Alex Kidman

For the record, I spent today vacuuming, tidying toys, washing clothes, hanging clothes, drying clothes, mopping floors, putting clothes away and entertaining a three year old in the middle of it all. Basically, by midday today, I looked astonishingly like this, only with less hair.

That didn’t stop plenty of my delightfully hand-crafted words from hitting the Web, however. More of the PC Authority Mobile Broadband guide is available online for your reading pleasure. Today’s targets: Optus and Optimisation.

Terrible plan values put a dent in the high speed offerings of Optus wireless broadband: “Optus defies our speed expectations, but plan values are woeful.”

5 ways to boost your broadband speed: “Wireless broadband speeds can often be hit or miss. We take a look five simple steps that should help improve your broadband speeds.”

Then over at GadgetGuy, I’ve cast an eye over this year’s most heavily hyped gadget category: eBook readers.

Top Shelf: An eBook reader round-up: “Electronic books have been around almost as long as electronic text in one form or another, but with the imminent launch of Apple’s iPad, the category is undergoing something of a renaissance.”

So far, the highlight of my day has been nearly (but not quite) getting arrested at North Sydney station. Apparently I look a bit dodgy, and shouldn’t take photographs of things. Who knew?

Otherwise, it’s been rainy and wet and busy, much like any other day. While I get on with it, you can amuse yourself with my latest writing work. First of all, at CNET, a Sony Vaio review with a bonus equine pun:

Sony Vaio VPCS117GG: “Sony’s latest notebook fails to really stand out in performance or battery life terms.”

and then at GadgetGuy, a couple of category roundups for GPS and External Storage. Not so much full reviews; more overviews:

Self Storage: The External Hard Drive Round-Up: “With so much of our lives kept on computers, a computer storage failure can really ruin your day. That’s why keeping backups are so important, and why external hard disks have become so popular.”

The 2010 GPS Round-Up: “Where on Earth are you? We’ll tell you where with GadgetGuy’s round-up of as many GPS devices and iPhone applications that we could get our lost hands on.”

Another day, another feature review, this time at GadgetGuy.com.au, where I’ve looked over high-end iPod/iPhone docks with an eye to working out if they’re really worth the asking price:

Premium iPod Docks: “Inexpensive iPod docks abound, but will moving up the price ladder yield a music system that better serves your playlist? Alex Kidman tests the theory with five premium models.”

And for those who want to jump straight into the action:

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Mini: “It’s not the be all and end all of audio quality, but those wanting solid audio in an eye catching form will be very happy with the Zeppelin Mini.”

Geneva Model S: “The Geneva Model S is a solid iPod dock in audio terms, but it’s a system you’d buy as much for the sheer visual appeal as you might for the actual audio quality.”

Pioneer XW-NAS5: “If you’re after a full room solution but space prohibits a sound system incorporating docking functionality, this is a good middle ground.”

Revo Blok: “Like many other iPod docks at a premium price level, there’s as much an aesthetic as a practical choice to make with the Blok.”

Revo Ikon: “If you want a dock that does more than just play back iPod music and you don’t particularly want your music blisteringly loud, the Ikon’s a solid option.”

It’s not just the growing of fancy Mo’s that I’ve been busy with this week. Oh no. I’ve been writing and testing and reviewing and writing and testing and reviewing and writing and…

You get the idea.

At CNET.com.au, there’s these two rather contrasting products:

WD My Passport Essential SE 1TB: “Western Digital’s 1TB Passport drive isn’t pretty or cheap, but its bland look belies the storage and backup goodies within.”

Withings WifiScale: “We can’t fault the technical genius of the Withings WifiScale, but at the same time you do pay a lot of money for a lot of gimmicks in a bathroom scale.”

The Passport’s fair enough, but I suspect the scale’s the strangest thing I’ve reviewed all year. Those who follow my twitter account will know what I mean…

Meanwhile, back in much more familiar territory, GadgetGuy.com.au has this:

Apple MacBook 13 inch: “The updated Macbook brings excellent battery life and otherwise solid performance in a stylish body. It’s not a complete re-imaginging of the Macbook concept, but it does bring the Macbook line more into line with the more expensive Pro models.”

And keeping with the Apple theme, PC Authority has not one, but two guides to iPhone Apps:

Amazing Apps for your iPhone: Fitness apps“It’s not that tough to turn your iPhone into your own personal gym and fitness instructor, however, and get your health and fitness back on track.”

Amazing Apps for your iPhone: Christmas Apps: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on your iPhone. Here’s seven great Christmas-themed apps.”

It’s not all sunshine and roses reviewing stuff. Sometimes, you get products that it’s just plain impossible to really get on with.

A minor case of that today at GadgetGuy.com.au:

Apple Magic Mouse: “Apple’s Magic Mouse has the advantages of multi-touch and more than just a dab of Apple’s distinctive design style, but it’s also beset with a few odd problems that belie its status as a premium-priced mouse.”

And a rather more pressing example of a product that’s impossible to like at CNET.com.au:

Imagine Journalist: “Imagine Journalist displays a lack of flair, fun and ultimately imagination. We can’t imagine why anybody should buy it.”

I think I might just be the only person on the planet (or at least on the intertubes) to have reviewed Imagine Journalist. Lucky me.

Why, no, I don’t think that all that Beatles Rock Band playing is having any effect on my listening habits. Why do you ask?

Meanwhile, in the world of publishing, more of my work has been published. Hence, y’know, the world. Of Publishing. And all that.

First of all, GadgetGuy.com.au has a couple of storage-themed reviews:

Western Digital’s MyPassport Elite, MyBook World Edition & MyBook Studio Edition II: “All three drives do serve different purposes, but for our money there’s also a fair gap in utility.”

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player: “Western Digital’s WDTV offers a simple way to view digital multimedia files – music, photos or video – direct to pretty much any TV. It’s not as fully featured or lust-worthy as a DLNA solution, but it does a cracking job of just getting the task done.”

And then at CNET.com.au, you’ll find two of my reviews, although not both based around the same vendor:

Acer Extensa 5635Z: “The Extensa is a business laptop with no particular frills. That’s not a bad thing per se, but it’s tough to get too excited about it, either.”

Edimax nLite 3G-6200n 3G Broadband Router: “Out the back the 3G-6200n sports four 10/100 Ethernet ports, inbound WAN and single USB socket that has a rare distinction amongst 3G capable routers to date. Unfortunately for any buyer of the 3G-6200n, it’s a distinction of rank stupidity…”

I don’t have a child called Buddy, but my kids are certainly making a racket today. While I go and gently educate them round the head with a lump of wood*, amuse yourself with these two reviews live today at GadgetGuy.com.au:

Apple iPod Shuffle: “Do new colours denote these as a new generation of iPod Shuffles?”

Apple iPod Touch (3rd Generation): “Apple has only tweaked around the edges of the iPod Touch design with more storage and a faster processor. The end result is still a highly tempting iPod model, especially if the iPhone doesn’t appeal.”

*This is not, in fact, happening. For a start, I’ve got too much work to do!

“The message that follows is vital to the future of you all. The choice for you all is simple; a continued existence under my guidance — or total annihilation.”

Now that’s my kind of ultimatum. Straight, to the point, and with a clear-cut choice as its basis.

I somewhat felt like giving my own ultimatums (ultimata?) to a certain well-known (and oft self-scribed) fruit themed computer company this week. I’ve chronicled my adventures in product returns over at MacTheBlog:

MacTheBlog:When new iPhones go bad: “My new iPhone had a rattle, and while I do have kids, they’re beyond the age where rattles might amuse them. It certainly didn’t amuse me…”

There’s even an addendum to the story; my replacement model had a stuck pixel fault out of the box, which initially had me seeing a particularly bright shade of red. Thankfully, a little twiddling around with this stuck pixel fixing page saw it all good. For now, at least.

Sticking with all things Apple, I’ve also reviewed the fifth generation of the iPod Nano in a couple of locales. Firstly, there’s a simple appraisal of its camcorder feature at Australasian Camcorder, and then a full review at GadgetGuy.com.au:

Apple iPod Nano (5th Generation): “Apple’s thrown everything short of the kitchen sink at the fifth generation iPod Nano, with a raft of new features designed to get the iPod crazed public excited. While it’s still a great music player, the new features certainly aren’t enough to warrant an upgrade, and there are better value iPod models in our estimation.”

I’m somewhat gobsmacked by this end-user license agreement that just came up. This is 100% unedited, exactly what’s come up on screen. Would you agree to it?

I mean, really.

That’s just one of the hurdles in the life of a busy product reviewer, but it’s not all bizarre EULAs and pain. Sometimes, I get to play with fun stuff, like this:

HTC Magic: “HTC’s Magic fixes almost all of the complaints we had against its predecessor, the Dream, with better hardware, a refined operating system and a smoother overall feel.”

How did that sneak onto my random playlist? Oh well. I guess I can’t always be predictable.

Although (smooooth segue #372!), it is somewhat predictable that I’d be writing about Apple again.

Firstly, with my blogging hat on, at PC Authority:

Mac Authority: New iPod shuffle headphones, and other annoyances: “The last thing that I want to follow up “Welcome To The Jungle” when I’m at the gym is Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number 11. It just doesn’t seem right to me.”

And then, with my reviewing hat on, at GadgetGuy.com.au:

Apple iMac 2009: “Putting it simply, Apple’s put the iMac keyboard into the wash for too long, and it’s shrunk…”

Invariably, even having had my critical analysis hat on for both articles (it’s tough wearing this many hats… maybe that’s why my hair’s wearing out?), I’ll still get accused of being an Apple “fanboy” by somebody. I just have to wait long enough.