Gadget of the (Financial) Year 06 (/07)
Time for the alexnderhinton.com gadget of the year. Bit late in coming, hence, gadget of the financial year. The shortlist of contenders.
Sharp LC26P50E - LCD TV - I did a lot of research and eventually went for this one based on some great reviews. The key feature is it's designed for PAL signals. None of this hi-def shpeel we hear about. Personally, I'm not intending to buy an HD or Blue Ray DVD player and PAL will be broadcast digitally via freeview for at least 5-10 more years - much longer than the lifespan of this TV. Therefore no scaling of the picture is required and the picture is therefore excellent. It's still HD 'ready' though with an HDMI port and I have tested with an 1080i picture which is still very good. Rating - 8/10.
Topfield TF5800 - Freeview PVR - 160gb (larger model available at 250gb), twin tuner freeview box. Again, lots of research but was an easy decision in the end. Forums out there easily rate this as best in class and I completely agree. Picture quality is very good and the interface and usability is also good. Alternative, free, software (aka TAP's) can be loaded onto the box and a decent community are providing regular updates. I use a TAP called MyStuff which is an excellent Electronic Programming Guide. You can add searches to record complete series, or to search for specific names in titles. Rating - 10/10.
Braun Electronic Toothbrush - the fact a toothbrush makes it into the short list doesn't mean it's a bad year gadgetwise, it's just a top product. 40,000 pulsations and 9000 oscilation means there's over 900 billion (ed. your not so good at maths then) movements per second per tooth. Over a two minute period, cleaning every tooth that's enough movements to reach to the third nearest star and back as far as Oslo. Ok, so I'm filling now - basically, it's really good at cleaning teeth! Rating - 8/10.
Sony Ericsson W800i - mobile phone - as a gadgeteer you'd think I'd have an iPod, a snazzy new camera and a handheld radio. I don't need any of them, the phone does them all. All the photos on this website are taken with the camera, even the panaroma's. I also the 4gb memory stick as my iPod replacement and the built in FM radio is also great quality. I can attach to the internet, send email and can set multiple alarms and reminders. Best of all it's 'free'. In quotes, as I'm sure they make decent profit back off my line rental. I'm sure it does something else but I forget at present... oh yeah - it also takes AND receives calls - sweet!! It's not as good as any of the items it replaces but it's a hell of lot smaller, lighter and it's always on me. Rating 9/10.
So the winner would be, you'd assume, the Topfield PVR. Ha - wrong!! It gets the highest rating but the award goes to... the Sony w800i.
Sharp LC26P50E - LCD TV - I did a lot of research and eventually went for this one based on some great reviews. The key feature is it's designed for PAL signals. None of this hi-def shpeel we hear about. Personally, I'm not intending to buy an HD or Blue Ray DVD player and PAL will be broadcast digitally via freeview for at least 5-10 more years - much longer than the lifespan of this TV. Therefore no scaling of the picture is required and the picture is therefore excellent. It's still HD 'ready' though with an HDMI port and I have tested with an 1080i picture which is still very good. Rating - 8/10.
Topfield TF5800 - Freeview PVR - 160gb (larger model available at 250gb), twin tuner freeview box. Again, lots of research but was an easy decision in the end. Forums out there easily rate this as best in class and I completely agree. Picture quality is very good and the interface and usability is also good. Alternative, free, software (aka TAP's) can be loaded onto the box and a decent community are providing regular updates. I use a TAP called MyStuff which is an excellent Electronic Programming Guide. You can add searches to record complete series, or to search for specific names in titles. Rating - 10/10.
Braun Electronic Toothbrush - the fact a toothbrush makes it into the short list doesn't mean it's a bad year gadgetwise, it's just a top product. 40,000 pulsations and 9000 oscilation means there's over 900 billion (ed. your not so good at maths then) movements per second per tooth. Over a two minute period, cleaning every tooth that's enough movements to reach to the third nearest star and back as far as Oslo. Ok, so I'm filling now - basically, it's really good at cleaning teeth! Rating - 8/10.
Sony Ericsson W800i - mobile phone - as a gadgeteer you'd think I'd have an iPod, a snazzy new camera and a handheld radio. I don't need any of them, the phone does them all. All the photos on this website are taken with the camera, even the panaroma's. I also the 4gb memory stick as my iPod replacement and the built in FM radio is also great quality. I can attach to the internet, send email and can set multiple alarms and reminders. Best of all it's 'free'. In quotes, as I'm sure they make decent profit back off my line rental. I'm sure it does something else but I forget at present... oh yeah - it also takes AND receives calls - sweet!! It's not as good as any of the items it replaces but it's a hell of lot smaller, lighter and it's always on me. Rating 9/10.
So the winner would be, you'd assume, the Topfield PVR. Ha - wrong!! It gets the highest rating but the award goes to... the Sony w800i.
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