Gadgets | 6,346 views

21st January 2013 – I got one of the coolest Bluetooth gadgets today for my Samsung Galaxy S2. It is a wireless bluetooth speaker. Small enough to pack in a bag, light enough to carry anywhere, perfect for any room big or small. I tested it out in my bathroom while I was in the shower, my phone was connected to the speaker from my bedroom. Like all Bluetooth devices it has a 10m range and it worked perfectly even through a closed door.

I also connected the speaker from my computer, which is in turn connected to my NAS that holds all my music. Freaking awesome is all I can say.

It comes with a charge cable, micro-usb on one end, normal USB on the other end. It also has a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable for connecting with wire. There are three buttons on the speaker. A play/pause button, volume up and volume down, two sets of lights, one for charging (red) and the other for Bluetooth connectivity and it comes in a nice jar with a lid.

Best of all it cost only £39.99.

29th July 2012 – Its been a while since I updated this page. My Zektor HDMI5 switch box packed up after 4 years of every day use. It was an excellent HDMI, Optical Switch for my various multimedia, tv and consoles.

I noticed a while back when playing PS3 that the sound was not coming through the speakers correctly. It would take ages for the sound to work. It was like the Zektor had to warm up. Over time it got worse and worse and I replaced my cables, changed HDMI ports to no avail. One night in late June the Zektor gave up completely. It had lasted 4 years and 6 months so I had a good run with it.

I thought of replacing it but soon discovered this particular model was discontinued. I asked my friends what they were using to switch between multiple HDMI devices and two of my friends pointed me in the direction of AV Receivers. I had never given them a thought until now and when I started to look into them I realized that this was going to be my next super gadget. There are so many to choose from but in the end it all came down to some simple mathematics.

These are the HDMI devices that I currently have: SKY+HD, Mede8er media centre, PS3, Xbox360, Panasonic HD cameras, Smartphones and HP laptop. They all can be plugged in with ease. This is what I got.

• Onkyo TX NR-616 – Specifications Page
  

  • HX® Select2 Plusâ„¢ Certified
  • HDMI® Support for 3D, Audio Return Channel, DeepColorâ„¢, x.v.Colorâ„¢, LipSync, Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audioâ„¢, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD, Multichannel PCM, and CEC
  • Three-Stage Inverted Darlington Circuitry
  • HDMI Video Upscaling to 4K with Qdeoâ„¢ Technology by Marvell
  • MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) for Smart Phone Content on HDTV
  • Direct Digital Connection of iPod/iPhone via Front-Panel USB Port
  • Picture-in-Picture Input Source Preview with InstaPrevueâ„¢ Technology
  • Internet Radio and Cloud Music Streaming Service Connectivity (Last.fm, MP3tunes, Spotify, AUPEO!, Simfy, vTuner)*1
  • Playback of Audio Files Through Local Network (MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, LPCM)
  • Supports Onkyo Remote Apps for iPod touch/iPhone*2 and Android Phone*3
  • Audyssey DSXâ„¢ and Dolby® Pro Logic® IIz for Expanded Surround Channels
  • Overlaid On-Screen Display (OSD) with Quick Set-Up and Home Menu
  • Powered Zone 2 and Zone 2/3 Line-Outs for Distributed Audio Playback in Multiple Rooms

  

  

29th of June 2005 – My NAS Drives / Servers – There are a whole host of Network Storage Devices, so choosing one of these needs a lot of research, and time to decide which is the right one to get. I had a Synology DS-106e, until it decided to play up. Now I have the Synology CS407 , which has 4 drives for plenty of space.

In the drivers I have 4 x Samsung HD753LJ – 750GB SATA2 hard disks, which I bought for the CS407. – These drives are excellent, fast and work really well in the Synology C2407.