Kevin Muldoon

I first saw the Dell XPS One in a Dell shop in Akihabara, Tokyo 2 years ago. At the time I was looking to purchase a new computer and would have loved to have bought it then as the exchange rate of the pound against the yen was pretty good so it made the XPS One a few hundred pounds cheaper than buying it in the UK.

Obviously it isn’t practical to buy something of that size in a foreign country. A laptop is fine because you can just throw away the box and carry the laptop in your bag but you can’t do this with a 24″ monitor. I think customs would want to have a quiet word with you if you walked through arrivals with a massive TV under your jacket!

The XPS is a beautifull machine. Really slick and the monitor is of a very high quality. There’s currently 3 versions of the XPS in the UK. The XPS One has a 20″ screen and costs £1,099. Recently Dell added the XPS One 24, a 24″ version of the XPS One. There are two versions of the XPS One 24. The lower model costs £1,349 whilst the more expensive model starts from £1,799. As is usual with Dell, these prices are for the standard versions of the computer though you have the option to pay more and upgrade most aspects of it.

Dell XPS One – The 20″ Model

Bundled with Windows Vista Home, the cheapest XPS One has a 2.2GHz E4500 Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 320 GB hard drive, DVD ReWriter,Bluetooth, Draft N Wireless Lan, 6 USB Slots (4 at the front, 2 at the back), 8 in 1 card reader, webcam, keyboard, mouse, TV tuner and remote control.

Unfortunately the basic model at £1,099 doesn’t even have a dedicated graphics card, just the integrated graphics from intel. This won’t be an issue for those who don’t play video games a lot but in my opinion, a pc which costs over a grand not having at least a 256MB dedicated graphics card is a joke.

As I said, I found the XPS to be very impressive when I saw it and was considering buying it about a 20 months ago but the basic model seems very underpowered for eleven hundred pounds.

Dell XPS One 24

For me, the XPS One 24 offers better value. An extra £250 will not only get you a much larger screen but a little more power and features.

The £1,349.00 has an improved Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.66GHz, 1066FSB, 3MB cache) processor and a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT dedicated graphics card yet it still only comes with 2GB of RAM. The design of the XPS One 24 is slightly different that the entry model. For example, the design is slightly different and the keyboard and mouse are now wireless and the USB slots are in different places.

Other than that, there is not too much difference between the 24″ and the 20″ models but for me the extra £250 is worth it for the extra screen size and graphics card.

The £1,799.00 model is by far the most powerful computer with the Core 2 Duo processor being replaced by an Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Processor Q8200 (2.33GHz,1333MHz, 4MB cache). The hard drive is slightly larger at 500GB and there is a Blu Ray DVD Rom as well but apart from that the machine has the same specs. Which baffled me as you would expect much more than 2GB of RAM for a quad processor powered machine.

Overview

The XPS is a beautiful machine to look at. The screen, keyboard and mouse look classy and feel really sturdy. All XPS Ones also have a 2 megapixel webcam compared to the 1.3MP webcams most other All In Ones have.

Compared to the other pcs I have looked at the last few days, the XPS One is very expensive. The basic model is £200 more expensive that the HP Touchsmart IQ522 and that has a bigger screen, bigger hard drive, twice as much RAM and touchscreen capabilities. Which is why the XPS is not a machine I will be considering for purchase.

What do you think of the XPS One?

The Apple iMac All In One is available in two screen sizes. You can either have a 20″ or 24″ monitor. There are 4 versions available : 3 of which use the larger 24 inch screen. All versions use an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

The 20″ has a 2.66GHz processor whilst the 24″ models have a 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz and 3.06GHz. They cost £949.00, £1,199.00, £1,499.00 and £1,799.00 respectively.

The iMac has some impressive specifications. All versions have 6MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB, DVD ReWriter, one firewire, 6 USB (4 on the pc and 2 on the keyboard), webcam (isight), keyboard, mouse and OS-X operating system.

The 20″ model comes with 2GB of RAM whereas the 24″ models come with 4GB. All versions can be upgraded to 8GB.

Hard drive space varies between the models too. The 20″ has 320GB, the lower end 24″ models have 640GB whilst the most expensive option will get you one terabyte of hard drive space.

The graphics card is the last difference between the different models. The 2.66Ghz models have a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory, the 2.93Ghz has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and the 3.06Ghz has NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory.

The iMac all in one has been getting great reviews and I was incredibly impressed with the screen when I saw it in the IT shopping centre though I am still a windows guy. I used iMacs in 2002 when I was doing Flash and Photoshop at nightschool and I really didn’t like the operating system.

I have since used it on my friends macs (who, like all mac owners, constantly rave about it) but I am still not convinced. Perhaps I need to get a loan of an imac from a friend and use it for a few days to get used to it as I am open to try a new operating system, I just don’t want to purchase an iMac incase I still hate it after spending so much money!

I’d love to install Leopard (OS-X) on my laptop and try it out but you can only do this using a hack. So as much as I like Apples All In One, I just can’t bring myself to buying it.

p.s. I am aware that you can run windows on a mac easily though id rather just purchase a non mac if I was going to use windows as my primary operating system.

Yesterday I had a brief look at Sony’s All in One PC range, today I want to look at the HP Touchsmart. Although it is technically an All in One PC, it’s probably better described as a home theatre or multimedia system. That’s not to say it isn’t a very cabable computer.

The HP Touchsmart

2 weeks ago I got a chance to play around with the Touchsmart in Bangkok for 15 minutes or so. I have to say that I fell in love with it. Even before I looked at the specifications and the price I was in awe at how user friendly the Touchscreen system was. I had assumed that it would be like some sort of glorified tablet but it actually works incredibly well.

Browsing through music, videos and pictures was very similar to browsing through Apples iTouch or iPhone.

The Touchsmart series has been out for a few years but the two current versions available in the UK are the IQ522 and the IQ820. The IQ522 is the cheaper one at £899.99 with the IQ820 currently costing £1399.99 (There is also a 12″ touchsmart laptop out just now for around £750).

The IQ522 has :

• 22″ Screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6400
• 4GB of RAM
• 500GB Hard Drive
• DVD ReWriter
• NVIDIA GeForce 9300M
• Wireless N Lan
• TV tuner, TV in, S-video in, stereo audio in, IR blaster out
• Wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse
• Webcam and microphone
• HP Vista Media Center Remote Control
• Vista Home Premium 64Bit

The more expensive IQ820 gets you :

• 25.5″ screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7450
• 4GB of RAM
• 640GB Hard Drive
• Blu Ray Player and DVD ReWriter
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS HD 512MB
• Wireless N Lan
• TV tuner, TV in, S-video in, stereo audio in, IR blaster out
• Wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse
• Webcam and microphone
• HP Vista Media Center Remote Control
• Vista Home Premium 64Bit

So basically, for an extra £500 you get a larger screen, more powerful processor, Blu Ray drive, slightly larger hard drive and a better graphics card. I’m not too sure if the IQ820 is worth the extra money as the lower end model is still pretty powerful. Might be worth the extra cash if you are going to be using the system for gaming.

This ad from HP gives an idea of what can be done with the Touchsmart :

Verdict

The lower end model, the IQ522, is something I am seriously considering. At £899.99 it offers pretty good value. It’s a pretty powerful pc, can be used as a TV and as I have mentioned many times before, I was very impressed with the touchscreen feature when I used it.

Hopefully the price of the Touchsmart drops another hundred or so in the next few months to make it that little bit more affordable

Yesterday I spoke about how I am thinking about replacing my main laptop with an All In One PC, a new type of computer which many companies are developing. I am going to have a quick look at the current range of of All In One PC’s which are on the market and see what sort of value they offer.

Sony All in One PCs

Sony have a wide range of All in One pcs, ranging from about £850 way up to £2,500.

Ebuyer, my favourite place to purchase computer equipment, currently have one of the lower models (the JS2E/S) for around £852. That will get you a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 3MB L2 Cache, 3GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS Graphics Card, webcam, 500GB Serial ATA, 7200rpm hard drive and a DVD rewriter. All of which is displayed on a 21″ screen with the obligitary keyboard and mouse combo thrown in.

I’ve had a chance to play around with this basic model and it seems like a good little computer. SonyStyle UK are also selling a top of the range All in One for £2,439.00.

2 and a half grand obviously gets you a lot more power. The VGC-RT2SY boasts :

• A 25.5″ X-black LCD
• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9400 (2.66 GHz and 1333 MHz FSB)
• 1 TB (Serial ATA / 7200rpm) hard disk drive
• 4 GB DDR2-800 SDRAM (2 x 2 GB) (you can upgrade to 12G with 2x6GB modules but I don’t expect that would be cheap!)
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics card
• Blu-ray ReWriter Disc Drive
• Webcam
• 5 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports
• Wireless LAN N

Clearly the superior screen and Core 2 Quad Processor is pushing the price of this model way up as you can get a model with a 24″ screen, 500 GB hard drive and 3 GHz Core 2 Duo processor for around £1,350.

Heres a review video from Computer TV which shows the VGC-JS155J/P in action (they reviewed a nice pink one!) :

Verdict

The top range of Sonys All in One PC range seems very expensive. The bottom range seems quite affordable and seems like a good option if you are not looking for a top of the range graphics card. Though I’m baffled why they never included an HDMI port in the setup, something which would have been great for gamers as they could have hooked up their PS3 or Xbox 360 and use that 20″ screen.

Link : Sony Style

When I was in Bangkok a week or so ago we went to Pantip Plaza, a 6 story shopping centre in the heart of Bangkok that specializes in electronics, gaming, gadgets, audio and computing. I currently have a 15.4″ laptop which I use everyday at home to work and a 8.9″ netbook I use for travelling.

My 15.4″ Asus laptop is close to 2 years old now and whilst it’s still a great laptop, I’d like to upgrade my main pc. Also, after using my 8.9″ HP 2133 for 3 months whilst travelling, I realised that it just isn’t powerful enough to do what I want it to do. It remains a great little netbook but when I am checking emails and working online I want things to open quickly and the processor in the 2133 is really weak.

So I was paying attention to all the latest laptops and pcs whilst browsing around Pantip Plaza.

I’m still a bit of a Sony nut when it comes to laptops (and I don’t know why because they’re always so damn expensive!) and was really impressed with their new Sony P series, Sony’s great little 8″ widescreen laptop which only weighs .64kg. Apparently they designed the keyobard first and then built around that, which is why the screen is widescreen. I was doing my best to lie to myself and justify buying it but I really need my next portable laptop to be more powerful.

Their TT series remains my favourite line of laptops though the basic model starts at £1,500. I do plan on getting a new portable netbook or ultraportable when I travel next time but I’ll perhaps get something a little bit cheaper.

All in one PC’s

2 years ago, one of the main reasons I bought a laptop for my main pc was so that I could take it to a friends, downstairs or sit somewhere else in the house using it if I so wished. After 11 years of using a desktop pc, I was looking forward to having this option. However, since buying it I believe the laptop has been away from my desk about 3 times at most.

Therefore, for my next pc I am considering getting a desktop. Or perhaps, getting an All in One PC. I played around with the HP Touchsmart, Sony All in One, Dell XPS One and the Apple iMac in Bangkok. They were all great machines.

In particular I was impressed with the HP Touchsmart, an all in one which has touch screen capabilities. Browsing through music, pictures and video was just like using an Apple iTouch or iPhone. It would make a great entertainment centre and no doubt a talking piece in someones house.

All in One VS Desktop

I like the design and functionality of All in One PC’s. Though I don’t know if they are a worthwhile investment long term. Computers generally feel out of date after 3-4 years so perhaps it’s a better investment to just buy a shuttle pc and link it to an external monitor. After all, you can now get a 24″ monitor for under £200.

But is this a fair comparison. If an All in One PC is only a few hundred pounds more expensive than an equivalent desktop or laptop then surely having everything in one device makes more sense? I’m still not sure myself so over the next few days I am going to look at the most popular All in One PC’s and see if they offer value for money.

One thing’s for sure, over the next year or so you are going to see more and more All in One PC’s on the market. In particular, you will see an increase in the rise of NetTops, low budget all in one pcs which use the same equipment and chips as the numerous low cost Netbooks which everywhere nowadays.

Asus already have their Asus EEE Top Desktop PC out. For under £400 you get an integrated 15.6″ WP Touchscreen Monitor, Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM 160GB Hard Drive and Webcam. It also has XP Home preinstalled. Not too bad in my opinion. I also read today that MSI Wind is releasing an All in One called the AE1900 in the next few months. I bet we will see many more announcements from rival companies over the next few months.

Seeing as I love Sony laptops so much, I think it’s fitting that my first post to concentrate on a specific All In One should be Sony. I’ll post that tomorrow so stay tuned

I’m a sucker for gadgets, even for ones that are more gimmicky than practical. Though I came across something today which I think a lot of people would find useful.

It’s a wireless USB to VGA adaptor. You can sit up to 30 feet away with your laptop or pc and stream a video, music or even just your desktop to your television.

Here are the specs :

• Connect to a VGA display wirelessly from your PC up to 30 ft. away across the room
• Eliminate the long and unattractive cable runs
• Extend your PC desktop or clone the same content to a remote display
• Up to 720p video streaming from your desktop or laptop (max range 15 ft.)
• Support resolutions up to UXGA (1600 x 1200 pixels) or WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 pixels)
• Easy host selection to switch to another PC* for different video content
• Certified Wireless USB 1.0 compliant
• WiMedia 1.0 MAC and 1.1 PHY compliant

Only problem is this device currently costs $229 USD, a bit expensive for most people. I’m sure the price will come down on this in the next year or so.

Though it would great to see this technology integrated into laptops and TV’s over the next 5 years i.e. allow laptops to send data wirelessly to televisions and develop televisions which can detect this data and display it. Perhaps even with HD quality?

Until then, we will need to keep those long ass cables hanging around.

Link : IOGear Wireless USB to VGA Kit

One of my favourite features of my Nokia N95 8GB is the GPS function. It has helped me on a few occasions, particularly when travelling somewhere I’ve never been before.

The Nokia Maps application is pretty good. It’s a bit slow but it does a good job and I was able to load maps from all over the world onto it. Last night, I was checking where the Phuket Immigration Office was online and tried to find it on my phone so that I could bookmark it. Unfortunately, I could not find the location on Nokia Maps as the map of Phuket Town was incomplete with many smaller streets not being represented.

So I decided to check Google Maps via my phone (using the wifi option). Unlike viewing Google Maps on a laptop, Google asks you to download an installation file for your phone. After installing the file you can then use the application. In my opinion, the software works much better than Nokia Maps. It located the Phuket Immigration Office for me and quickly worked out the directions, distance and time it will take me to get there. Of course, Nokia Maps can do this as well but a lot of the map was missing and it could not find the Immigration Office.

Unfortunately, Google Maps requires a data connection of some kind. So when I travelled there today I could not follow the route it had calculated for me because I wasn’t connected online. This would not be a major problem in the UK as I have a monthly contract and could connect via 3G. However, I am unable to do it in Thailand so the application was a little limited.

So which is better : Google Maps or Nokia Maps? For me, Google Maps is the best application. It works quicker and has more information about the area too. However, it requires a constant connection which is why I think it’s very useful having Nokia Maps installed as a backup. You can download all the maps for free from Nokia so if you do not have a connection, you can still view the map of where you are.

Looking Ahead

In the next year or two we should see more mobile phones with GPS capabilities and we should hopefully see software developers use it in different ways. For example, Google recently launched Google Latitude, a service which lets you tell friends and family where you are. I tried it out today and it looks good. I personally don’t feel the need to let people know where I am 24/7 but it could be very useful in certain situations.

For example, there are many times in the past where I have planned to go out with friends in Glasgow but at the last minute I have had to attend another party or event. If you and you’re friends all signed into Latitude then it would make it much easier to catch up with them later on in the night. I’m sure parents would find this very useful for keeping tabs on their kids too.

I recommend checking out Google Latitude if your phone has GPS

I read the other day that Amazon are releasing the second version of their electronic reader, the Amazon Kindle. It looks like a great little device but I think it’s going to be a few years before this kind of thing is accepted by the masses. Many are suggesting it is the ipod of the book world but at $359 US, I don’t think all book readers will be switching over just yet (bear in mind you can buy a laptop for less than that).

Here are the official specifications :

• Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
• Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
• Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
• Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
• More than 230,000 books available, including more than 105 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
• New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
• Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
• Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• More than 1100 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN’s Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post—all updated wirelessly throughout the day.
• Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces.
• Holds over 200 titles.
• Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
• Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot.
• No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
• Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org.
• Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
• Included in the box: Kindle wireless reader, Book cover, Power adapter, USB 2.0 cable

Although I’m not planning on getting one, I would like to try it out. I brought 6 books with me to Thailand and they take up a lot of room in my bag. If the price comes down within the next two years then I think this is something I would be interested in, specifically when going on holiday or travelling somewhere.

The official video below shows you how it works.

What do you think of the Kindle?

I read today about the addition of video and audio to the chat option in GMail. I use gmail to read the dozen or so email addresses I have and I use the chat every now and then too so this is a nice addition.

Before it was just a basic messenging service but now there is less need to leave the browser and go and use skype. You can download the browser plugin for it at the link below.

Link : See and hear family and friends right inside GoogleMail