Handy Tool Guide

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Brother MFC-5890CN All-In-One Inkjet printer. 'The machine is a bit quicker, proportionally, when printing A3 pages. A five-page text print completed in less than two minutes and the equivalent text and colour graphics page took just under three minutes. Photo prints were more on a par with rival machines, too. The Brother printer produced a 15 x 10cm photo in its highest photo mode in 3mins 46secs, but in the default Photo mode it took just 1min 39secs and there's very little visible difference between the two. Prints from an SD card and from the machine's PictBridge socket each took 1min 42secs. A full-bleed A3 photo took a coffee break-inducing 14mins 30secs.'

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PC Magazine have published a review of the Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer. 'The P703w is aimed primarily at home use, with an emphasis on photocentric features and a notable lack of features you'd want for a home office. It prints, scans, and copies, but it doesn't fax, and there's no automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning multipage documents. It includes Wi-Fi, making it easy to share, and Dell says it will work with third-party Bluetooth adapters for printing from camera phones and other Bluetooth devices. The only wired connection it offers is USB.'

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A review of the portable SolarGorilla portable solar charger has been posted over at Pocket-Lint.com. 'For starters, it has one of the biggest solar panels we've seen on a portable charger, helping it convert the UK's relatively weak solar energy into electricity. When we tested the Solargorilla in September, it charged an iPhone from flat to 10 per cent battery in 2 hours and fully charged a Nokia N-Series phone in a day.'

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A review of the Epson Artisan 800 Inkjet all-in-one printer has been posted over at DevHardware.com. 'The Epson Artisan 800 really shines in the design department – literally! The piano black finish provides this printer with a very sleek, smooth look. The Artisan 800 would look good in just about any home office setting. The size of this printer is relatively small considering it's a 5-in-1 multifunction machine. It's much larger than a traditional inkjet printer, but it does much more than these types of printers so you can't really compare the two. The overall dimensions of the Artisan 800 are 18.4” x 15.2” x 7.8”, and it weighs a hefty 23.8 lbs. This printer is built like a tank despite its elegant exterior.'

Continue reading "Review: Epson Artisan 800 Multifunction Printer - DevHardware.com" »

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PC Magazine have published a review of the HP Photosmart B8550 Photo Printer. 'The B8550 is aimed at a different kind of user than the B9180 and B8850 are. Both of those printers are designed for serious amateur photographers and even professionals—as suggested by the word "Pro" in their names. The B8550 is much more of a high-end consumer printer. Instead of pigment-based inks for photos, which both of HP's more expensive models employ, the B8550 uses dye-based inks with shorter lifetimes (100 years behind glass, for example, compared with 200 years for the inks in both Photosmart Pro printers). And instead of being designed to print on a range of fine art papers, it's essentially limited to using HP's Advanced photo paper. Within those limits, however, it prints gorgeous output at large size.'

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The Gadgeteer have published a review of the PlanOn Printstik PS910 mobile printer. 'To use the PrintStik, you first have to charge its internal batteries by connecting the included USB adapter or cable to a computer or wall outlet. You also have to install the printer drivers. Now here's where I come to my biggest complaint about this product. Right now it will only work with a Windows PC or a Blackberry smartphone. This makes this printer pretty limited as far as I'm concerned. Mostly, it's just a bit annoying that the PlanOn website and even the packaging for this printer say that it will work with PDAs, smartphones and laptops. It's not until you take a closer look that you learn it will only work with Windows and Blackberries. PlanOn is supposed to be working on drivers for other devices, but it's not clear when they will be available.'

Continue reading "Review: PlanOn Printstik PS910 Mobile Printer - The Gadgeteer" »

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Trusted Reviews have published a review of the HP Photosmart A636 photo printer. 'HP’s Photosmart A636 could just be the most innovative photo printer we’ll see this year. While at first sight it looks like any of the other, toaster-inspired dedicated ink-jet printers the company has produced in the last couple of years, on closer inspection, it includes a couple of spectacular improvements over what's gone before. Coloured in black and light grey the design follows the HP tradition. It has a cover that opens at the back to take up to 20 photo blanks loaded nearly vertically and a front cover which folds down to reveal four memory card sockets and one for PictBridge, as well as a wider than normal 13cm slot for prints to feed out from.'

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Laptop Magazine have published a review of the Kodak ESP3 All-in-One printer, scanner and color copier. 'The ESP3 doesn’t have a document feeder, which helps it keep its small 16.6 x 11.8 x 6.9-inch footprint. It supports PictBridge cameras and the most popular types of memory cards; otherwise you’ll have to use a computer to see your photos, as it lacks an LCD. While Kodak gets points for including an extra USB printer cable in the box, it loses some on the overall design: In order to access the ink bay you first have to lift the scanner bay, and then a long mechanical arm automatically lifts up to keep it open. Seems there might be a better way to design this.'

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A review of the compact Ricoh Aficio SPC220N colour laser printer has been posted over at Trusted Reviews. 'The SPC220N is a well-styled, small-footprint, small-workgroup, colour laser printer. The simple, but well laid-out LED indicators under a black strip along the front of the machine fit well into the multiple curves of its cream and grey case. At the bottom of the front panel is a 250-sheet paper tray with an inset single-sheet feed slot. Paper feeds to the usual indent in the top cover of the machine. At the back are slots for USB 2.0 and Ethernet sockets, all behind a clip-off panel so just the cables show.

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Press Release

Torrance, CA, - Seiko Instruments USA Inc. (SIU) Thermal Printer Division, http://www.siiprinters.com, a globally recognized leader in thermal printer technology, has introduced a low-cost direct thermal mobile printer for wireless applications. The compact and lightweight DPU-S445 runs on a long-life lithium-ion battery and produces 4" wide printed output at 90 mm/sec. IrDA and Bluetooth® connectivity options make the printer a valuable alternative for users who need convenience and reliability, without the high price of a ruggedized device.

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PC Advisor have published a review of the compact Xerox Phaser 6130 laser printer. 'We tested the Xerox Phaser 6130's speed over a 10/100 Base-T Ethernet connection, and the results weren't impressive. It took 22 seconds to print a one-page Word document, 55 seconds to print a ten-page Word document, 2 minutes and 26 seconds to print a 22MB Photoshop image, and 1 minute to print a four-page PDF. Our top product in the colour laser printer category took, respectively, 13 seconds, 29 seconds, 33 seconds, and 1 minute and 6 seconds to perform the same tests. The Xerox Phaser 6130 was also an average performer in terms of quality.'

Continue reading "Xerox Phaser 6130 Review - PC Advisor" »

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Trusted Reviews have publsihed a review of the HP OfficeJet Pro K5400n Inkjet Printer. 'The OfficeJet Pro K5400n uses semi-permanent print heads, arranged so that there's one for yellow and black inks and another for cyan and magenta. The ink cartridges themselves, four individual units, plug in behind a rather obvious and ugly pull-down cover on the left-hand side of the printer, while the print heads plug into the machine's carriage. The rest of the design is fairly minimalist, with a four-button control panel, providing buttons for power, paper feed, job cancel and network access, as well as six indicator lights for faults with cartridges or print heads. There's a single, 350-sheet paper tray, with no supplementary multi-purpose or photo tray and no memory card slots to print photos directly.'

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PC Advisor have published a review of the Lexmark X9575 Professional Wireless Office All-in-One. A printer at heart, the Lexmark X9575 Professional should handle paper better than anything else - but it doesn't. The standard automatic duplexer (for two-sided printing) and 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) are great. The Lexmark X9575 Professional's 150-sheet input tray feels flimsy, and its guides and markings are hard to see. (A second 150-sheet input tray is a pay-for extra.) The input tray's lid is also the 50-sheet output tray. The pull-out extension for catching paper constantly gets in the way: you have to close it to load paper, and it pushes against the input tray when it's stretched to fit legal-size paper. And the single-sheet feeder for thicker media doesn't work well - our photo paper consistently skewed.’

Continue reading "Lexmark X9575 Professional Review – PC Advisor" »

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PC Advisor have published a review of the IRIScan 2 Executive ultraportable scanner. ‘Reminding us of the long silver batons used in relay races, the IRIScan 2 Executive from Iris is a portable USB-connected colour scanner, ideal if you need a scanner when you’re on the move. This multipurpose unit is available in two versions - the Express and the Executive - the latter featuring additional @Promt translation software to translate documents in foreign languages. We found the IRIScan Executive 2 easy to use. After a few minutes to install the software, we then had to calibrate the scanner by inserting the bundled piece of white card face down into the scanner. Once setup, we were able to scan to our heart's content.’

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Pocket-Lint have published a review of the Canon Selphy CP760 compact photo printer. ‘The compact printer is fairly conservative in design, sporting the off-white colouring of computers of yesteryear. That said, this is a photo printer, and function is the most important thing. Unlike the Selphy CP770, this printer is happier in a static location, although does pack-up easily enough for portability after removing the paper tray.

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The Gadgeteer have published a review of the Brando 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD Dock with Hub. 'To use this product, you just connect the included AC adapter, plug it into an outlet, connect the included USB cable to the dock and your computer, insert a 2.5 or 3.5 inch SATA drive in the dock, press the power button and enjoy. Yes, it's that easy and a big reason why I like this solution way better than the other solutions I've reviewed in the past. You gotta love plug and play.'

Continue reading "Review: Brando 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD Dock with Hub - The Gadgeteer" »

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Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Dell 968 wireless multi-function device. 'Most of Dell's all-in-one printers are made for it by Lexmark and the 968 looks very much like something out of the latter's latest range of devices. Coloured in silver and white, with a wraparound look to its corners, it manages to appear a bit less boxy than machines from its alter ego. The horizontal, indented Auto-Document Feed (ADF) tray is a nice touch, as is the beautifully simple control panel. For a four-in-one machine like this, a simple number keypad and a total of nine other buttons control all functions of the machine. They work with a 61mm LCD display, which has a well-designed menu and feedback system, including animated instructions for jobs like changing ink cartridges.'

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ZDNet have published a review of the HP Officejet H470wbt mobile printer which comes equipped with Bluetooth wireless technology and a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. 'The Officejet H470wbt is compact and only slightly smaller than a normal desktop printer, measuring 3.25 inches high, 13.4 inches wide, and 6.45 inches deep. At 4.5 pounds, it's portable enough to fit into a carry-on bag or a briefcase, but you won't want to carry it around all day. The most expensive model in the series also includes a protective sleeve made of vinyl with cutouts for the various ports, but there's no handle or a place to store the cables.

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PC Magazine have published a review of the Netgear HD/Video 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit. 'The idea for the networking kit is really fairly simple: Design two access points (APs) that can also act as a Wi-Fi bridge, make the built-in radios strictly 5 GHz, and give them Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) buttons and a Web-based management utility. Simply plug one AP into a switch port on your home router (or another switch connected to the router), run a setup utility, plug the other AP into power, press the WPS button, and wait a few seconds.

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A review of the Trust Notebook Power Adapter PW-1700P has been posted over at Pocket-Lint. ‘The powerbrick is on the large size and is rather heavy but it comes with a voltage meter, so can be used with a wide variety of devices. You can plug it into mains power to charge your devices, equally there are connections for when you are on a plane, or even a cigarette lighter connection for when travelling by car. There is a connector for linking up to your notebook and a host of power lead connectors, so all leading brands of notebooks are covered. It’s best to check with the website that your machine is covered but most brands are represented. If you have any devices that can be charged using mini-USB even this is catered for.’

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Computeractive have published a review of the APC Universal Notebook Battery. 'Unlike the Trust power adapter, this product acts as a replacement or additional battery for a notebook computer, but in many ways it's similar. Rather than sliding into the battery's place inside the notebook, the Universal Notebook Battery stays outside, connecting to the notebook using the power connector. The battery sits between your computer and its power adapter (or a compatible adapter such as the Trust model), and charges up along with the computer's internal battery.'

Continue reading "APC Universal Notebook Battery 50 Review - Computeractive" »

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PC Magazine have published a review of the YMax magicJack voice-over-IP device which plugs into your computer’s USB connection and then in any corded, cordless or portable phone to facilitate calls. 'The magicJack device, about the size of a box of Tic Tacs, has a USB plug on one end and an RJ-11 phone jack on the other. I had to connect mine to a Windows PC, but Mac OS X drivers should be ready soon. After USB plug meets USB port, you'll wait a minute or so while the magicJack software gets automatically loaded. Those who already have magicJack will be happy to know that the company says a firmware rev released while I was testing makes the hardware more resilient to problems caused by fluctuating electrical levels in foreign countries. It also installs hardware echo control, which taxes your CPU about 50 percent less than before.

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Computeractive have published a review of the DIY Kyoto Wattson gadget which monitors electricity consumption in the home. 'Wattson is a smart energy meter, with some useful extra features that separate it from most of the competition. There are three main components: a sensor that clamps around one of the mains electricity cables coming into your domestic meter, a transmitter that attaches to the sensor and a display unit to be positioned anywhere within transmission range. With its retro white and black acrylic case, the display unit has a faint hint of the kind of box electronics hobbyists used to use for home-grown projects, which adds a nostalgic touch to the product.'

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A review of the Devolo dLAN Wireless Extender has been posted over at Register Hardware. 'The dLAN Wireless Extender is a shiny blue box with a three-pin power plug on the back, a 100Mb/s Ethernet socket on the bottom and a Wi-Fi antenna on the top. The idea is, you fit an 85Mb/s HomePlug 1.0 Turbo-compatible powerline unit between your wireless router and your home or office's mains power supply, and plug the Extender into a power socket somewhere else in the house. Don't have an 85Mb/s adaptor handy? Worry not, Devolo will sell you one boxed up with a Wireless Extender as a handy starter kit.'

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IT Reviews have published a review of the compact HP Photosmart A826 Photo Printer. ‘HP has a range of photo printers, but nothing that looks or works like the Photosmart A826. It's bigger than a typical dedicated photo printer; about the size of a fashion rucksack. This is a design feature, as it's built around two key aspects of the machine: a 177mm touch-screen and a totally enclosed paper feed tray. Paper is loaded through a small hatch in the top of the retro-styled printer and up to 100 sheets can be left in it between print jobs, without gathering dust. The touch-screen is an innovation for dedicated photo printers and not only enables the selection of image thumbnails to print, but also makes it easy to annotate, caption or doodle over an image, with the supplied stylus. Simple selections can also be made with a fingertip.’

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A review of the Solwise HomePlug Ethernet Adaptor with SimpleConnect (a simpler way to set up your HomePlug network) has been posted over at Register Hardware. 'Everyone who makes powerline adaptors supplies software that allows users to change the password used to encrypt data flowing between your powerline units. The snag here is that these utilities can be intimidating if you're not a techie, and they usually only run on Windows PCs - not much use if you're a Mac or Linux buff, or if you just want to connect a games console to the internet. Solwise's solution to the problem, dubbed Simple Connect, is to generate passwords randomly, literally at the push of a button, and auto-sync them with all the units on the network. The feature is implemented in its new PL-200AV Push adaptor.'

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A review of the LaCie USB and FireWire Hub has been posted over at Digital Reviews Network. ‘Distinctly different from the run of the mill connectivity hubs, the Ora-Ito design is a round globe with glossy white polycarbonate finish. The small flat patch on the bottom prevents the device from rolling around - if you balance your cables balanced correctly. The cables protrude from the neck of the top covering, flexible enough to be configured into a vase flower look, or squid or Medusa depending on your mood. To encourage the "vase" look, LaCie has even provided a set of paper flowers to attach to the stems.’

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