Roblightbody dot com
  • Home
    • What's New?
    • About Rob >
      • QE2 Talks & speaker
    • Contact
  • Rob's Blog
  • Gadgets
  • Ocean Liners
    • Queen Mary 2 >
      • QM2 News in service
      • QM2 News (When New)
      • QM2 News (Pre Float-out) >
        • My Travels
      • QM2 Reviews
      • QM2 A Ship of Superlative Comparisons
    • Queen Elizabeth 2 >
      • QE2 in Dubai (QE2 Today)
      • QE2 Forum (link)
      • My own QE2 Story >
        • My QE2 Photos
        • 2008 Stephen Payne QE2 Lecture
        • 2008 QE2 Last Thoughts
        • 2008 QE2 Clyde Farewell
        • 2008 August QE2 Cruise
        • 2007 December QE2 Cruise
        • 2007 September QE2 Clyde
        • 2005 August QE2 Queensferry
        • 2003 June QE2 Queensferry
        • 1987 QE2 April Bremerhaven >
          • QE2 April 1987 Exterior Photos
          • QE2 April 1987 Interior Photos
      • QE2 News >
        • QE2 Dubai News (2008 to 2015) >
          • Fears grow over bid to turn QE2 into a hotel in Dubai
        • QE2 News 2008
        • QE2 Sold to Dubai Articles (2007)
        • QE2 News 2007
        • QE2 News 2006
        • QE2 News 2002 to 2005
        • QE2 News 1998 to 2001
      • QE2's Name
      • QE2 1987 Rebirth
      • QE2 Reviews 1997 to 2007
      • Speed Queen
      • QE2 Storm Photos
      • QE2 1975 Guide
      • 1969 Shipshapes
      • QE2 Sydney 2006
      • QE2 Cutaways
      • QE2 in 1969
      • QE2 Fuel Economy
      • QE2 Facts
      • Bridgecam Snaps
      • QE2 1995 Freak Wave
      • QE2 Bridge View
    • SS France >
      • SS France Swan Song (2001)
      • 2006 Finalé >
        • Telegraph April 2006
        • Miami Herald
        • AP News May 2006
        • Justin Huggler Article
        • BBC News June 2006
        • July 2006 (MSNBC)
      • Scrapping Allowed (2007)
    • United States >
      • Maiden Voyage
      • NCL Buys SS United States
    • Queen Elizabeth
    • Queen Mary >
      • No rushing Churchill and his ship of state
      • RMS Queen Mary News >
        • 2007 Fate of rusting Queen Mary in the balance
        • 2006 Queen Marys Meet
        • 2004 As ship and work of art, the QM still an original
        • 2001 Is Queen Mary seaworthy?
        • 2000 Sir John Brown Dies
        • 1998 - Queen of Kitsch
    • Normandie
    • Lusitania & Mauritania
    • Aquitania >
      • Aquitania Emails
    • Other Liners >
      • Transvaal Castle
      • Saxonia
      • Ivernia
      • Caronia
  • Cars
    • Classic Mini >
      • My Classic Minis
      • History >
        • End of Mini >
          • FT Sep 2000
          • Glasgow Herald
          • BBC News
          • Autocar March 2000
        • Sexist Adverts
        • John Cooper Dies
      • Brochures
      • My Archive
      • The MPi Minis >
        • Official Launch Documents
        • Classic Mini Postcards
        • MPI Mini Colours and trim, 1997 onwards
        • 1998 - Examples of MPI changes from SPI
        • 1998 MPI Mini Price List
        • Extracts from the 1996 Brochure launching the 1997 model year Minis
      • SPI Mini ACR2 Fault Code Reader
    • First new MINI
    • Ford Puma
    • Mazda MX-5 Miata
    • Austin Princess
    • Favourite Cars
  • PS Waverley
  • Scotland
    • Jeely Piece Song
    • Flower of Scotland
    • Where's the Glasgow?
    • I Belong to Glasgow (link)
  • Chuckles
  • Cool Websites

Microsoft Webcam - Lifecam Cinema

28/6/2020

Comments

 
Picture
I bought this years ago - not sure how many - however it went largely unused until I was forced to work from home every day during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has come into its own during this time, offering a far better image quality than any laptop can offer.  It also has the huge advantage that it can be placed on top of the monitor to provide a better angle.

Highly recommended - don't rely on your rubbish laptop webcam!

Comments

MI Band 4 Fitness Tracker

25/4/2020

Comments

 
Thirty quid!  Thats all it cost.  So it doesn't do much right?  Wrong.  With this I get my text messages, alerts and notifications, alarms, heart rate monitor, step counter, sleep monitor, stopwatch - and more!  It really is a terrific wee thing, especially for the price.  Also if you set it up suitably, it will last a MONTH on one charge!

An easy 5 out of 5 !
Picture
Comments

HP Spectre x360 G2

22/4/2020

Comments

 
In 2015, I bought an early first generation x360 laptop.  I absolutely adored it from the word go.  I loved how sleek, posh and modern it looked, and on top of that it was responsive and fast, and the touchscreen was superb - I couldn't now cope with a laptop without a touchscreen!   The ability to fold it into a tent to watch a video, or into a tablet when reading something was also frequently useful.

Scroll forward to 2019, and I'd realised a flaw with my lovely laptop - the RAM is soldered in, can't be upgraded, and there's only 4GB of it.  Windows 10 is struggling.  What to do?  I can't justify the cost of a new one... but I find a second generation one online, much higher spec (Pen input with pen, 4k screen, i7-6600U processor and crucially 8gb ram), at a very reasonable price, and am delighted when my bid of £344 is accepted. I go on to get £210 for my old one - so I have a bargain upgrade on my hands!

The "new" laptop is significantly faster than the original one, the screen is better - brighter and higher resolution, although I'm afraid I can't find a use for the pen...gimmick maybe?  In fact the performance seems far better than 8gb should give, I load it up with lots of things at once but it never struggles.

I'd highly recommend it!
Picture
Comments

Google Nest Mini

22/4/2020

Comments

 
Bought this for just £29, to place on the kitchen counter, and to complement the Google Home in the living room. 
​Its a cracking wee thing, especially for the price.  I use it for cookery timers, and to ask it questions, and for radio stations, and to play music from Spotify (it sounds surprisingly good, and loud for its size).  Its very discreet to look at. 
One of the neatest features is it can be synced to the Google Home in the lounge, and provide seamless music in both rooms.  Just a few years ago, you had to pay a lot of money for this functionality.  Overall then, highly recommended.
Picture
Comments

Oneplus 5T

6/10/2018

Comments

 
My Oneplus 3 reached the age of 2 in my ownership, with no complaints - a record for me!  But I had itchy fingers to get more up to date, and looked around at all the new smartphones available.  I quickly realised the prices have risen dramatically since I got my OP3, so I decided to get a used phone.

My choice was a newer version of my existing phone, the Oneplus 5T.  Initial observations are very good - nicely made, the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor which I was worried about is mostly in the right place when I need it, the battery life is dramatically better than the OP3, due I presume to the improved CPU technology (low power cores), as well as the fact the battery is newer and slightly larger capacity.  It also has a HEADPHONE JACK and performs very well indeed.  The speaker, which I use often, is louder too.

I paid £330 for a phone from eBay that was a few months old, and expect to get around £120 for my OP3, making my upgrade cost about £210.
Picture
Comments

Alpine i902D-G6 / i902D-G7

15/9/2018

Comments

 
I own a nice VW Golf mk 6 (Volkswagen Golf mkVI) which had a rather rubbish in car entertainment system in it. The Bluetooth played up, and the single-line monochrome screen really wasn't cutting it.   So I went researching - surely someone has a neat solution for this very popular car?

After much searching, I found that Alpine make a bespoke kit just for this car.  The G6/G7 bit of the product name indicates which mark of Golf it is for, although the electronic components are very similar. 

It supports Android Auto and Apple Car Play, has DAB built in (more on that below), can play USB music with album artwork displayed, the steering wheel controls still work, as does the dash display.  The car's built in microphone works (although it was very difficult to work out how - had to get Alpine tech support to assist).  Installation is fiddly and you need to cut small parts of the fascia away (reversible by replacing a couple of parts) so I'd recommend getting it professionally fitted if you don't know what you're doing.

I also purchased the KAE-DAB1G6  DAB Radio Signal Splitter  - this thing is ingenious.  Its invisibly installed into the rear spoiler, and uses the car's original amplified antenna, to provide a very high quality DAB signal to the head unit (my original stereo in the car did not have DAB).

Its been tricky to learn to use, it was very expensive but 2 months on I've got the hang of it and am very happy with it, and think it was a worthwhile addition to the car.​
Picture
Comments

Google Wi-Fi Twin Pack

1/9/2017

Comments

 
Picture
I got this because my existing Virgin Superhub 3.0 struggled to give me a strong signal throughout my house, and also was a bit of a closed-box in terms of helping me investigate when it didn't seem to be working correctly.

First I switched the Virgin Superhub into Modem only mode.  Then I connected the first Google Wifi unit and turned it on.  I installed the app on my Android phone, and followed the really clear instructions.  I copied the wifi username and password from my Virgin Superhub, which saved all the hassle of having to re-configure my wifi-connected devices.  I moved my existing network Switch over to the Google Wifi unit, which means the Google Wifi unit controls all routing and IP addresses etc.  At this point, I already had strong wifi, a great internet speed, and all my devices showed up in the software.  I was able to, for the first time, easily prove what speed my Virgin internet connection was giving me (normally 106 down and 6 up).  I then added the second Google Wifi unit downstairs to create a wifi "Mesh" throughout the house.  A few different locations were tried before I settled on the best.  The software allows you to test the Mesh strength easily.

All in all - its a bit expensive, but it JUST WORKS.

If you're the sort of person that is interested in networking and wants to dive straight into advanced settings, maybe don't get this.
If you're the sort of person who knows a bit about how networking works, but don't want to make a hobby of it or waste time on it OR you know absolutely nothing but can follow instructions, I'd say get it.
My top tip - don't try and combine with an existing setup.  Ditch your existing setup and move completely to Google Wifi, letting it do all routing etc.

Pros
  • Lovely small, sleek units
  • Easy to setup
  • Powerful Wifi.
  • Great software to "lift the lid" on whether its all working or not.
Cons
  • Its a bit pricey.
  • Maybe not for advanced users who like a million settings to play with

Verdict - 5 out of 5 - LOVE IT!

Comments

Sony HX80 Compact Camera

1/9/2017

Comments

 
Picture
I bought this wee camera to complement my larger camera, that I seem to never have with me because its so heavy...   Key points about this camera are that its small, but its got a whopping 30x optical zoom and a very clever OLED electronic viewfinder - which is a Godsend if you're using the camera in bright sunlight.

What I would say is DO NOT buy this UNLESS you want the combination of small camera/big zoom.  It has a very small sensor, so ultimately the photo quality can be a bit disappointing despite the lenses.  In fact I've reduced the photos it takes to 10 megapixels (instead of the 18MP default) as it seems pointless to have such a large image from such a small sensor.

Pros
  • Well Made
  • Brilliant Zoom
  • Optical viewfinder is very clever and useful.
  • Good battery life and easy charging via Micro-USB
  • The ability connect to a smartphone via wifi is brilliant, and easy once you've done it once.
Cons
  • Very small sensor (although thats the only way they can make it so small) with the resultant limit to what can be achieved with the photos.
  • Fiddly menu system with too many options.
Verdict - 4 out of 5

Comments

Oneplus 3

26/6/2017

Comments

 
Picture
I bought this new in October 2016 for £329, which is around the maximum I'll pay for a phone.   I've used the phone constantly for 8 months before writing this review.  In that time the 3T has come out (slightly bigger battery, slightly more powerful, otherwise identical) and then the 5 (almost identical, but faster again with better camera).  These subsequent revisions though have pushed the price up above my budget.

The good :- battery life surprisingly good.  I can enjoy a stock Android experience by resetting it to the Google Now Launcher.  It is powerful and fast, light and thin, and I've not really had any problem with it.  The Dash rapid-charging is great being able to fully charge the phone in 40 minutes.

The bad :- Its impossible to hold if its  not in its case, its like a slippery eel.  It shoots off seats, and even slips out of your hand if you're not careful.  I invested in Oneplus's genuine case and also the glass screen protector - both were disastrous and I don't recommend either.  The case didn't fully protect the screen, and the glass protector was impossible to put on.  I got a cheap spigen case and it lives in that all the time.  It is not waterproof.

Overall : 5 out of 5, recommended!

Comments

Alpine CDE-W235BT Double Din Car Stereo with Parrot Bluetooth

2/10/2015

Comments

 
Picture
I bought this a while ago to fit into my 2004 Volkswagen Bora (Golf Mk4).  In 2015, I figured I no longer needed a cassette deck in my car (can't believe they fitted that in 2004 either!).

Installation was fairly straightforward, except the VW's non-standard wiring meant a wire had to be swapped to give it a permanent power feed (instructions online) and the aerial plug needs power supplied to it via an adaptor.

Why did I buy this model?  Because it looks and works like a factory stereo.  Big, clear buttons so you're not distracted from driving, and once you've used it a while you can operate it by touch without looking away from the road at all (try that with a modern touch-screen system!!).

FM reception - fairly poor, despite the powered aerial adaptor (its even worse without it)
AM reception - fine
CD - haven't used it!
Bluetooth functions - superb - both for phonecalls and music.
Sound qualty - really great - especially through the upgraded 8 speakers my car already has.
Usability - superb

Overall - 5 out of 5.

Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    I have been into the latest gadgetry and technology since a young age and enjoy trying out the latest tech.

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    October 2018
    September 2018
    September 2017
    June 2017
    October 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Sections

Rob's Blog
​Gadget Reviews

Ships

PS Waverley
Queen Mary 2
Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Mary
More Liners

Cars

Classic Mini
New MINI (2001)
Mazda Miata MX-5
Wedge Princess
Ford Puma
Other Favourites

Everything Else

Whats New
About Rob
Contact Rob
Chuckles
Cool Sites