact it's wireless - just plug in the USB dongle, download the driver software for your device and you're in business. So I did just that and got down to business. Well, as much business as I'm capable of which usually involves child-like line drawings of my dog.

I've played around with a lot of gadgets over the years but I have to admit, I'm mystified by how the Xencelabs pens work - they don't need charging like other styluses I've used in the past, yet they come equipped with programmable buttons, within effortless reach of your thumb as you draw or write. These buttons can work as mouse controls, navigation or editing settings - you can even designate certain apps to be launched with a single click.

But obviously drawing, painting and calligraphy are the true purposes of the exercise and here is where I discovered there's a whole side of digital creativity I'd been utterly oblivious to. As I say, I've used styluses on phones and tablets before but this is not that. The sensation of drawing on the Xencelabs Tablet is much more akin to the resistance offered up by paper or card - you can even hear the nib working its way across the surface.

That weird glove I mentioned earlier - it only has two fingers. I eventually figured out it's to cover the bottom edge of your writing/drawing hand so you have a frictionless experience as you work your way across the tablet. (Instead of a sweaty, greasy one)

For a novice like me, it takes a few minutes to acclimatise to the process of drawing in one place and seeing the results somewhere else, although there seems to be virtually no detectable lag and my amateurish scribblings appeared on screen instantaneously. I soon got used to it and really came to enjoy the way I could erase a mistake with the merest tap of my thumb on the undo button - that's my kind of drawing.

Of course, being wireless gives you the freedom of holding the tablet any way you feel most comfortable - yes it has rubber feet to keep it in position on your desk but you can just as easily hold it in your lap like a sketch pad (it's about the same size and weight) or even walk around while you doodle, if that's the way you get your creative juices flowing.

How does it compare with other similar products? I have no idea as this is my first attempt at digital penmanship. All I know is the Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium is an expertly manufactured product with a lot of useful accessories included, that appears to perform every task it promises. In much the same way I'd never be able to drive like an F1 professional, I can still appreciate a high performance sports car when I see one.

I'm pretty sure this thing is a bit like that.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium.

Who Needs a Hard Line?

It's probably time we started rethinking how a home internet connection works. Finally.

In a survey of OECD countries from last year, New Zealand came in a respectable eighth for the percentage of broadband subscriptions on fibre. You've got to hand it to Chorus; rolling out UFB to almost two-thirds of broadband customers is no easy feat, bearing in mind even by mid 2021, some countries had hardly any fibre at all.

The question is though, is it already obsolete? With comprehensive 4G mobile data throughout the country and even 5G gathering real momentum, is the concept of plugging in to access the World Wide Web already a little out of date?

There are arguments either way but one thing's for certain, wireless internet is now absolutely viable, especially given recent pushes by various ISP's to offer cord-free plans at dramatically more affordable prices.

So... How do you actually do it?

One solution is the EAGLE PRO AI G415 AX1500 4G Smart Router from D-Link.

It doesn't take much of a flick through the back-catalogue of my reviews to know I'm generally a fan of D-Link's home-networking solutions. In fact, this isn't the first time I've fired up an LTE router, although the previous version was designed more for easy portability - keeping you connected on the go.

The G415 is a much more comprehensive device; not only does it look very much like D-Link's traditional Wi-Fi routers (other than being coloured white with light blue accents) that's pretty much how it performs - except without the need for a LAN connection in the wall.

So that's the first advantage of course, your primary router can now be placed anywhere in your home - not just within easy cable-length of an internet access point.

Setup, as usual, is a simple process, guided step by step using the EAGLE PRO AI app. I've mentioned previously that the EAGLE PRO AI app looks a lot like the D-Link Wi-Fi app and it's not really clear why they're separate. It doesn't really matter - just rest assured if you've set up D-Link gear before, this will all seem very familiar.

Assuming you're purchasing a new sim card to use with the G415, make sure you don't hastily pop it out of its oversized frame like you would if you were inserting it into a phone. The sim slot on the G415 is full-sized, so there's no point just flicking the nano-sim out of your handset and expecting it to fit - it'll be way too small.

There's absolutely no complicated fiddling around with designating which network or protocols are required, the G415 figures all that out automatically and in less than five minutes (assuming you're in a mobile coverage area) you should be up and running.

Don't be too concerned if your speeds don't look great straight away; one of the issues with wireless internet is the possibility of congestion on whatever cellphone tower you're connected to - remember; unlike fibre, you're competing with everybody out and about in your neighbourhood with a smartphone. That being said, I've found my speed tests vary wildly from one moment to the next and as long as you have a reasonably strong connection (there's an LED indicator to show you this on the front of the router) you should be getting enough juice to run a reasonable amount of devices simultaneously.

This router only offers dual-band Wi-Fi but it is Wi-Fi 6 - this means a vastly improved ability to handle multiple connections at once and D-Link's Smart Connect technology does an excellent job of allocating devices to either the 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz bands, depending on their demands.

As a matter of fact, almost everything about D-Link's EAGLE PRO AI range of devices is aimed at reducing home network congestion and ensuring the high-demand devices like PC's and smart TV's get priority. Features like TWT (Target Wake Time) help too; this schedules connected devices to "go to sleep" when not in use - not only freeing up Wi-Fi space but saving battery on those devices (think doorbells, security sensors and cameras).

You don't have to use the G415 as a wireless router though - it's just as easy to set it up via a LAN connection and there are three other ethernet ports for hardwiring other devices to it. Certainly in my testing, I've found the speeds when hardwired to my HyperFibre modem to be crazy good - both on Wi-Fi and when connected by a cable.

When operating the G415 this way, you have the advantage of inserting a SIM for backup purposes. It'll just kick in if your fibre fails for some reason.

But there's no point in having a whole EAGLE PRO AI range if you're not going to incorporate some of the other devices in that range. My home is just slightly too big for the G415 to reach into absolutely every corner so that's where the M15 mesh system comes into play. Although I wasn't super impressed when I originally tried these to create a mesh network by themselves, I found they paired with the G415 extremely easily and then provided excellent download speeds wherever I placed them around the house. The EAGLE PRO AI system constantly monitors for conflicting network traffic and adjusts accordingly and I certainly feel like the more I use these devices, the more efficiently they run.

Best of all, once you're all set up you can use the app to turn the LED status lights off. Have I ever told you how much I hate little flashing lights?

We are finally at the point where it might actually make more sense for you to go wireless than to keep paying for fixed line broadband. At last there are more and more affordable plans out there and it also means if you spend time in different places - perhaps you live in the city and weekend at the beach - you can now easily take your router with you and all your gadgets will stay connected. If nothing else, the 4G connectivity makes for a great backup option if uninterrupted connectivity is a major concern. The G415 is undeniably a versatile piece of kit, well capable of serving as an average family's primary router, especially when paired with a network of other EAGLE PRO AI mesh devices.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the D-Link EAGLE PRO AI G415 AX1500 4G Smart Router.

Back In Frame

The team at Samsung are full of good ideas.

Perhaps one of the best ideas Samsung ever had was The Frame, back in 2017. Its introduction heralded Samsung's new range of "Lifestyle" televisions - which seemed a bit odd at the time because most of us thought our TV's were already lifestyle televisions.

The distinction here was a TV like The Frame is specifically designed to fit in with your lifestyle... while most other telly's become the focal point of the home - meaning you have to tailor your lifestyle around the TV instead.

The genius was twofold; a TV (and mount) slim enough to hang on the wall like a painting, with a cunningly designed magnetic frame to complete the illusion, teamed with the ability to display actual art when not being used, including access to an ever-increasing collection of more and more images to choose from.

The result; a disappearing television. Transforming itself into a beautiful work of art as soon as you're not using it for all the things normal TV's do.

Unbelievably, in the five years since, nobody else has released a similar product.

Except Samsung itself of course. This year's edition of The Frame builds on the original concept and evolves it quite dramatically.

It's important to remember, despite their chameleon-like abilities, The Frame TV's are also some of the best big screen tellies on the market. Now available in seven different sizes, from 35 right up to 85-inches, this is a premium QLED display powered by a Quantum Processor 4K picture engine at a 100Hz refresh rate. The brightness of the screen is fantastic - in all lighting conditions and the viewing angle is also excellent, which is good for me as I'm often relegated to the side couch if the more desirable, centre-facing sofa is full of dogs and cats.

Let me assure you, many other TV's don't even come close to picture quality this good - and that's before you get to one of the true genius features of the 2022 model, Samsung's new anti-glare, reflection and fingerprint-resistant technology. When I was first shown this new version of The Frame, I missed it completely - I literally thought it was a genuine Rita Angus, hanging on the wall. I didn't even realise there was any glass there. I could see the weave of the canvas and the brush strokes. It wasn't until it was pointed out to me I discovered this was one of the new, non-reflective Frames.

Don't ask me how they've done it but they've done it. This screen simply does not reflect - which not only makes for a convincing art display, ideal for showing off your NFT collection - but also considerably enhances your usual TV viewing experience... Especially for someone like me who's home during the day and needs to watch a lot of B-Grade sci-fi in the name of tech review research.

That's only partially a joke; most B-Grade sci-fi happens in the dark, so watching it at lunchtime when the sun's out can be a bit of a visual challenge - unless you have a reflection-proof TV. I love it. There's even a built-in brightness sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of your artwork to match the surrounding lighting conditions. I'm telling you, there are smart TV's and then there are genius TV's.

Another concept I can't believe other manufacturers still haven't copied is Samsung's legendary One Connect Box - all the electronics, ports and power in a separate black box, connected to the screen by a single, almost transparent cable. On this year's The Frame, that black box is smaller than ever, meaning even more places it can be tucked away while still offering full HDMI, eARC, USB, Optical Audio, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity.

I was surprised to see quite a new look to the Tizen operating system this year. Previous versions primarily revolved around a scrollable line of apps, inputs and settings along the bottom of the display but now when you push the home button, you're presented with a whole screenful of viewing recommendations, both from your subscribed streaming services and other weird sources like Sumsung's own new selection of free channels called Samsung TV Plus. (Of course it is) Then along the left-hand side is another menu, where you choose between Art, Media or access to even more settings. It seems a bit more cluttered than what I'm used to - but maybe I just need to get used to this instead.

What I definitely do love is The Frame's new legs. Although ideally you'd use the included No Gap Wall-mount, that's not really an option for me when I'm only reviewing the TV for a few weeks, then have to return it. Not to worry, there are a couple of slide-in feet in the box and the clever bit is they're extendable, so you can raise The Frame up if you're using a soundbar placed on the same cabinet.

Although... it might be worth having a listen to The Frame's built-in speaker array first; it's actually not the worst I've heard. In saying that, this year Samsung has a couple of intriguing soundbar options that would compliment The Frame perfectly; compatible Q-Series soundbars can combine with the speakers in The Frame itself to provide a dazzlingly rich aural experience Samsung calls Q-Symphony. There's also a teeny-weeny soundbar specifically designed to be wall mounted below The Frame and yes, it comes in white.

While we're talking accessories, The Frame can now rotate into portrait mode. Samsung already had a TV just for this purpose, the Sero. The idea is there's a lot of content out there shot on or made for phones. Now with the addition of the optional Auto Rotating Wall Mount, or Auto Rotating Stand, the whole screen can be flipped by 90-degrees - which might make your chosen piece of art look a lot better too. Displaying multiple photos also results in a nifty trick when The Frame is rotated, the pictures on screen will automatically rearrange themselves like some kind of magical wall-hanging at Hogwarts.

The magic carries over to the remote control - like last year's Neo QLED flagships, The Frame's remote is now solar powered - no batteries being much better for the environment. I just wish the solar panel was on the top instead of underneath - I keep forgetting to leave it face-down so it can charge up.

And that's really my biggest complaint; I can't remember to put the remote down the right way round. Boo-hoo. This is such a great telly, built on one brilliant idea after another. Just as it was five years ago, The Frame remains the ultimate answer for people who hate having a big black piece of glass in the middle of their living room. Now, you can't even really tell it's glass.

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Click here for more information on Samsung's The Frame (2022).

Need a Bigger Screen?

Well I'm on shaky ground again, reviewing something I've never reviewed before.

I know people use projectors at home. I get it's an effective way to maximise your screen size. I understand technology has come a long way since those boring educational videos a million years ago at school.

But why?

I have this other cool way to watch movies and play video games; it's called a TV. Are you seriously trying to tell me there's a projector that can do everything my TV does?

Alright, let's have go then...

The BenQ X3000i is a 4LED 4K HDR gaming projector and it's a lot smaller than my TV.

It's basically a fairly innocuous looking white cube with a black front - bordered in bright orange. As such, this is probably not a device that's going to blend in seamlessly with your decor. Mind you, depending on where you're intending to use it, it may even end up sitting on your coffee table in front of you. There are appropriate screw-holes for mounting it from the ceiling or you have the option of resting it on the included adjustable rubber feet - whichever way up works best given the corner placement of the lens.

Having never set up a device like this before, I didn't quite know what to expect but in fact, the most complicated thing I had to do was install the QS01 Android TV dongle that's included in the box. This is a full-functioned streaming stick you could plug into any display - BenQ sells them separately - and I don't fully understand why this doesn't come pre-installed or even built-in to the projector itself. Perhaps it's a future-proofing thing; if BenQ starts producing a better streaming stick somewhere down the track, I guess it'd be convenient to be able to swap it out.

Anyway, to plug it in you need a screwdriver - because you have to take the whole top cover off the projector to access the hidden compartment with the HDMI port and microUSB power supply. Once that's all done you're ready to plug the X3000i in and power it up. That's literally all it takes.

I was expecting to have to go about all kinds of calibration but it turns out, if you more or less point this thing in the right direction, it can take care of a lot of that stuff itself. This is just as well, as operations like adjusting the keystone is not something I've got much experience with.

After being guided through the few short steps to pair the remote control, you'll then be tasked with initialising your Android TV setup. Unlike other projectors that may just be mindless AV accessories, thanks to that QS01 Dongle, the X3000i functions just like any smart TV. Once logged in you can access thousands of apps - from Disney+ to Amazon Prime Video (for which there's a dedicated shortcut button on the remote). Oddly, no Netflix though. My research indicates some sort of licensing issue which makes viewing Netflix on this projector somewhat challenging, to say the least. Not only can you not install the Netflix app directly onto the dongle, you can't even cast from another device using the app, even though with a push of another shortcut button on the remote, the X3000i effectively transforms itself into a Chromecast.

The Netflix plot thickens... you can also Airplay to the X3000i from your Apple devices. Except, when I opened Netflix from my browser on my iMac and Airplayed it to the projector, all I got was the sound and a black screen.

In the end, I just plugged in an actual Chromecast and watched Netflix that way. Very strange.

My biggest challenge was finding somewhere in my house I could use the projector and plug things into it to test it out without annoying the hell out of everyone else. I don't have a projector screen so I needed a big, blank wall. This meant the spare room became my media suite.

The way I had the X3000i set up, it projected an image big enough to cover the entire spare room wall. However, when I measured it, it turns out that's only 91-inches. How disappointing. I mean, there are TV's with bigger screens than that... well... after a quick Google search I've found one; a 98-inch model that costs NZ$16,999.00. Meanwhile, the X3000i retails at just NZ$3,799.99 and will comfortably project an image up to 200-inches. After doing those sums, I'm starting to understand why people are into projectors. 

The bonus of setting everything up in the spare room is that's where we keep the ironing board. By placing the projector on that, I was able to lie in bed to play games or watch TV. Not bad.

Especially given what an amazing job the X3000i does - even just on an ordinary wall.

I don't begin to even come close to understanding the technology involved in projecting a bright, crisp, clear, colourful 4K picture like this. I've read quite a lot about it and it's a bit like trying to read a foreign language. What I do get is there's an extra blue LED in there which is largely responsible for the impressive brightness the X3000i is capable of.

While you can obviously access a long list of picture, sound and other settings, there are also presets to make life easier for you. If you're like me, you'll have a bit of a play around with all this stuff and then leave it on one setting you prefer for most operations. This will probably differ quite a bit between users depending on whether they mostly game, watch sport or enjoy movies.

In fact, I found watching TV was a lot like being at the movies. As I caught up on a few episodes of Apple TV's "For All Mankind," the extreme close-ups of the astronauts' faces as they went about life in their cramped little moon-base made them seem two or three times normal size - much like on a cinema screen. For some reason, natural skin tone is often the one thing electronic displays struggle to reproduce - I'm not just talking about projectors here, I mean TV's as well. In the past I've spent ages fiddling around with colour, brightness and contrast just to stop the actors on-screen looking sea-sick. I couldn't believe how natural  faces looked from the X3000i. No wonder BenQ has actually won awards for skin tone. (Who knew there were awards for that?)

Sound is the X3000i's weak spot. This is more due to the form factor - not really because of any technical shortcomings with the stereo 5W speakers. The main problem is, regardless of whether you've positioned the projector on a table in front of you, a shelf (or ironing board) behind you or the ceiling above you, none of those places are particularly close to the projected image. No matter what kind of wizardry BenQ's treVolo audio team can come up with, nothing's really going to make the sound come out of the opposite wall. The speakers get reasonably loud, with good dynamic contrast but they're still trapped inside the projector.

Thankfully, there's an HDMI eARC, optical line-out and even a 3.5mm AUX jack so you can connect an external sound system. I don't mark the X3000i down for this at all; I wouldn't use a TV's built-in speakers either. That's why God created soundbars.

Ultimately, this device is being marketed as a gaming projector and this is where the experience truly started to blow my mind. I've never played games on a display of this size before and it's hard to describe how immersive the experience is. While flying my X-Wing fighter through the battle-fleets and asteroid fields of Star Wars: Squadrons, I found myself literally looking up, down and from side-to-side to avoid enemy fire and lock in on my targets. While researching projectors for this review, I learned about a lot about screen lag but if there's any here, I certainly can't tell.

The 3D-like design of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is, at times, quite breathtaking - or at least it is when projected at a resolution of 3840 X 2160, at a 240Hz refresh rate. The illusions of height, depth and distance as you inch your way across narrow bridges of space junk are so real, they're dizzying.

As you can tell, for my first hands-on experience with a home projector, the BenQ X3000i has made quite an impact. In all honesty, I can't claim this would be an exact replacement for a conventional TV - as bright as it is, in full daylight a TV will probably be a much easier watch... although you don't get any reflection from a projection. Obviously, my time with the X3000i would also have been greatly enhanced if I'd been projecting onto a proper screen and not just a painted, off-white spare room wall.

That said, if your gaming rig is set up somewhere you can pull down the blinds and crank up some serious surround sound (or better still, a headset) why wouldn't you upscale your display to room-sized proportions? It's crazy.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the BenQ X3000i gaming projector.

What a Cute Little Beast

Gaming is a technical business. If you're serious about it, you need a lot of gear... a great monitor, (or monitors - or even a projector) a controller, high-performance mouse and keyboard obviously, a headset with a mic... it all adds up.

But of course none of this is any use at all without the box. The engine. The PC with the grunt to drive it all.

However, there's a paradox. Increasingly, gaming is a social affair - not just online but sometimes (gasp!) even playing together in person!

So how mobile is your rig? Obviously gaming laptops are a thing but they don't necessarily provide the same immersive experience you can achieve with all the peripherals I've listed above.

Storage space and upgradability are definitely factors too.

If only you could just stick your PC under your arm and go...

The Intel Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme is proof truly mighty things can come in small packages.

When I think of a NUC (Intel's Next Unit of Computing) I think of tiny little black boxes, about the size of a set-top streaming device. For a while this form-factor was a bit of a novelty - perhaps most useful for single-task operations; perhaps to act as a media server or to control content on large displays in reception areas or shop-fronts. Mini-PC's like these soon powered up of course and now many office workers are surprised to see their aging, dusty desktop PC towers swapped out with a small, flat box that can be concealed by a well-placed pot-plant.

The NUC11 i7-11700B is not one of those.

Although it is certainly a compact computer, when I unboxed it I was surprised to see it wasn't quite as little as I thought it would be - about the size and shape of a large loaf of sliced bread. This particular loaf is quite heavy though, packed with all sorts of healthy goodness, starting with the 11th-Gen Intel Core processor - in my case an i7 although i5 and i9 versions are available.

As is my usual style, I'm not going to get too bogged down listing off the exact specifications and specs this Intel chip brings to the table - you can obviously look all that up if you're truly obsessed. What I will do is tell you a little about what I've been doing with this PC and how it's performed in my real, everyday life.

Physically, the first thing of note is the cabinet itself; the top and sides are mostly mesh - this is essential for cooling purposes because if this PC is to perform at its peak, it'll require as much fresh air as possible, especially considering how much gear has been packed into such a confined space.

My Beast Canyon arrived kitted out with an RTX3070Ti graphics card installed (the INNO3D GEFORCE RTX3070Ti X3 OC, to be precise). That means another three fans blowing air through the system in addition to the triple fan setup already built-in to the NUC chassis to begin with. Let's just say you can definitely hear when this thing is working hard.

If you thought that was a lot of fans, wait till you see how many ports you have to choose from. These days most PC and laptop makers seem to have an active aversion to physical connectivity, instead relying on wireless options or an external hub of some kind. As I've pointed out already, gaming is all about peripherals and this is an area where the Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme really comes into its own.

There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports for high-speed data transfer and a crazy eight USB 3.1 slots - two in the front and six at the back. There's an HDMI 2.0 for connecting your display and a 2.5GB-capable ethernet port, for those of us lucky enough to have such a high-speed connection coming into the house.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are fully integrated as well (the very latest Wi-Fi 6E in fact) and once again, that RTX3070Ti graphics card means even more ports; another HDMI 2.1 and 3 X DisplayPort 1.4a. 

That's not to mention the SD card reader and headphone jack back round the front.

Basically, there's nothing you can't plug into this thing.

One of the first things I did plug in (apart from a monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard) was a large, external SSD. I'm in the process of changing cloud storage providers (nightmare) and that means transferring a lot of photos and movies. And I mean a lot. Because I don't want to risk the recriminations and punishments involved in losing memories of things like marriages, births and super-cool cocktails, I also like to keep a physical backup too. Let's just say the Beast Canyon slices through data-transfer like a hot heat-sink through butter.

I also dabble in a bit of video production and a great deal of audio editing. Not only does it take next to no time to install large programs on this machine, they perform quickly and smoothly, in an effortless way that means you never have to wait for an edit to complete and rendering final mixes takes a fraction of the time it does on lesser-powered devices. Work is almost a pleasure.

Then comes the pleasure.

As chance would have it, right now I happen to be reviewing a gaming projector too. The Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme didn't skip a beat as I added this as another display and then it was time to let the games begin. I've admitted many times before, I'm not really much of a gamer but once I joined my fellow rebel pilots to track down and destroy Imperial TIE-Fighters in Star Wars Squadrons, that was an afternoon blasted into hyperspace just like that.

Game-play is silky and responsive and there wasn't a glitch to be found.

My review unit was also fitted with a 1TB Samsung 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe M2 SSD - in fact, there are four M.2 slots so potentially you could store enough data in this small box to run a country. Even 1TB is plenty for a few local downloads so I installed Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and wasted plenty of time on that too - if you haven't tried it, it's worth it just for the 80's soundtrack.

Gaming is what this machine was built for and it simply doesn't miss a beat. To be sure it gets hot and loud but just like with a muscle car, sometimes noise and heat are just the side effects of a damn good time.

To add to the fun is the fully customisable RGB array. Using Intel's NUC Software Studio app, you can easily adjust the lighting in four separate zones, bottom left, bottom right, bottom front and of course, the famous skull logo on the front panel - which is actually replaceable with your own design if you have access to a 3D printer. As with most RGB setups, you have all kinds of patterns and an infinite range of colours to really make this Beast your own. Obviously, most right-thinking people will set everything to red and just leave it like that.

Intel NUC Software Studio is also where you can access an activity monitor and fine-tune your hardware to get the most out of it. In saying that, Windows 11 seems to be including a lot of this functionality within the operating system itself these days so it's probably a matter of personal preference which interface your prefer to access settings like fan speed and power settings.

I've really only scratched the surface of all the things the Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme is capable of. At the very least, it's definitely the high-powered gaming machine in a small form factor I wished for in my introduction. I've literally moved it around the house while reviewing it as various family members have complained about me setting up projectors in their bedrooms. (Some people have such warped priorities) While not quite as portable as a laptop, you'd be hard-pushed to find one with the storage and connectivity options this fully-fledged PC offers. It truly is a beast - albeit one trapped in a fairly small cage.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Intel Beast Canyon NUC 11 Extreme.