iPad impressions(0)
Apple's iPad
Tag archive for ‘tech review’
Palm Pre Plus: First Impressions(1)
I just got a review unit of the new Palm Pre Plus, the new webOS phone on Verizon. I’m testing out the phone and Twittering my impressions of it.
Below you’ll find my latest observations below.
Review epilogue: Altec-Lansing inMotion Max(1)
Altec-Lansing inMotion Max
At long last, I wanted to write an updated review of the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system.
As some readers may recall, I planned to test out then-new inMotion Max last spring. However, I soon abandoned the idea of writing a full review of the product, because I ran into a serious glitches.
At random intervals, the device would seize up, stop working and stay that way until I unplugged and reset it. At least one reader experienced a similar problem with the device, so it looks like the glitch might have been with a particular batch of the speaker systems.
But it doesn’t look like the problem was endemic with the device. Altec-Lansing ended up sending me a replacement unit to test out, and I played with that speaker system quite a bit over the next several months. The problem didn’t recur with the new unit. So I don’t feel I can fairly mark the device down for the problem. Just be aware that it can occur. Read the rest of this entry »
Review preview: Kodak EasyShare Z980 digital camera(4)
Kodak EasyShare Z980 Digital Camera
Over the weekend, I started playing with Kodak’s new EasyShare Z980 camera. Although I’m not entirely sold on it, I enjoyed my first test run with it.
The Z980 is a high-end consumer camera. Kodak is positioning it between the light-weight point-and-shoot cameras and the heavier, but more versatile Digital SLRs with interchangeable lenses.
The first thing I noticed — and liked about the Z980 — is its large (3-inch) LCD screen on its back. I’m used to using a point-and-shoot camera with a much smaller screen. With the larger images displayed on the Z980s, it was much easier to compose and review pictures. Read the rest of this entry »
Review preview: JBL On Stage 400P(4)
JBL On Stage 400P
I just swapped out the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system I’ve been testing for JBL’s new On Stage 400P.
Like the inMotion Max, the 400P works with — and will charge — iPhones and iPods. But at the 400P has a different set of features than the inMotion Max.
Unlike the inMotion Max, the 400P doesn’t include and LCD display or an FM tuner (it does have an auxiliary port, though). It also doesn’t have a rechargeable battery pack, so unlike the Altec-Lansing device, it’s not portable. Nor does it have the inMotion’s “Expanded Sound Stage” technology, which is supposed to “fill a room with sound” (but which I found underwhelming in my tests).
Review update: Altec-Lansing inMotion Max(3)
Altec-Lansing inMotion Max
As I mentioned before, I’ve been testing out one of Altec-Lansing’s newest iPod speaker systems, the inMotion Max. I was hoping to write up a full review of the inMotion Max this week, but I now plan to postpone it. The reason: The device has repeatedly had the same glitch I reported before, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge it on what might be a single faulty unit.
The glitch is pretty annoying. At seemingly random intervals, the inMotion Max will seize up, no longer responding when I press buttons on the remote control or the device itself. Instead, it repeatedly turns itself on and off until it’s unplugged and reset.
When I first experienced the glitch on the inMotion Max, I chalked it up to bad luck. But I’ve now experienced it four or five times, seemingly every time I spend a decent amount of time with the device.
First Impression: Altec-Lansing inMotion Max(0)
Altec-Lansing inMotion Max
As I forecast on Friday, I started testing out the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system over the weekend. As might be expected, it was easy to set up.
I haven’t really put the device through its paces yet, but my initial impression is somewhat mixed. The sound quality seemed fine. Unlike many iPod speaker systems, it’s fully compatible with my iPhone, meaning that not only will it charge my iPhone, but it doesn’t prompt an annoying incompatibility message on the iPhone that asks whether I want to turn off the iPhone’s antennas everytime I plug my iPhone into it. So that’s nice.
Update: iHome IH15(0)
As I mentioned in a review that ran on Monday, I generally liked iHome’s iH15
iHome iH15
iPod speaker system. It offers nice sound for a relatively low price.
I’m getting ready to box up the iH15 and ship it back to iHome, but there is one thing I don’t like about it that I neglected to mention in my review. In order to turn up or down the volume on the iH15, you have to press the volume control buttons multiple times. You can’t just hold them down to raise or lower the volume.
I know that’s a nit, but I still found it annoying the more I used the device.
What Troy’s testing out now(0)
Speaking of Altec-Lansing, I’ll likely be playing around this weekend with a new speaker system from the company, the iPhone-compatible inMotion Max.
In coming weeks, I also plan on testing out a handful of new headphones, including a pair of new models — the 200 and the 300 — from SoundID.
Finally — and I realize I’m a little late to this — but I’ve been playing around this week with Apple’s new iPod shuffle. My first take: I love the ultra-slim size, and I generally like the new VoiceOver feature, which uses a computer-generated voice to tell you what song is playing or what playlists are available.
But I hate that Apple’s decision to incorporate the volume, VoiceOver and play/stop/fast-forward/reverse controls into a button on the headphone wire means that I can’t use my noise-isolating headphones with the shuffle.
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