AOC i2353Fh 23in IPS LED Monitor
The world’s thinnest IPS monitor also has a budget price. Can this be the best of both worlds?
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 18 February 2012
Price as reviewed £140.00
Overall 9/10
Key Features
- 23in 16:9 E-IPS panel
- 9.2mm thick display
- 1920 x 1080 Native Resolution
- 178 degree viewing angles
- 5ms GTG response time
- 2x 2W speakers
- Dual HDMI input
AOC i2353Fh 23in IPS LED Monitor
The tech sector moves so quickly it can be hard to know when to take the next step. IPS panel monitors are a perfect example: just a few years ago a 23in model would have been aimed at professionals, measured several inches thick and typically cost in excess of £500. Today we have a 23in IPS monitor, thinner than a smartphone, retailing for under £150 and targeting everyone. Is it time to take that step?
One look at AOC’s ‘i2353Fh’ would certainly suggest as much. AOC has long been known for its budget products (and they haven’t always fared well in our hands), but the i2353Fh is the first model we have seen which truly aims to punch above its weight. As such the first surprising figures don’t come from the screen, but the design.
The i2353Fh has dimensions (with the base) of 558 x 389 x 185 mm which is wholly unremarkable, but a weight of just 2.49Kg raises eyebrows and at 9.2mm deep the thickness of the display is positively jaw dropping. As far as we are aware, this is currently the thinnest IPS monitor in the world. Naturally enough AOC has pulled some strings to achieve this – the PSU is a power brick on the cable and inputs are in the chunky base (actually making them easier to connect/disconnect) – but the end result is no less stunning. Combined with its slim bezel, brushed aluminium finish and deliberately subtle AOC logo it will be a piece of design nirvana for minimalists and fans of Apple’s design philosophy.
Then again like any supermodel, the i2353Fh does suffer from moments of dizziness under close inspection. Most practically is the i2353Fh’s limited adjustability. It has a limited 18 degree tilt angle (-4 to 14 degrees), but there is no height adjustment or pivot. Being so light the latter isn’t a huge problem and a book will solve the former, but the omission of both is certainly disappointing, if understandable at this price. In addition, while the i2353Fh looks superb in general, there are inconsistencies in the finish and build materials which take away some gloss. For example the bezel is brushed aluminium, the neck has a mirror finish and the base is matt silver and plastic. Nice but not exactly a new dawn in product design.
Monitor Audio i-deck 200
Producing audiophile sound quality for a budget price may sound too good to be true, but it isn’t…
Monitor Audio i-deck 200
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 13 February 2012
Price as reviewed £249.95
Key Features
- 2.2 dual speaker, dual sub configuration
- 140W total output
- Automatic Position Correction (APC)
- Integrated 28/56bit dual processing DAC
- Floating dock
Value. It has arguably become the most important score in reviews. A product can be good or bad, but if it is impressive in relation to its price then that alone can turn an average device into a highly desirable one. So what about an excellent product that has had its price slashed?
The Monitor Audio i-deck 200 is such a case. The big brother to the £299 i-deck 100 we reviewed in October, it has had its original £400 RRP spectacularly cut to £250. This not only makes it cheaper than the i-deck 100 launch price (itself now cut to £200), but places it in an entirely new price bracket. This poses two important questions: do we have a £400 dock for £250, or an overpriced dock that is now closer to its true value?
Out of the box signs certainly suggest the former. The i-deck 200 is very well built. Its curved design is similar to the JBL OnBeat and TEAC Aurb SR-100i, but the finish – despite the use of plastics, instead of wood or metals, is far superior to both. The triangular patterned rear is a notable talking point (as is the questionable inspiration for the glossy front gap which separates the speakers), but the quality of the thick, rubberised base, well fitted panels, reassuring power and volume buttons and smart, Zeppelin-esque spring loaded floating dock mount are beyond question.
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In particular the dock is worth attention. By floating clear of the speaker’s body it does away with the need for different inserts for specific iDevices and it is strong enough to hold an iPad – a product many docks can’t accommodate. Furthermore the sprung dock connector both holds iDevices securely against the rubberised back and, like the arms on spring loaded glasses, allows them to be removed easily and without risk of damage. Should the dock connector break, the unit can even be swapped out without needing to send back the entire dock. Clever.
Loewe Soundbox
Can Loewe marry design prowess and acoustic bliss with this premium CD playing iPod dock?
Loewe Soundbox
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 08 February 2012
Price as reviewed £449.00, Overall: 6/10
Key Features
- 2.0 speaker system
- CD player & FM radio
- Apple dock connector
- Interchangeable top finish
- Universal remote operates Loewe TVs & DVD players
Technology and style are concepts many companies are only starting to realise go hand in hand, but this accusation could never be levelled at Loewe. The German manufacturer has long married both concepts producing visually arresting products with similarly jaw dropping price tags. The approach has served the company well in its traditional TV and AV equipment lines, but does it translate to iPod docks?
We were lucky enough to be the first UK site to get our hands on the Loewe Soundbox and it makes an immediate impression. Removed from its packaging, the it is 100 per cent Loewe: striking, polarising and individual. At 470 x 190 x 58mm, 6.1Kg and decidedly rectangular, the ‘box’ aspect to the Soundbox is certainly true. Meanwhile typical Loewe styling comes in the form of a near-retro dot-matrix-esque LCD display, long line of physical control buttons and the ‘feature wall’ top which comes with a textured hard metal inset. Being Loewe the top is interchangeable and can be swapped out for an array of different colours “to suit any décor”.
Functionality is more traditional. An iPod dock is the primary means of connectivity, but it is complimented by USB, an auxiliary input and a headphone socket. Also packed in are an FM radio with RDS and a slot loading CD player. For audiophiles who struggle to see the value of lossy codecs and lament the demise of their extensive CD collections this will be a key feature.
Interestingly Loewe continues its trick of using proprietary universal remotes and the Soundbox remote can also control Loewe TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players. As such the Soundbox remote is as big as one for a TV and contains a lot of additional functionality such as EPG and PIP (picture-in-picture) buttons, record controls and more. This is handy if you already own Loewe equipment, but unnecessarily complicates usage if you don’t.
What about the beating heart of the Soundbox?
Amphion+Nuforce Helium 410 System
One of the best 2.0 systems money can buy, which means a. lot. of money.
Amphion+Nuforce Helium 410 System
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 06 February 2012
Price as reviewed £899.00
Overall 8/10
Key Features
- 2.0 80W two way, vented speakers
- Amp & USB DAC
- UDD sound dispersion technology
- Optical, coaxial and USB input
Finland is a famously quiet country. Courses in small talk are popular and with the lowest population density in Europe (just 41 people per square mile), it could be argued much of Finns’ taciturn nature is by consequence not design. As such it makes perfect sense that a Finnish speaker maker would go against the grain and promote the quietness of its latest speaker ahead of its volume.
The ‘Helium 410′ represents a new ‘entry level’ 2.0 arrangement in Amphion’s audiophile product range and it comes with a simple philosophy: what you hear at low volume is just as (if not more) important than what you hear when it’s loud. The theory is solid, more often than not you cannot blast your speakers due to family and neighbours. It also exposes a dirty industry secret: many speakers need to be blasted before they come alive. The obvious question is whether this is just a marketing ploy?
Certainly straight out the box the Helium 410s are unusual. They eschew the traditional use of wood and instead are constructed from a composite material available in a matt black or white finish. The effect is unusual – perhaps even polarising – but the build quality is exceptional, which is unsurprising given all Amphion speakers are handmade. A nice touch is the metal speaker grills are removable and available in a wide collection of colours should you fancy a change.
Key to the 410s is their versatility. Each speaker weighs 3.5Kg and measures 259 x 132 x 220mm making them small enough to use as desktop speakers, yet substantial enough to hook up to your TV. The former role is assisted by a focus on near field listening, while Amphion promotes the 410′s ’3-dimensional soundstaging’ and correct placement of voices to make them equally at home in the latter.
Orange Tahiti Android Tablet
Orange has a new approach to selling tablets which is both a bargain and a rip-off. Why? Find out in my reviews of Orange Tahiti for TrustedReviews and Mobile Choice. A sample of my review for Mobile Choice is below:
Orange Tahiti Android tablet
- Gordon Kelly (for Mobile Choice)
- 20 January 2012
Apple shocked the market when its iPad tablet didn’t cost as much as a small car, and now consumers expect to get good prices when shopping for slates. As such Orange has surprised everyone by releasing the Orange Tahiti tablet – the cheapest and yet most expensive tablet on the market.
The Cheapest, but most expensive tablet
This confusion comes because the Orange Tahiti (aka Huawei MediaPad) pushes a concept that remains relatively new in the UK: tablets on contract. It is cheap because for £69 this dual-core, seven-inch, 3G-equipped Android tablet can be yours. It’s expensive because it requires the signing of a two-year, £25 per month data contract that provides 2GB of data per month and brings the total cost of ownership to £669. That is £10 more than a 64GB iPad 2 with 3G.
So is the Tahiti a bargain? Yes and no.
Why it seems a bargain
Fighting for a yes verdict are the build quality, features and specification. On the outside the Tahiti is very well made. The design may not be inspiring, but the metal sides and rounded rear hark back to the original iPhone while the drilled speaker, power and mini HDMI ports could have come straight off an iPhone 4S (if Apple supported HDMI). Inside the Tahiti impresses too with a dual core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of native storage that can be enlarged by a further 32GB thanks to a microSD card slot.
Switch the Tahiti on and the positive impressions continue. For once Orange hasn’t burdened a product with its gaudy themes and bloatware apps and the Android 3.0-based Tahiti is far better off for it, especially with Hauwei promising an upgrade to Android 4.0 in February.
Continue reading on Mobile Choice
(Link to my review of the Tahiti for TrustedReviews)
Libratone Live AirPlay Speaker
Beautifully designed, individual, intuitive and excellent sound quality, so why does this AirPlay speaker fractionally miss the mark?
Libratone Live AirPlay Speaker review
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 26 January 2012
Price as reviewed: £599.99
Overall score - 8/10
Key Features
- AirPlay enabled
- 150W total output
- Chrome, wood & (optional) cashmere wool finish
- No dock/device charging
Chances are your current phone looks like your last phone and in turn it will look like your next phone. With the introduction of Ultrabooks the same could be said for laptops in a few years, while TVs continue their evolution into a single, wafer-thin piece of glass. We’re not saying these transformations aren’t desirable, or at least understandable, but it is getting a bit dull. One sector where there is still room for design creativity is audio with unusual speakers and docks appearing on a regular basis and Libratone exemplifies this more daring dynamic to the full …
Following on from its impressive if expensive Lounge, it has launched the Libratone Live – a smaller, relatively more affordable, equally stylish speaker for your iPhone or iPod. In tech spec terms this means dimensions of 47 x 19.5 x 15cm and 6.5Kg verses 100 x 22 x 12cm and 12Kg, £599 verses £1,099 and the same premium build materials with a casing primarily made of wood and covered in wool. Most intriguing, however, is that despite the size and cost differences the Live matches the 150W output of the Lounge and that makes it a very interesting product indeed.
Before we get to audio though, let’s get back to style. Coming from the same family the Live may look like the Lounge, but otherwise it looks like no other speaker on the market. Taking it out the box you are initially struck by the weight (it is 300g heavier than a Zeppelin Air), but this quickly gives way to curiosity when you realise what appears to be a wool cover is in fact the finish of the speaker itself. This doesn’t immediately make a strong first impression – our unit was covered with pieces of foam from its packaging which had to be meticulously picked out – but you quickly warm to this softer, tactile surface which gives it warmth and even friendliness that is lacking from the myriad of cold, piano black devices that flood the market. It is as if a Toblerone packet and a teddy bear had offspring.
As mentioned, this finish is common to the Lounge, but where it differs for its big brother is its portrait orientation (which despite its overall size gives it a footprint smaller than many speakers) and a Chrome handle on the rear which provides an element of portability. Minimalism is again central to the Live with a 3.5mm jack the only input and no dock or device charging available. Instead how the Live connects is with AirPlay. Apple’s lossless, wireless streaming protocol is a wonderfully elegant and dongle-free technology, but can be frustratingly complex to setup. Thankfully, given the Live’s lack of other connectivity, it has produced the most intuitive process to date (see video above), so you’ll be up and running within minutes. Continue reading
Teac NS-X1 AirPlay Speaker Dock
Slim, affordable, stylish and AirPlay equipped so why does it all go so horribly wrong?
Teac NS-X1 AirPlay Speaker Dock
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 18 January 2012
Price as reviewed: £199.00
Overall score - 5/10
Key Features
- AirPlay
- Internet Radio
- WiFi (802.11b/g)
- 2x 10W speakers with Bass reflex
- Ethernet Port
Teac deserves a lot of credit. The Japanese company may not set pulses racing, but it has exceptional distribution channels making it one of the most visible tech brands on the UK high street. Its products aren’t without merit either, particularly in the dog-eat-dog sector of iPod docks where the Aurb and Mini Aurb have been notable highlights in recent years. Unfortunately 2012 isn’t off to such a good start…
The NS-X1 looks great on paper. Teac markets it as “the coolest, slimmest AirPlay System” and from a superficial perspective it has a point. Measuring just 55mm deep at its thickest point (9.5mm at its thinnest), the NS-X1 is certainly the most svelte AirPlay equipped dock we’ve seen to date and weighs only 2.1Kg. It also has a clean, almost retro, design aesthetic. For those living under a rock, AirPlay is Apple’s proprietary wireless streaming technology that allows Macs, iPads, iPods and iPhones to stream lossless quality audio to any AirPlay equipped speaker without the need for dongles or additional peripherals.
The trouble is high costs have limited adoption of AirPlay and products which do feature it often have high asking prices. Again the NS-X1 scores well here, coming in at under £200. Teac further raises the value of the NS-X1 with built in Internet Radio and PC streaming while the design is fully wall mountable. The NS-X1 stereo speakers aren’t earth shattering at just 2x 10W with Bass reflex, though an FM tuner, auxiliary and Ethernet inputs, DLNAcompatibility and a bright OLED display suggest value for money.
Sadly, much as you should never judge a book by its cover, you should never judge a product by its spec sheet. While the NS-X1 looks the part, a closer look reveals the dock to be poorly constructed. This is a device built from top to bottom with low grade plastics: display, speaker grill, buttons, everything. The NS-X1 doesn’t feel as if it will fall apart in your hands, but hold it near its ports and the rear section creaks and clacks – the latter a sound that also describes the noise of using the control buttons along the top. The whole experience feels like an exercise in cost cutting.
Synology DiskStation DS411slim
Critics lambaste the value of NAS with 2.5in drives, but Synology has shown how to make a corker.
Synology DiskStation DS411slim
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 05 January 2012
Price: £229.00
Scores in detail
- Design
-
9/10
- Features
-
9/10
- Value
-
8/10
- Overall
-
9/10
Thin is in. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking laptops, tablets, phones or TVs, these days less is considered more and that even applies to the humble NAS. As such we find ourselves testing the Synology DiskStation DS411slim, an evolution of the excellent (if rather chunky) DS411j.
While not strictly a successor (the DS411j supports 4x 3.5in HDDs, the slim just 4x 2.5in) the design of the DS411slim shows just how important svelte lines have become to all aspects of technology. Gone are the DS411j’s white and beige colouring to be replaced by a mixture of matt and gloss black and the jutted front of the DS411j is replaced by a more rectangular and minimalist form factor. The slim also lives up to its name: disk free it measures just 120 X 105 X 142 mm and weighs 660g. All in all the slim is about as attractive a NAS as we can remember, build quality is top notch and drives bays slot in without the need for screws. If this is a glimpse of the styling Synology will use across future lines then it bodes very well indeed.
Equally promising is what Synology has done on the inside. Compared to the heftier DS411j, the slim has received a decent processor bump from 1.2GHz to 1.6GHz while memory has been upgraded from 128MB of DDR2 RAM to 256MB of DDR3. Just a single 60 x 60 x 10mm fan sees the slim produce a barely detectable 21.1dB of noise, though this will change depending on the noise of each drive you add.
Of course here we hit a snag inherent in any 2.5in-only NAS: capacity and cost. For while the DS411Slim is small, light and quiet and can hold four drives, the most capacious 2.5in HDD is just 1TB. This means a maximum internal capacity of 4TB, or 3TB with redundancy. With 4TB 3.5in HDDs now shipping a larger 3.5in compatible NAS with four bays can hit 16TB. 2.5in drives are also far more expensive per gigabyte so you’ll be paying more for less. It is worth noting the slim has two USB 2.0 ports and one eSATA for connecting additional external drives, but such extra bulk would ruin the point of buying a sleek NAS in the first place. The key message is to remember Synology is selling the NAS equivalent of an iPad nano, not a Classic. Continue Reading
Sony Tablet P
Update: Also find my thoughts on the Tablet P for Mobile Choice here.
Sony has created a radical dual screen, clamshell Android tablet. Can it possibly work?
Sony Tablet P (Overall: 6/10)
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 15 December 2011
Key Features
- Two 5.5in, 1,024 x 768 screens
- Android operating system
- Curved clamshell design
- Nvidia Tegra 2 Platform, Dual Core 1GHz CPUs
Sony is weird. This isn’t an insult, but objective fact. Daring to be different, challenging convention and stubbornly standing its ground has resulted in numerous industry changing products and created a multinational conglomerate with over $150bn in assets and nearly 170,000 staff. On the other hand it can be really weird…
The Tablet P is a perfect example of Sony at its most creative and most infuriating. The smaller brother of the more conventional Tablet S, the Sony Tablet P takes what we know about tablets and rips up the rule book. Consequently we have a tablet which has two screens, folds in the middle and adopts a landscape clamshell form factor more associated with older smartphones like the Nokia Communicator. However bizarre the Tablet P make look, however, the methodology is simple: maximum mobility.
At 180 x 158 x 22mm this means the Tablet P, while still too big for a trouser pocket, can just about be carried in a jacket or coat. That said at 372g the Tablet P isn’t the lightest tablet around as the more conventional Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus weighs a mere 345g. As such we don’t completely buy Sony’s claims about revolutionary portability, but that makes it no less interesting.
The Tablet P gets even more interesting up close. The company has opted for a sandblasted aluminium look for the P’s curved exterior and while the build materials are actually plastic it feels hard wearing and well built. The rear also comes off to reveal a welcome removable battery and a microSD slot and the hinge is extremely sturdy, opens and closes with a gentle magnetic pull and should last well beyond the device’s lifetime.
HTC Rhyme
Is HTC’s latest attempt to smartphone that appeals to women successful, or even necessary?
HTC Rhyme Android smartphone
- Gordon Kelly (for Mobile Choice)
- 12/12/2011
Pros: Slick design, unique accessories make the Rhyme stand out from the pack, and *whisper it* there is female appeal
Cons: Poor camera, mediocre call quality, overpriced for the performance it musters
| Look and Feel |   |
| Ease of use | |
| Features | |
| Performance | |
| Battery life | |
Verdict: The HTC Rhyme would be a welcome and unique mid-range phone, but unless you find a cheap contract deal it’s far too expensive for what it offers
Approaching women. Just the phrase is enough to make grown men tremble. When young, the most common solution is to pretend it isn’t an approach at all, and since it was formed in 1997, it’s clear HTC is one terrified teen. According to the Taiwanese firm, the HTC Rhyme isn’t targeting women. It just so happens to come in purple/dark pink, have matching accessories and bundle a ‘Charm’ indicator for your bag that provides soft glowing pink notifications to signal incoming calls and messages. What? Clearly the Charm could be for a briefcase!
.jpg "HTC Rhyme - plum")
Fashion sense
To HTC’s credit, while it may hide the Rhyme’s true audience under a pile of politically correct marketing rhetoric, it doesn’t talk down to them. The Rhyme keeps pace with the Taiwanese manufacturer’s increasingly adept design aesthetic, creating a smartphone that cleverly blends the flat fascia and rear with heavily rounded corners and gently curved sides. This produces a handset that is equally pleasant on the eye as in the hand. It is what an iPhone 4S might feel like if it were left in a stream for a thousand years.
It isn’t all good news though. HTC describes the Rhyme as having a unibody design, but the 3.7-inch screen and bezel are clearly separate from the rest of the metallic fascia and the rear is in three parts. The lowest of these slides off to reveal the (non-removable) battery, microSD and SIM card slots. The problem is it’s so flimsy it could be snapped in one hand.
Specs
Thankfully, the Rhyme isn’t all show and no go. Squarely positioned as a mid-market device, HTC has equipped it with a single-core 1GHz processor, a healthy 768MB of RAM and 1GB of internal storage bolstered by an 8GB microSD card for the 32GB compatible slot. The record and snap brigade are sated with a five-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash as well as a VGA front-facing camera and 720p HD video recording. DLNA is thrown in too so you can wirelessly stream media to DLNA compatible TVs, consoles and DVD/Blu-ray players.
Meanwhile, connectivity is decent too. Continue reading