Archive for the 'hardware' Category

Nokia E65 quick review

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 23/4/2007
in hardware, mobile and review
. 7 Comments

My Nokia E65 arrived today and it is even nicer in reality than the site would have you believe!

My first impressions of the phone are very positive although I did get a fright when iSync told me it doesn’t support the E65 - eeek, how am I going to synchronise all my contacts and calendars? Fortunately after a quick search I found that Nokia have a downloadable script which will update iSync to synchronise with the E65.

The handset is beautiful (I went for the Mocca model) and the screen resolution is amazing (240 x 320) in a phone so small (105 x 49 x 15.5 mm).

The desktop and keyboard are extremely well thought out giving quick and easy access to the most frequently used functionality.

The phone is also very responsive. Previous Nokia models would take one or two seconds to open a new blank text. The E65 opens it almost instantly.

Where I am based in Rushbrook, the Vodafone network coverage is poor but the E65 seems to handle the low coverage better than either the N70 or the E61. There is a notable improvement in call quality.

The built-in wifi, one of the main reasons I decided on the E65, has been working exceptionally well. Despite working very closely with Truphone support we were unable to get the E61 to receive incoming calls on my US landline number. However, the E65 hs no trouble getting calls on my US number (so far!).

The only downsides of the phone I have found, so far, are the lack of games on the phone and the poor quality of the camera. But, at least it does have a camera. This was another factor in my deciding to buy this model.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the phone and would recommend it to anyone.

Microsoft ruins Christmas!

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 26/12/2006
in Gadgets, hardware and video
. 19 Comments

I decided a while back to treat myself to a games console for Christmas and after some discussion, I settled on an Xbox 360. I would have bought a Wii except it doesn’t have a usable optical drive and we don’t have a DVD drive so I wanted the games console to double as a DVD drive.

I bought a Pro Console with wireless controllers to cut down on the cable clutter. I bought Viva Pinata and Pixar’s Cars which I could play with my three year old son Tomás (Cars is one of Tomás’ favourite movies).

He was very excited he was going to play these games as soon as his papa had set up the new Xbox on Christmas day.

Imagine the tears rolling down his disappointed little face when I had to tell him that he couldn’t play with his new games because the Xbox wouldn’t work with our TV (pdf).

I called Microsoft’s Support line and kudos to them for having it manned on Christmas day but the news wasn’t good. The staff there informed me that I needed to purchase a high def adaptor if I wanted my high definition games console to work on my high definition tv. Obviously.

And it is not that they wouldn’t work in high definition only, no they wouldn’t work in high def or regular.

And where could I get one of these? “At your nearest Xbox reseller” - yeah good luck finding one of those open on Christmas day.

This is completely ridiculous - this is a problem created by Microsoft. There is already a standard in place around high definition cabling. It is called HDMI. HD Ready TVs have a HDMI input, by definition. All Microsoft had to do was put a standard HDMI connector on their AV cable and their Xbox would work on every HD Ready TV out of the box.

But no, Microsoft go with their non-standard cable so they can gouge us for another 30 or 40 Euros.

In our house, Microsoft is not the Borg, Microsoft is the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Thanks a million Microsoft. Your cheapness destroyed my son’s Christmas.

Komplett refunds me!

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 15/12/2006
in Technology and hardware
. 2 Comments

In a previous post about consumer rights, I mentioned how I had asked Komplett for a refund for a faulty drive they had sent me.

Having read on the Consumer Association of Ireland website that I was entitled to a refund, not just the options of repair/replace which were offered on the Komplett website, I emailed Komplett saying I would prefer a refund.

I received an email from Komplett this week informing me that my credit card had just been credited with a full refund!

Excellent, now I can look to getting a different external storage solution. Several people have recommended Seagate so I may give them a look.

Your rights as a consumer

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 4/12/2006
in Technology and hardware
. 8 Comments

I bought a Western Digital My Book 1tb external hard drive recently from Komplett.ie and it was dead on arrival.

I checked the Komplett site and was led to a page with instructions on returns

Komplett.ie returns instructions

I followed the instructions and received an RMA several days later. I posted back the drive and a week later I received an email saying:

RMA item received, not tested yet.
You will be notified later by e-mail at the next action.

They haven’t even looked at it yet? AAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

This was on November 30th. I ordered this device on November 2nd. I still don’t have an external storage option over a month later.

Over the weekend I started looking into my rights as a consumer and I noticed on the Consumer’ Association of Ireland website that:

When you buy goods from a retailer, you make a contract with him. He agrees to provide certain goods to you for a certain price. If your purchase turns out to be faulty, the retailer, not the manufacturer, is responsible to you and must sort out your complaint. You are entitled to a refund, a replacement or a repair.

[emphasis added]

A refund? I didn’t see any mention of this anywhere on the Komplett website but according to the Consumer’s Association, I am within my rights to ask for it - excellent!

I have now emailed Komplett asking for a full refund. It will be interesting to see their response (and how long it takes). I’m not holding my breath.

Western Digital My Book Pro Edition II sucks!

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 20/11/2006
in hardware and review
. 421 Comments

I bought a Western Digital My Book Pro Edition II external hard drive recently. This is a 1TB external drive. It wasn’t cheap.

It was delivered last Friday and I went about installing it on Saturday.

It doesn’t work.

The lights come on when it is powered up but it doesn’t appear on the computer’s desktop, nor does it appear in the RAID Manager software which ships with the product (or in my Mac’s Disk Utility program).

It doesn’t seem to matter whether I try to connect using USB or Firewire - I get the same results. Swapping the cables which came with it for USB and Firewire cables which I already own make no difference either. My old La Cie external has no problem showing up.

The support documentation which comes with it doesn’t list any contact details for Ireland and the Support site has no useful info on this drive.

And it is Monday.

Not happy.

Dell’s hellish batteries recalled

Published
by
Tom Raftery
on 15/8/2006
in Technology and hardware
. 0 Comments

According to a report in the New York Times today, Dell is recalling over 4 million laptop batteries because of their propensity to catch fire or explode!

Up to now the advice has been if you think your battery might be one of those likely to catch fire, take it out of the laptop and just use the power cord!

If you have a Dell laptop you can check to see if your battery is affected here.

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