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Review: HP Slate 7 Android tablet
The other day Vulture Central was visited by HP with a Google chap in tow. We were treated to a couple of HP products: the new Slate 7 Android tablet and the company’s latest Chromebook, which we’d already seen as it happens.
The smart-looking seven-inch, dual-processor-core tablet appeared to have little to distinguish it from …
Review: Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch Ultrabook
When it comes to handing out Windows 8 laptops to the UK reviewers, Samsung has been surprisingly glacial. Whether this is another Apple emulation strategy to become more elusive or a sign of hesitancy to have the brand tarnished by Windows 8’s underwhelming reception, is unclear.
The hardware was paraded at CES 2013 five months …
Review: Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 WinPro 8 tablet
Vid In the UK, Panasonic is not known as a high-street PC player - but the company’s Tough range of products makes quite an impression in the world of business.
Out in the field you’ll spot them in the hands of BT engineers and the like where the manufacturer's rugged laptops, and now tablets, survive the rigours of white-van man …
Review: Corsair Voyager Air 1TB wireless hard drive
Corsair has made a name for itself offering solid-state drives, fast memory and other components to fit inside high-performance PCs.
But its latest product takes the supplier out of its comfort zone and into the world of smartphones and tablets. It also carries the company into the network-attached storage arena.
It’s a good …
Review: Disgo 8400G 7.9in Android tablet
A 7.9in Jelly Bean Android tablet with 3G connectivity for £150? There has to be a catch, right? Absolutely. The catch with the Disgo 8400G is that you’ve probably never heard of the company before...
Now, this could mean you’ll be ahead of the game with the next big thing in affordable fondleslabs if you bought one. However, …
Review: Asus PadFone 2 phone-tablet combo
I thought the first Asus PadFone was a jolly good idea the moment I clapped eyes on it. Sadly it never made it to these shores but the PadFone 2 has. In a nutshell, what we have here is an Android smartphone that can be docked into a dumb tablet giving you not only a choice of two screen sizes but also the convenience of one …
Review: Kobo Arc Android tablet
As pocketable Android tablets gather momentum and e-reader manufacturers look to offer a more flexible platform, the twilight zone where both meet is certainly looking lively.
A criticism of Amazon’s Kindle Fire e-book-meets-Android offerings is the company’s imposition of a walled garden for installing apps: you have to …
Review: HP ElitePad 900 Atom tablet
If HP’s ElitePad 900 is anything to go by, not everybody expects a business Windows 8 Pro Atom tablet to be a pocketable wafer. You only have to hold it in your hand to get the impression that this model has been built for endurance rather than designed as a fashion accessory. That’s not to say that it doesn’t look good, quite …
Review: Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2
I’ve tried out quite a few variations on the Windows 8 theme just lately – touchscreen notebooks mainly – but I’ve been dabbling with Boot Camp and virtual machine incarnations on the desktop too but without the finger friendliness. So trying out Lenovo’s business-centric ThinkPad Tablet 2 seemed like it would be an easy …
Review: Seagate Wireless Plus Wi-Fi hard drive
In the week Apple finally released an iPad with a storage capacity greater than 64GB - double that; 128GB to be precise - Seagate made its Wireless Plus available. Of course, if Apple’s Flash mark-up wasn’t so colossal, or it had had the wit to either built a Micro SD port into its tablets or allow USB mass storage devices to …
Review: Dell XPS 10 Windows RT tablet and dock
Windows RT: unholy fondleslab abomination or clever integration of a grown-up desktop and touch-friendly tablet UI? Opinions veer wildly and violently between one and the other extreme.
The newest and first non-Nvidia Tegra 3 receptacle for Microsoft’s alleged problem child is Dell’s Asus Transformer-esque XPS 10. On paper, and …
Review: HP ENVY x2 Windows 8 convertible
The flourishing market for tablet computers has left people wanting more. Those using tablets at work invariably end up buying a keyboard and regularly curse the limitations of a mobile operating system. Those using a Windows laptop at work often wish they could occasionally dispense with the keyboard for convenient touchscreen …
Review: Vodafone Smart Tab II 7 budget 3G tablet
Tablets with 3G connectivity continue to command what I think is an unreasonable premium over their Wi-Fi only siblings. Granted, the 3G Google Nexus 7 is only 40 quid more than the equivalent Wi-Fi model but you can’t have 3G at all with the cheaper, 16GB tablet. The 3G iPad Mini, meanwhile, carries a £100 mark-up.
Vodafone …
Review: Dell XPS 12 Windows 8 tablet-cum-Ultrabook
Making a laptop with a screen that spins within its bezel isn’t a new idea. Early in 2011, Dell tried the trick with its Inspiron Duo netbook, but sadly that proved to be a woefully poor device. Now Dell is trying again, this with Ultrabook hardware and Windows 8 as the basic ingredients.
It helps that, unlike the Duo, the new …
Review: Apple Mac Mini 2012
Update On 10 December 2012, Apple posted the called for Mac Mini HDMI-centric firmware update, after this review was written and published. We will be testing the machine with the new code, and will report back here shortly.
I should say right up front that, much as I quite like the Mac Mini’s form-factor, looks and, more particularly …
Samsung Google Nexus 10 tablet review
Why would you buy a tablet other than an iPad? Obviously, some don’t care for Apple’s locked-in system and others like the way users can dig more deeply into the workings of Android. Good enough reasons, sure, but the truth is that until the day dawns when a tablet is of comparable specification, but substantially cheaper than …
Kobo Glo illuminated e-reader review
Kobo’s Glo is yet another of the current wave of e-readers with what amounts to a backlit screen.
Yes, the light isn’t situated behind the screen, but let’s not split hairs. The system works by shining LED light through the screen and bouncing it back off a reflective layer toward the reader, but the effect is much the same. …
ViewSonic VSD220 22in Android mega tablet
Depending on how you might want to look at it, the ViewSonic VSD220 is either an expensive 22in monitor or an inexpensive tethered Android tablet. But then you'd be missing the point: it's actually both and neither. It's an unusual mashup for which ViewSonic deserves credit simply by giving it a go.
ViewSonic VSD220 Android AIO …
Kobo Mini 5in compact e-reader review
If you think the Kindles and Nooks of this world are too large, Kobo has an alternative: the Mini, a pocket-sized e-ink e-reader with a 5in screen.
Kobo Mini Kobo's Mini: pocket friendly for your e-paperbacks
Most e-readers out there have 6in panels, but the Mini’s is no less readable for the reduction in size. Kobo’s own 6in …
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
Kindle came first, of course, but is it the best ebook reader still? After all, there is a wide range of alternatives from multi-talented colour-screen machines like the Google Nexus 7, Kindle’s own Fire and Fire HD models and now the iPad mini. Those are designed to offer greater versatility with apps galore. But they lack the …
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7in Android tablet review
Carl Jung once wrote that a beautiful woman is a terrible disappointment. And so it is with Amazon's long awaited (it's been a year) British release of its Kindle Fire 7in tablets. Having pre-ordered the top-end 32GB Fire HD model, I was thrilled when I found it waiting for me at home and excited as I tore open the box, but grew …
Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi only tablet review
I didn’t get the iPad at first. When the tablet was first announced, I was interested but couldn’t see the value to me. I had an e-book reader, I had a phone on which I could watch films while travelling and listen to music, and I had a laptop for everything else. Why, I wondered, did I need a tablet too?
I was happy to take …
Apple iPad Mini 8in tablet review
Hitting the Apple Store shelves a whole week after Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD tablets began arriving in the post, and two months after Google launched the Asus-made Nexus 7, the iPad Mini deserves to suffer in comparison. Even Google managed to slip a new 32GB version of its Nexus 7 under the radar at the beginning of the week …
Acer Iconia A110 8GB Android tablet review
Acer’s Iconia A110 7in Android tablet is the first real competition that Google's Nexus 7 has faced. It’s similarly sized, similarly priced and uses the same quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 underpinnings. It also runs the same Jelly Bean version of Android.
Acer Iconia A110 8GB Android tablet Lucky seven? Acer's Iconia A110
The main …
Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight e-reader review
Review It’s not hard to imagine how Barnes & Noble’s Nook Simple Touch initial design meeting went. Assorted hardware engineers, industrial designers and marketing types assemble to examine Amazon’s Kindle Touch and work out how they can make something better.
And they have. On almost all points, the Simple Touch - and the Simple Touch …
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review
I’ve no idea what the Korean is for “let’s stuff everything we can into a phone and ram it up Apple’s jacksie” but it’s a fair bet the phrase was used at the inception of the Galaxy Note 2. This Android handset is the feature-packed successor to the surprisingly successful Galaxy Note that I was quite taken with late last year …
Toshiba AT300 10in Android tablet review
To date Toshiba’s Android tablets have barely made a ripple let alone a splash in the fondleslab market but the new AT300 may change that. A replacement for the AT200 – that I failed to get excited about earlier in the year – the new device is cheaper and, thanks to its Tegra 3 underpinnings, considerably more powerful.
Toshiba …
Acer Iconia Tab A700 32GB HD Android tablet review
If you're looking for a cheap 10in Tegra 3 Android tablet, I'd say buy an Acer A510. If you want one with a 1080p screen and have deep pockets, then take a look at the Asus Transformer Infinity. Now, if you want something in between, with the Infinity’s screen resolution but the A520’s relative affordability, well, that's a …
Archos 101 XS 10.1in Android tablet review
Archos has built a decent business making budget Android tablets, so I suspect the word 'merde' echoed loudly around the Igny HQ when Google pulled the rug asunder with its low Nexus 7 pricing. Archos hasn’t given up though and has now released a new device pitched as a budget alternative to the Asus Transformer Pad.
Archos …
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet review
Remember your first touchscreen? If it was a personal organiser or satnav, chances are it used a pressure-sensitive, resistive screen. If it was a Palm, you probably had a stylus to pick out letters onscreen. The arrival of capacitive screens that responded to human touch certainly made an impression and now account for nearly …
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 64GB Android tablet review
When it comes to tablets, it seems Asus is on a bit of a roll. In my estimation, its Transformer Pad is the best value 10-incher on the market and, lest we forget the company makes the altogether excellent Nexus 7 for Google. There is no sign of Asus resting on its laurels either, if its latest Transformer device is anything to …
Amazon Kindle Touch Wi-Fi eBook reader review
Having so many unread books at home, the Amazon Kindle and its numerous variants never really captured my imagination. I just wasn’t that fussed about e-Books and using them was a slow burn, starting with iBooks on my iPhone – I’m blessed with good eyesight – followed by musing over tomes on an iPad 2.
Amazon Kindle Touch e- …
Acer Iconia Tab A510 10in Android review
In my view, the 16GB Google Nexus 7 is pretty much the ideal Android tablet, but if that form factor is too small for you, then you might be interested in what Acer has cooked up lately. Say hello then to the Iconia Tab A510. Targeted at those who want a quad-core machine, it offers a 10.1in screen, 32GB of storage and for a …
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Review Judging by the lawsuits flying around, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been the only Android tablet to seriously worry Apple. Quite why is a mystery, because it has sold in nothing like the numbers of the iPad. Will the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 prove more of a threat by being cheaper rather than better?
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Take …
Google Nexus 7 Android tablet
Review Amazon may have done more that most to get Android onto tablets, but Google's Nexus 7 tablet, built by Asus, isn't so much a shot across the bows as a full torpedo attack on Jeff Bezos' ambitions in the fondleslab market.
Google Nexus 7 Android tablet Amazon attack: Google's Nexus 7, built by Asus
At £159 ($199) for the 8GB …
Asus Transformer Pad TF300
Review It’s no secret that I like the Asus Transformer Prime a lot. Still, £500 is a lot for a tablet even if it does go like the clappers, is made of aluminium and has a cracking keyboard dock with a built-in extra battery.
Asus Transformer Pad Can you tell Pad from Prime at a glance? No
Asus has now addressed that issue by …
Belkin YourType Folio
Accessory of the Week There’s no shortage of iPad keyboard cases to choose from, but this one from Belkin, designed for the new iPad, has a neat trick up its sleeve: the keyboard is detachable, held in place by Velcro.
Belkin YourType Folio
That might not sound like a big deal, but it allows you to vary both the angle of the iPad’s screen and the …
Knomo Folio iPad 3 case
Accessory of the Week Apple’s magnetic Smart Cover is very clever, but it’s far from perfect. For one thing, it doesn't protect the back of the iPad. And if you’re anything like me and habitually leave your iPad on a kitchen counter or table, you’ll have found that its not as immune from scratching as you might have thought.
Knomo Folio iPad 3 case …
Adonit Jot Flip precision tablet stylus
Geek Treat of the Week "If you see a stylus, they blew it," Steve Jobs famously said. He was referring to the fact that the iPad’s multi-touch display and UI is designed to be used with fingers rather than an input device and that, in his view, a stylus is superfluous.
That may be true for the bulk of tablet apps, but there’s no doubt that for those …
iKlip Studio
Accessory of the Week The hackneyed old cliché about the iPad being a consumption device was long blown out of the water. The Apple tablet is used by creative professionals for a variety of tasks, but one group who who have been drawn to it more than most are musicians.
iKlip Studio
There’s a huge number of apps that allow the iPad to act, if not …
Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 Android media player
Review I reviewed Samsung’s first Android media player just over a year ago and frankly thought it was awful. I'm sure I wasn't alone. Undaunted, Samsung tried again with a new device packing a larger screen, faster CPU and bigger battery but only costing £40 more.
Samsung YP-G70CW Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 Second listen: Samsung's Galaxy S …
Toshiba AT200 Excite
Review At only 7.7mm thick, Toshiba boasts that its new tablet is the slimmest yet and it’s a claim I can’t argue with either. Dubbed the Excite in the US and the rather less exciting AT200 elsewhere, Tosh's slim slab is 0.9mm thinner than the previous title holder, the Samsung Galaxy 10.1. While the Apple iPad 2 seems positively …
