BlackBerry Storm 2 review: first look

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

So RIM has dumped the mechanical click screen of the original Storm completely and has replaced it with a brand new system. And having spent nearly an hour in the company of its successor – the BlackBerry Storm 2 – I can confirm that it’s a huge improvement.

The Storm 2 uses a system of four software-controlled electro-mechanical actuators (which sit behind the screen), to give a sort of localised haptic feedback. Press the screen anywhere on its surface and it gives feedback in response – but this is like no other feedback vibration I’ve experienced before. Incredibly, pressing the screen feels just like clicking a button, and it’s very responsive too.

Coupled with the BlackBerry OS’s effective auto correction, I managed to get up to a rapid typing speed instantly, and because it’s multitouch, you don’t have to wait to finish one key press before beginning another.

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All the week’s reviews

Friday, February 6th, 2009

A week heavy on peripherals saw a video camera with an ultra-slow-motion mode, Dell’s entry into the fledgling pico-projector market, a mouse which reads your palm and one of the cheapest PC and monitor bundles we’ve ever seen.

Jumping killer whales and pico blues

Sanyo’s HD2000 pistol-grip camcorder has a special trick – it can record 1080p video at 60fps, and can even reach 600fps for those Planet Earth-style animal action shots if you don’t mind sub-YouTube resolutions. Its video quality may not quite reach excellence but its all-in-one ability to take good video and stills makes it a strong choice at a good price.

Another strong choice, but at a more premium price, was the superb LaCie 324 monitor. The 24in panel displays 92% of the NTSC gamut, and during our tests it had cooing crowds gathered around it as the ultimate endorsement. Bringing images alive in a way standard monitors just can’t match, it earned a deserved recommendation for professionals.

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All the week’s reviews

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

In a varied week for reviews, the most notable new arrival was Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12. Attempting to take the netbook category up even closer to true laptop size, it failed on so many counts that our review concluded by saying, “even the presence of XP Home and a high-capacity battery would only elevate the Mini 12’s score from a maudlin two to an unremarkable four.” Harsh words indeed.

Components and peripherals proved much more successful, with Belkin’s N+ draft-n router earning high praise from reviews editor Jon Bray. With the choice of ADSL or cable variants, impressive performance in our tests, a USB port for external storage and a very attractive price, it jumped straight onto our A List.

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All the week’s reviews

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Free laptops for life, monitors sprouting mini offspring, Toshiba’s first netbook and an open source media player from the chaps behind Firefox – it’s been a busy week for reviews.

Firefox vs iTunes

Surely the most interesting release of the week was from Mozilla. Although its been in development for a few years, Songbird finally saw an official release, with a media player and browser in one. Darien was hopeful it could finally give him an alternative to iTunes: “Since it’s open source, freely extensible and unfettered by corporate interests, Songbird’s future looks bright.” Try it and let us know what you think.

Not just for christmas

Fujitsu stole the headlines with its offer of a free laptop every three years forever, and Jon reckons “if you’re a cheapskate and don’t mind being tied to one brand for the rest of your life it’s got to be worth looking into”. If the best you can get is the Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook S7720, however, you’ll probably be turning them down on their kind offer.

Dell’s Inspiron 1318 is a much more tempting proposition, with a price tag of just £383 exc VAT putting it dangerously close to netbook territory. Sasha was impressed by the ”portable chassis with great ergonomics and fine battery life – a potent combination”, and more than enough to earn it an award. 

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All the week’s reviews

Friday, November 28th, 2008

In a week dominated by laptops, we also saw ATI launch its latest dual-GPU monster, Getac earn an award for another rugged wonder, and a rather niche new addition to the Sling family.

Laptop frenzy

We were intrigued by the Packard Bell EasyNote BG45-U-300, a portable laptop to take on the netbooks at less than £300 exc VAT – just £50 more than our A-Listed Samsung NC10. Matt reckons it’s perfect “if you’re after a little more oomph and a higher-resolution screen” than a netbook.

If your budget is significantly higher the UK’s first review of Toshiba’s brand new Portégé R600 ultraportable may be more your bag. Tim reckons it can trounce the Macbook Air on most specs – and he’s the editor so we can’t argue. It’s not the prettiest but “its price, integrated 3G modem and low weight all work in its favour.”

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Xobni – it’s brilliant you know

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

I wrote a review about Xobni in the new issue and normally I’d leave it at that – but once again the program’s surprised me by its brilliance.

This morning, I received an email from a reader I hadn’t heard from for a year. How do I know? Not due to my enclopeadic brain (my brain is anything but), but because the moment the email dropped into my inbox it came up with a brief history of my correspondence with him.

As it happens, that’s just two emails – but it’s enough to prompt me to look at the previous emails and give them a quick read.

This is great for me, but for a company that thrives on customer relationships it’s surely invaluable.