Welcome to the first girl review. And it is on the pink keyboard cover that is just super adorable! SO here goes !!!
PROS:
> Gorgeous: I mean not only that it's pink since it comes in several colours, but also that it doesn't look cheap or tacky (at least the one I have doesn't)
> Easy to type on : The learning curve to adapt to typing on this is quite small actually, and you may actually prefer typing on it.
> Has a satin finish. You don't get that nasty sticky plastic feeling but instead a sort of velvety matte feeling
> Easy to clean. Just like your keyboard, this will get dirty but when it does, simply remove it and run it under the tap. All better!
> Very affordable. The retail between 5-10 dollars canadian on amazon.com (so affordable in fact we will be posting a giveaway right after this so check it out!)
> Encompasses more than simply the keys so that dust and debris doesn't get in the cracks
CONS:
> Some avid typers may not like that you have to press a tinge harder to get the keys to work.
> Colourful keyboards may not be "professional" (although the solution to this is that it comes in black as well, duh!)
For now we’re going to focus more on free apps eventually move onto paid apps and start taking request for reviews for them.
Have you ever had an annoying co-worker you just want to strangle? Or maybe you’re slightly less violent and you just want to throw the biggest piece of removable furniture from your cubical. Well the good people at fluik entertainment developed a quite entertaining app called OfficeJerk. It’s essentially the same thing as the Paper Toss app where you try to throw a piece of paper in a wastebasket. Except instead of a wastebasket, it’s the head of your co-worker you’re aiming for. The challenge (well not really all that challenging to be honest) is to overcome that pesky fan that blows your office artillery off course.
You have your choice of a pencil, eraser or a piece of paper to throw at that hard working guy that’s making you look bad in front of your boss. If you want to cause even more damage, you’re going to have to opt for their in-app purchase for the mug & stapler (which apparently you get for “free”. What you’re really paying for is to remove the annoying ads on the top of the game.) Or if that harmless guy that’s typing away at his computer is really bugging you that much, you can purchase their ACME addon….which presumably would kill him..or maybe cause a very cartoony explosion.
Just look at him…all smiling at you. WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT?! My theory? He actually has a life threatening disease that can only be cured by an eraser to the face.
So what’s bad about the game? Well, it gets boring…really fast. I played with it for all but 10 minutes and quickly got the hang of it and grew tired of it within that time. I guess if you’re waiting to pickup your girlfriend although you’ve told her you’re outside her house but she’s taking way too long this would probably make that unbearable 10 minutes slightly more bearable.
[Michele edit : Ummm it takes a long time to look this good; Also please check back in a few days for my take on this app]
I will be reviewing the Kobo with a basic pros and cons approach and adding an overview at the end. Here we go.
PROS:
> 6 inch screen is about the size of a paper back so you it's an easy transitions for those of us who have a hard time letting go of that new book smell.
> Uses e-ink technology - At first, you tend to wonder "wtf is that?" but once you test it out, you just get it. Somehow (and don't ask me how) they make the words and picture look like printed paper. It is REALLY weird but great on the eyes.
>Is light weight and REALLY thin. It's way lighter than a hardcover and probably even some paperbacks. Making it uber portable
> Has a matte screen so you don't have o worry about the glare
> Has an array of accessories, skins and sleeves, so no need to worry on that front.
> Accepts the following document types : DRM epub, pdf, adobe drm
> Has an online store; (but also accepts pdf... so legally or illegally, books are available)
> Stylish - has a quilted back that is a bit feminine but nice
> Has wi-fi so if you need a book NOW, it's possible
> Comes with an SD slot for expansion
CONS:
> Not touch screen - uses a D-pad
> Not as fast as flipping a page.
> If you want to go back twenty pages to re-read something.... it will take a while
> A bit fragile - something happened to my first one and I had to get it replaced =[ (don't even know what I did)
> Customer service is a bitch. Unless you are returning it to the place you got it (chapters in my case), it will take forever for anything to happen or it may not happen at all. I told them that my free boks voucher was not in the new replacement and 10 emails later, confirming things, NADA.
> Does not do anything other than hold books. This is not a con for me but I know that lots of people like centralized devices that do everything.
>Does not have a backlight. It literally looks like paper so reading at night without a flashlight is impossible. Thankfully people thought of that and there are clip on lights, but still counts as a con.
OVERVIEW:
So in conclusion, the Kobo really narrows the gap between book and technology. Those of us who want a more traditional approach to reading but still need it to be portable will love the Kobo. I know I do XD
After what seems to be months of searching (it was really just days) for the perfect T.V. I finally found it.
And what is the most important feature? Price. That’s right, I’m a poor university student and my budget really isn’t that high. But having said that, I am going to have to live with this T.V. for several years so durability and features are also very important. The key is finding the best compromise between feature, price and SEXINESS. Well the T.V. I’m talking about is the UN40C5000 Samsung LED tv. It’s a 40” LED T.V. by Samsung introduced by Samsung last year. Now I’m not even close to claiming I’m an expert on T.V’s (or really anything for that matter), but for those who are looking for a new T.V, I hope you can take away something from this post to help you make a decision you won’t regret.
The reason for me purchasing a new T.V. was really because my old one crapped out on me. You see the picture? It’s not an extremely small T.V. pretending to be a bigger one or anything weird like that. One day, half of the screen just went black. 0_0 Could you imagine one day, you try to turn on your T.V and all you see is half of the actor? I was literally missing half of the show everyday. Granted with a couple of good smacks the T.V. temporarily fixed itself, but I was getting tired of being so violent to my stuff all the time (hurts on the inside AND the outside). No one likes to hit their stuff, and I was starting fear my T.V. would spite me and the rest of the image would disappear too.
In comes the glossy new T.V. The best feature is really the fact that it displayed image on the whole screen (who cares that it can play full 1080p, pfft!). It produces beautiful images and the blacks are drop dead gorgeous. It does seem to need a little tinkering with as the default picture seems to produce unnatural colours, but it’s really doesn’t bug me that much. The thinness of the T.V. is something that amazes me EVERY SINGLE TIME I catch a glimpse of it on the side. It’s razor thin for something this size. It’s about 1” thick. That’s right, it’s the thickness of my already thin Macbook pro 13”.
This little T.V. is jammed packed with features and inputs. It comes with 4 HDMI input, 2 USB input, digital audio out and audio out. The USB slot allows for you to simply plug in your hard drive or USB thumb drive and play your movies, music, pictures etc. I’m pretty sure I’m making it a bigger deal than it really is but it’s SO CONVENIENT to be able to just plug in your USB and play the movies you’ve downloaded (legally…of course... Right?) but if you think transferring it to your hard drive and plugging it into your TV is too much work, the good people at Samsung have a solution for you. Their “Allshare” software on the T.V. allows for you host whatever media you have on your computer/ laptop through some sort of DLNA software (I’m using TVMOBiLi since the one from Samsung is PC only). The TV detects your laptop as an input and can stream everything you have from your specified source on your computer. So far, the T.V. seems to read .AVI, .MKV and .WMV format. (if you have anything you want me to try out, comment below)
What did I leave out in my review? The price tag. That’s right, my top priority (and probably the same for many others). I managed to snag this up for 699.99. At this price you can’t really go wrong. With all these features available on this LED T.V. for the price of other LCD or Plasma TV, I most definitely consider this one of the Michele and I's best finds.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
OK MAJOR MICHELE EDIT: Did we forget to mention how much work that I put in trying to find a model that was not used as a display? This tv is a discontinued model (reason it was so cheap) and so don't try to find one now. However, the D5500 is the updated version if this. Although this newer model is more expensive, keep in mind that they've obviously upgraded it.
I’m very excited to show you guys the totally not new anymore Xbox 360 arcade (4 gb version). This won’t be a review since I’m sure there are easily couple million of them out there. Just want to share with you guys the EB games (or Gamestop) promotion that is on now. The price of the console has been lowered to 130 CND (presumably to fight for Sony’s market share with the whole hacker scandal). With the $100 credit after trading in your old xbox 360 system, this beautiful piece of matt black system was only 33 dollars after tax. That’s right, I just upgraded my more than a year old system for a brand spanking new one for 33 dollars. Not to mention this one actually has memory. My old arcade only had 256mb (I think..or something just as ridiculously small). The hunt for this system wasn’t easy as it’s pretty much sold out everywhere, especially this late into the promotion. Stock is about as hard to find as Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. But Michele called stores and managed to find one for me.
Michele edit: HOLY SHIT was this hard to find, I called about ten stores every two days. I deserve some recognition, or a medal or something. =/
To kick-start our brand new blog, I thought I would talk about the sold out and very much talked about iPad 2.
Is it really worth the $499 price tag? Lets find out!
BOY:
First off, the iPad 2 has an amazing design with edge-to-edge glass display that is nearly identical to that of the original iPad. So what did apple decide to do after inventing something that made millions of dollars?
The HARDWARE
The same thing they’ve been doing to almost everything in their product line up - making it smaller, thinner and more powerful. Some of the very important differences between the original iPad and the new revamped one are the noticeable thinner body with tapered edges. In my opinion, this is a double-edged sword, in that it makes it sexily thin, but at the same time almost too thin to hold in my hands comfortably. Although with an already lightweight aluminum body, it’s still not light enough to be a competitive e-book reader. The bezel of the device allows barelyenough space for your thumb to rest there while the rest of your hand places awkwardly behind the device trying to support all its weight. Don’t get me wrong, this device is very portable and is absolutely amazing for light surfing, playing with apps, and video play, but you may want to start training your thumb if you want to use the iPad 2 without resting it on something while reading or even watching a video.
The cameras are one of the most exciting new features about the new iPad aside from the processor (which I will be talking about a little later). It allows you to use video chat clients like Skype with the front facing camera (although as far as I know there isn’t a native iPad Skype app available, the iPhone app on the iPad works fine). Next? The video quality? I’ve been told it generates pretty much the same picture quality as my unibody MacBook pro. Having said that, it’s not particularly impressive. Now, onto the back camera. To be honest, they might as well have left it out because lets face it, no one is going to use the iPad as a camera. Granted, the beautiful display on the iPad makes almost every picture look great… except for pictures taken by the iPad itself. The pictures are horribly grainy in low light settings. It reminds me of pictures my 10-year-old camera phone use to take (ok maybe I’m exaggerating) but you get my point. It’s simply horrible and the videos are pretty much the same. So, unless you plan on having a professional lighting crew wherever you go, you might as well save up some money and buy a cheapo digital camera on clearance somewhere. It’ll take better pictures. I promise.
The screen encompasses a good 90% of the face of the tablet with nothing more than just a Home button underneath it. This simplistic design has spanned all the way back to Apple’s original iPhone, which has seemed to work fairly well for them. The beautiful 9.7” IPS screen on the iPad truly sets it apart from many of the cheaper tablets out there. The accuracy of the digitizer is nothing short of amazing and the brightness of the screen is just right. The auto brightness feature on the iPad is a nifty little feature that adjusts the brightness of your screen depending on the lighting condition in your room. This saves energy but at the same time could be very annoying because of the sudden changes of brightness caused by a shadow on a sunny day or a sudden flash of light. The mirror like screen is something to love and hate at the same time. It gives it a high quality look but at the same time STRAINS your eyes. It reflects nearly all the light sources in your room on the iPad. If this bugs you as much as it bugs me, you might want to invest in a good matt screen protector.
Without having the last generation iPad to compare, it’s hard to really tell you how much faster this beast is in relevance to it’s outdated brother. I do however have the iPhone 4, which uses the same processor as the original iPad (which may or may not be clocked at the same speed, I am unsure of whether or not Apple decided to underclock either of the devices to save battery). The new iPad has a brand spanking new dual core A5 chip which claims some pretty impressive performance increases while at the same time keeping it’s original battery life. The old A4 processor seems dreadfully slow in comparison with the A5. Not sure if the several weeks of using the A5 has spoiled me for my A4 or if it is just because my phone is getting old, but I can barely stand the lag on it anymore. The iPad 2 is lightning fast and I’ve sparsely seen anything slow it down. Simply put, it’s a beast.
The aluminum backing on the iPad 2 is nice to look at…but something is missing. It makes you want to baby the device and rest it on something soft every time you put it down. You almost want to make a soft nest for it made of the finest/ softest material ever just so it doesn’t blemish. It needs a case. It’s a shame though because they’ve clearly spent a lot of time and money making the device look the way it does, but the aluminum just seems to be softer or more prone to scratches than my MacBook.
The price? $499 is a lot of money. You can get a netbook with more power and greater flexibility that runs a full OS. But if that’s what you want, you’ve just spent a whole lot of time reading a review that doesn’t apply to you. The iPad is for the consumer who already has a computer and doesn’t need a second one. It’s for someone that wants to be able to carry about something light that allows them to surf the web or read lecture slides or watch a movie on it. Although Apple has gone out of their way to make apps that can do everything under the sun available for the iPad and iPhone, there are just some things that an iPad can’t do. Nevertheless if you’re in the market for a tablet that runs a mobile OS, then the iPad is really one of the best choices. There are dozens of competitors trying to fight for a piece of Apple’s tablet market share, but with what seems to me as some very incomplete strategies. They are counterproductive and ineffective as they are introducing iPad alternatives at higher price tags. Permitted some of these devices do offer A LOT in their package, but they’re forgetting it’s only a tablet. If people wanted a heavy-duty workhorse, they would spend the money on an actual computer, instead they want something portable and (in my opinion) relatively cheap and very functional. They want something that just works and Apple’s iPad is a great example of the marriage between technology and design.
So as I do not want to be a broken record, I will be adding here my opinions of the specs he has already mentioned instead of repeating them.
GIRL:
Now let's get a chick's POV shall we?
The iPad is stylish, portable, fun, and most importantly fool proof. The OS runs smoothly and efficiently making it the tablet of choice for those of us who don’t know much about technology but know that it needs to work. It works with the same format as the iPhone and the iPod touch which allows us a certain familiarity with the product. Apple’s uniformity in its products is what allows the everyday consumer to go “hey! I already know how to use this, that’s 15 min that I’ve gained NOT reading a manual.”
On the flip side, I have to say that I feel almost offended using it. Does Apple seriously think I'm this stupid that they couldn't kick up the device a notch? It's almost as if they holding back because they're worried the dumb asses won't understand. It reminds me of the monopoly for kids game, they took away all the parts that make monopoly fun because kids don't understand real estate.
Now let’s talk style. The iPad most definitively has style, suave, elegance… sounds like I’m describing James Bond. The question is how does something remain stylish when everyone has caught on to the trend? Accessorize! That’s right, because Apple is so popular, and so many people want to individualize themselves, a large array of accessories were born. You ever try finding a super cute and cheap case for another phone, mp3 player or tablet? it's virtually impossible I guarantee it. I am so envious of those who have the option of customizing their electronics. I know that there are skins out there, but skins mean nothing to someone like me who NEEDS a case for everything. So in conclusion iPad found a way to be used by many but aesthetically customizable.
The only real issue I have with the iPad 2 is that it is not jailbroken yet. To be honest, for its price tag, the iPad 2 is a really great piece of technology but factor in all the Apps that you have to pay for and it kind of weighs down your wallet. Look out for more app reviews to come.
