iPad Review from an iPad owner
I’ve know owned an iPad for around a week, so thought it’s time I shared my thoughts on the device, as one of only a few Australians who actually own and have used it at length.
This will be a short wrap-up as I’m still travelling (currently in San Francisco), a much more detailed review will arrive once I’m back in Australia.
Keyboard
After using the iPad for a few days now, typing on the on-screen keyboard is becoming easier, particularly in landscape mode. Although when compared to a traditional keyboard, input is much slower.
UX
The iPad is incredibly responsive, launching applications, flipping rough photos and menus all happen instantly. It makes for great demos and vie often found myself unknowingly turning into an Apple salesman. Responding do immediately does encourage use of the device. The only real issue is the physical one of how to hold the devices. It’s something you have to learn and something I’m sure will vary, person to person.
Battery Life
You’ll find many uses for the iPad, but there are going to be many times where the iPad spends it’s time on the coffee table. This means standby time Is important. The iPad has exceptional standby battery life, lasting days while not powering the 9.7″ touch screen.
Naturally your battery life while using the iPad will vary based on your use. Running 3D games or watching movies are most taxing, with average mixed use getting around 8 hours. Not bad considering Apple claim 10 hours, which can usually be halved in the real world.
Screen
The 9.7″ touch screen of the iPad is incredibly bright and responsive, but there is one big issue. It’s kind of unavoidable with a device your touching, but fingerprints are a problem. If you think Apple include a micro-fibre cloth, you’d be wrong. That said, the screen is gorgeous and increasing brightness can help, but hurts your battery life.
Applications
The iPad comes preloaded with some customized apps from Apple, but 3rd party apps can be installed via the App Store. There awesome default iPhone apps that are missing from the iPad – calculator and weather being prime examples.
Accessories
On the accessories front, we are still waiting for most of them like the camera accessory to be released, but my ‘must have’ recommendation is the case. If not the Apple case, then a case with a stand. This is especially valuable when travelling on the bus or plane. This meant I could position the iPad using it’s triangle shape for easier typing or for passive viewing without hands.
Australian release date and pricing
While originally announcing the iPad would be available in Australia ‘late April’ that date has now been moved back a month to ‘late May’. There’s also no confirmation of Aus pricing.
Review: Microsoft Arc Keyboard and Mouse
Keyboard
The Microsoft Arc Keyboard is unique in its styling and configuration. The name arc comes from the keyboards arc shape, curing up in the center which has 2 benefits, the first is that it’s supposed to match the natural configuration of the human hands, as well as being able to rest comfortably on your knees if used in a home entertainment scenario.
Typing on the keyboard does take some time to adjust to, especially after having the muscle memory established on flat, laptop-style keyboards. Over the course of a few days your hands adjust and typing is fine. Note: I am a touch typist, if your a hunt and peck style typist, this really won’t be an issue. Part of the adjustment comes from the increased distance between keys. The Arc keyboard has chicklet style keys, similar to that of recent apple products, the difference being that the keys are higher. This means the gap between keys is deep, this can prevent you from free flowing from one key to another.
After first opening the box, you’ll notice this keyboard is small and light. Microsoft have had to make some serious sacrifices to reach this form factor. There’s no num pad which isn’t uncommon in laptops, but is rare for a desktop keyboard. There’s also a condensed navigation section, with the up, down, left right keys being condensed into a single 4-way key. This takes a bit of getting used to.
Looking to the top of the keyboard, there left hand side contains the standard F1-F6 keys, but to access F7-F12, you’ll need to hold the function key. Move across you’ll find Home(/Printscreen), End, Page up, Page down, then media controls, which are incredibly responsive, then top right is a decent sized Delete key. Great for correcting mistakes without looking. 
Mouse
Designed for portability the Microsoft Arc Mouse folds in half for easier travel. In it’s folded mode, it’d easily fit in your pocket, but before taking your mouse on the road, just snap the USB Bluetooth module in the underside of the mouse. After using the mouse for the best part of a week, I’d have to say the arc is simply too high to be comfortable and the back button is way to far forward to be accessible. Overall the mouse works great, it’s super sensitive which is great when gaming, but even in general desktop use. I run 2 monitors running 1920×1200 resolution, so moving from one side to the other can require quite a lot of physical movement with some mice. With a sensitive mouse like this, I actually had to turn the mouse speed down and can now move across the 3840 pixels with a slight move of the wrist.
Connectivity
What was surprising to me is that the keyboard and mouse need their own separate USB Bluetooth module, taking up 2 of your USB ports. Sure a wired solution would have the same requirement, however there are other Microsoft keyboard and mouse solutions that have a single USB dongle. Admittedly the Arc system is easier, just plug in and go, rather than have to sync each device.
Gallery
Device Stage
If your not familiar with it, Windows 7 comes with a new feature called Device Stage. Designed to be an attractive, functional interface into new devices connected to your system. Unfortunately there’s very few devices that currently support Device Stage. The Microsoft Arc Keyboard and Mouse does support Device Stage, a welcome addition, and naturally you’d expect the company to support it’s own hardware. Lets hope more hardware manufacturers adopt Device Stage in the near future.
Update
After testing the Arc keyboard with the Xbox 360 I found a weird glitch. Whilst the keyboard works great in the standard Xbox 360 interface, it fails in Media Center. Strangely only the left and right functions work, up and down does nothing. This is possibly due to the keyboard combining the 4 arrow keys into a single key.
Disclaimer
After posting on twitter that my Microsoft Explorer 3.0 mouse had died, I received an email from Microsoft. They offered to replace the mouse and after further discussions sent me through a Microsoft Arc and Keyboard.
More info @ Microsoft Hardware
Track your parcel with the Posted iPhone app
If your comfortable shopping online, then your likely aware of the wait that transpires after clicking on buy. Sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks before delivery, wouldn’t it be nice to know the progress of your delivery ? Whilst most stores provide you with a consignment number, checking it repeatedly isn’t a great experience.
Usually involving a hunt for the email containing the details, then its a matter of finding the right site, and entering your number. Fine for a once off, but really not conducive to repeated checks. A new iPhone application offers a much better solution to the problem.
The Posted iPhone app supports the tracking of goods from a wide range of Australian delivery companies. These include:
- Allied Express
- Australian Air Express (AAE)
- Australian Post – eParcel, Registered & Express
- Australia Post – Express Post Platinum
- Couriers Please
- DHL International
- Fastway Couriers
- Hunter Express
- Interparcel
- Smart Send
- Star Couriers
- StarTrack Express
- TNT Express Domestic and International
- TransDirect National Couriers
Once you enter in your tracking number, that’s it, whenever you want to see where your delivery is, just fire up the app, then select which parcel and you get to see the entire history of delivery points on that items journey. There’s also the added benefit of having this functionality with you all the time, wherever you go, wether your around a computer or not.
As someone who buys tech gear online regularly, this app is well worth the price. Normally A$2.49, Posted is currently on special, for A$1.19 for the paid version. The free Posted lite version has the restriction of only tracking one item at a time.
More @ PostedApp.com
Review: Borderlands
Released back in October 2009, I finally got around to playing Borderlands. If your still considering the purchase of this game, make sure you have plenty of time.. it’s massive !
Graphics
I wouldn’t call myself a fan of cell-shaded graphics, but games like Crackdown and Borderlands pull it off quite well, offering a welcome break away from the familiar style of most FPS games. To be honest, after about 10 minutes in the game, I really stopped noticing the graphics, a good sign of engaging gameplay and story line.
Gameplay
Borderlands does something very special, that’s getting the balance between your skills and enemy difficulty. There’s times where taking out enemies is no sweat, then others that’ll have you running for cover. This constant back and forward always keeps you on your toes. A key part of this game is weapon select and stat point allocation. As your backpack fills up with weapons, you’ll be forced to make decisions about which is the right weapon for the current situation. Switching out during a battle is a really bad idea, so best to be prepared before entering a battle. After fixing a few Claptraps, you’ll unlock backpack upgrades, allowing you to carry and equip more weapons, this makes things a little easier.
Each of the 4 characters you can select from have their own special ability. These can be upgraded by applying stat points – earned when you level up. Levelling up occurs after a certain level of XP is reached. XP or experience points are earned by killing enemies.
Other complexities involve ammo, health and shield, in particular choosing between upgrades that benefit yourself vs the team. Ideally you’d play with at least 3 players, one that has team ammo regeneration, one with team health and the third with team health. This is a killer combo.
Level design was incredibly varied, each area containing different layout, lighting, enemies and a unique feeling. This helped keep the game fresh as you proceeded through the missions and unlocked new areas. There were however a few times where it felt like getting from one place to another was a little repetitive. The quick teleporter wasn’t that helpful, with the missions screen rarely indicating where missions needed to be turned in.
Vehicles in the games, could have done with some more variety and strength. Running over higher level bugs will strangely leave your car in a burning heap and you almost dead.
Multiplayer
Offering both LAN and Online multiplayer game types, borderlands has all bases covered. Personally I’ve played a lot more LAN than online, largely due to the fact I was trying to finish the game and hit level 50. Now that’s achieved, online is a real option.
DLC
There’s already been 2 downloadable content packs for Borderlands – Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot and the Zombie Island of Dr.Ned. I’ve played the later, and if you want new levels, new missions and the chance to kill Zombie Scags, this one is for you.
Overall
One of the best value for money games available. Sue there are other MMO’s that contain more hours of game play, but they attract a monthly subscription. Grab some mates, and have yourself a good old LAN session, I did – and loved it ! Weapons could benefit from a little better progression structure, too many low-level weapons were given as rewards when at the higher levels. This means you spend too long evaluating if current weapons should be traded for weapons on the ground, more than likely they weren’t and it simply cost time. The other criticism was the money, not enough of it early, becomes irrelevant all together with millions in the bank and nothing better to buy from the vending machines.
If you looked past Borderlands in 2009, I suggest you give it another look in 2010. Particularly with more DLC on the way that’ll increase player levels past 50.
Borderlands is available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
More @ Borderlands
Review: Microsoft Lifecam Cinema HD
This is a webcam that’s ahead of its time. Not because it has quality that’ll make your face melt, but because it’s capabilities surpass that of the software its intended to be used with. Common applications include Windows Live Messenger, Skype and other messenging clients.
The LifeCam Cinema HD is capable of 720p video at 30 frames per second, unfortunately most messenging clients still in 2010, only support the old 4:3 aspect ratio. With Skype’s announcement of 720p capable TV’s and Windows Live Wave 4, lets hope these apps realize the camera technology that’s available today. With that said, this camera is really an investment for the future.
The applications where you can take advantage of the higher quality of this webcam over your standard integrated laptop webcam is live streaming applications like uStream or to record video locally. For those concerned the base looks a little awkward and may not fit your setup, fear not, the stand is actually flexible, with the front lip clipping on the front of your screen, while the flexible leg bends to curve over the back of your screen to make a snug, secure fit.
There is some adjustability of the tilt and pan of the camera via the LifeCam software, but the more noticeable adjustments will be in the area of white balance, focus, brightness, contrast etc. Of course there’s the auto settings, but you should spend the time to experiment with this as the results of better picture quality are well worth it.
Overall I’m really happy with this camera, it has now replaced a Logitech Orb that I had been previously using. I picked mine up at JB Hi-Fi for A$126, but look around, you may find a better deal.
Review: HP EX490 MediaSmart Server [WHS]
Overview
The HP EX490 MediaSmart Server is a small, quiet server designed for home use. Its provides a great solution to the storage, backup and streaming of media and documents around the home and across the web. First launching in the US a couple years ago, is finally available in Australia !
A lot of the features I’ll explain are available due to Microsoft’s Windows Home Server (WHS) Operating System, whilst some are custom-written by HP and only available buy purchasing a HP MediaSmart Server.
Features
Storage – Running Windows Home Server OS, it features a unique custom-raid that allows hard drives of different sizes, but internally and externally connected, to be pooled as one large storage drive. This allows you to divide up content just using folders rather than drives, which may sound like a small technicality, but actually makes a big difference. (e.g. You have a 1GB file to move, you don’t have to worry about which drive has enough remaining space to successfully copy).
Combining the 1TB drive that comes with the EX490 and a few drives I had lying around, I’ve already filled the internal drive bays with 1TB + 1TB + 750GB + 500GB. Add on the 1TB external drive and I’ve got just around 4 Terabytes (formatted).
Backup – There’s a saying that “unless data is in 2 places, it doesn’t exist”. I agree with this saying and in the past I have lost data as a result of not having an adequate backup solution. My previously solution was a 1TB WD External USB drive. This had a couple of problems, firstly it was slow, secondly I ran out of space. The EX490 has 4 internal drive bays, 3 USB and 1 eSATA port which means there’s plenty of room to grow.
Connector Software – The MediaSmart doesn’t have any video out ports on the back of the box, it’s not designed to be accessed directly. On each client you want to connect to the Home Server, you’ll need to install the connector software. Fire up your browser and head to http://mediasmart:55000/ (where mediasmart is the name of your server).
This is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS. The other way of accessing the server (not recommended) is using remote desktop. This is actually required to update to PowerPack 3 (more on this soon).
Streaming – Streaming from the MediaSmart arrives in a number of ways. Your media can be streamed to devices like your Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as your iPhone (see below) and also to your browser.
Remote Access – When you buy a home server, you also get a user-defined domain name. e.g. https://techAU.homeserver.com. This gives you access to your files from any internet connection in the world. Great if your travelling and leave an important document at home. Or maybe your bored in a lonely motel room and want to catch up on your latest video of the Big Bang Theory, well you can stream it through the web interface.
iPhone App – This provides access to your Pictures, Music and Video via your iPhone wherever you are. The free application works on 3G but is best used with Wi-Fi. Also remember if your going to stream any video, your really going to need to convert the video into an iPhone friendly format. Whilst technically it will scale a 720 video down to the iPhone screen, the bandwidth and processing required to do this makes for a poor timely experience.
iTunes Server – This allows users on the home network to fire up iTunes and stream the content on the Home Server. The downside to this method is that iTunes presents all media in one list, rather than separated out into music, podcasts etc, like your normal iTunes library.
Addons
LED LightShow – Whilst the lights on the front of the EX490 MediaSmart are blue, they can be customised with the LightShow plugin. There’s a little trick to this Easter egg, once installed, you’ll need to jump into the Home Server Settings, click on MediaSmart Server from the left panel, then click the LEDs tab. While pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift, left click on the Home Server icon, if you do it right, a Egg with a HP logo will appear.
Once activated, you can choose from a combination of light colours (Red, Blue, and Purple (which is actually closer to white) and sequences – Holiday Lights, Descending/Ascending chaser, Pulsing, Night Rider and Morse code credits. It seems the devs have sense of humour.
Overall one of my favourite plug-ins.
TiVo Publisher
If you have a TiVo like myself, it’s likely your most used piece of electronics in your home entertainment setup (besides your TV). Given it’s always on, it makes sense that you’d be able to stream content to it, rather than fire up a dedicated device (i.e. X360 or PS3.
The way TiVo works mean it has to copy the video content has to be copied to the TiVo to be played. You can begin playback before the content has finished copying, the downside being that your taking up valuable space on your TiVo. As long as you remember to delete the content when done, it’s fine. The convenience is key here, yet another great plug-in.
For all Home Server Add-ins, check out the official WHS add-ins page. There’s plenty more like uTorrent, but the thought of torrenting right next to my critical data just didn’t sound like a good idea.
Price
All these features don’t come cheap, the EX490 costs A$899. In my mind, it’s worth every dollar. As with most consumer devices, I’d like to see the price come down to open the market to more home users. That said there is the less featured MediaSmart LX for those on a tighter budget.
One thing that’s not included in the price is security protection. With Windows Live Essentials on Windows7, many users are now used to having free security. Unfortunately, not many security products will run on Windows Home Server because the current version is built on Windows Server 2003. You do get a trial of McAfee Total Protection and there are trials of Avast and F-Secure, but ultimately, there’s no free security protection WHS.
Overall
Like many of you, my storage needs have grown substantially over the past few years. I had a scattering of drives between internal and external, laptop, desktop, things were getting out of control. So personally I’d been waiting for the day these came on sale, naturally I jumped at the chance to finally own one. After having it for a little over a week, I’m incredibly happy with it today, and with additional powerpacks and add-ins that’ll only improve in the future.
If this sounds like something you want, head over to HP Australia’s online store.
