SPG - All Reviews

Review: MiLi Powerspring for the iPhone 4

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:26:50 +0000

Like many other folks earlier this year I became the proud owner of an Apple iPhone 4. There are some issues with the phone that we all know about but one issue that was supposed to be improved was that of battery life. However as an IT Manager it can be that at times I'm stranded working on the shop floor where there is no access to power for charging and conditions in the building give rise to signal cold spots meaning that the iPhone is constantly seeking a signal and that of course drains the battery.

As the iPhone 4 does not have a replaceable battery an alternative solution had to be found. The product chosen to try and eliminate this problem is:

Product: MiLi Powerspring for the iPhone 4
Supplier: CaseAddict.com
Price at time of posting: £ 54.99

Product Specifications:

Capacity: 1600mAh
Input: DC5V/500mA
Charging time: 4 hours
Standby time: Up to 360 hours
Talk time: Up to 6hours on 3G
Up to 13.3hours on 2G
Internet Use: Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10.6 hours on Wi-Fi
Audio play: Up to 36hours
Video play: Up to 10.6 hours
Dimension: 124(L)X65(D)X18(T)mm

A review sample was requested from CaseAddict.com and this was posted out the same day (impressive) and as it was posted via parcel post it arrived two days later.

The MiLi Powerspring arrived in a standard 'bubble wrap' envelope and contained within was the hard plastic box containing the gadget and associated bits and pieces.

The contents of the box were:

The MiLi Powerspring
USB to mini-USB cable (hidden inside the inner box lining)
Instruction manual

One nice extra here was that that the iPhone connector was protected by a push on plastic sleeve which prevented any accidental damage to the connector.

Once removed from the packaging the Powerspring in its Black and Silver livery can be prepared for mounting the iPhone.

This is simply done by removing the protective connector sleeve and then pushing back the hinged part of the casing which allows the iPhone to slide down into place.

Once the iPhone has been docked into the housing the hinged portion may be clicked into position where it locks pretty firmly upwards against the iPhones' body.

This obviously increases the dimensions and weight of the iPhone 4 when held within:

Height: 115.2 mm -> 124 mm (+8 mm)
Width: 58.6 mm -> 65 mm (+6.4 mm)
Depth: 9.3 mm -> 18 mm (+8.7mm)
Weight: 137 grams - > 213 grams (+75 grams)

The size increase is most noticeable on the back of the encapsulated iPhone 4 as the piercing within the back of the housing to allow camera access is significantly tunnel like, this means that this area could be a holding area for dust and debris if the phone is kept within a pocket or untidy bag.

However the increased thickness can not be avoided as the housing incorporates the 1600mAh Li On battery which serves as a secondary power source for the iPhone 4 and such batteries are not lightweight at all!

To mitigate this the housing is nicely rounded on all edged and the back relieved towards the hinged area which results in a comfortable presence when held in the hand.

The left hand side of the housing (above the hinged area) has a 'cut out' moulded in place which allows good access to the volume and mute controls on the iPhone 4.

The Powerspring has two slots moulded into the base portion which allow sound from the twin speakers on the iPhone 4 to exit the housing.

The base also contains a mini-USB port which is covered by a form fitting rubber plug which can be popped our to reveal the port itself.

This port allows the Powerspring to be charged either via USB connection to the PC or via plugging it into the Apple power adaptor supplied with the iPhone 4.

The top hinged portion of the housing again sports 'cut outs' in the moulding which give access to the power switch and the headphone socket, with twin parallel holes above the camera port allowing access to the light sensors.

The right hand side initially appears to be featureless until one notices the power switch at the bottom of the housing and the LED strip immediately above it.

The LED strip indicates the charged state of the Powerspring from empty to full via 4 bright blue LEDs. The LEDs shine for a few seconds after the device has been turned on, and when plugged into a power source flash and glow indicating that a charge is taking place and how full the battery level is. Once the unit is completely charged all four LEDs are lit the flashing stops.

My unit arrived some 25% charged and took approximately 2 hours to fully charge when connected to the PCs USB port.

As you can see here the partially discharged iPhone 4 is within the Powerspring which has been turned on. The iPhone 4 is charging without any cable near it at all - the Powerspring is working and doing its job!

A typical working day with the iPhone results in the charge level dropping to between 43 and 65% depending on the amount of device usage. This is with WiFi and 3G turned on throughout the working day.

TESTING

With the Powerspring in place to charge the iPhone 4 while in use both around the shop floor and at the desk the charge level under the same conditions only dropped my a meagre 4% to 96%. The Powerspring during this time used between 25% and 50% of it's power (One LED lit the next flashing).

A further test was carried out on a weekend trip to Wales where the power charger for the iPhone 4 was left at home as was the charger for the Powerspring. All that was taken with me to power the iPhone 4 was the fully charged Powerspring. Although the iPhone 4 was Brodit mounted for navigation while in the car the rest of the time (eBook reading, movie watching, emails, phone calls, etc) it was powered by it's own battery or the Powerspring.

At the end of the extended 3 day trip away the Powerspring had used over 75% of its power (one LED lit and flashing) and the iPhone at all times maintained a charge above 86%.

Finally the Powerspring was allowed to exhaust all power reserves and it took 3 hours 52 minutes to regain a full charge.

Pros and Cons

Increases thickness and weight of the iPhone
Battery is non-removable

Prevents the iPhone 4 from suffering the antenna grip of death
Can be charged wherever there is a free USB port
Nicely shaped housing feels comfortable in the hand
High capacity 1600mAh battery greatly increases the iPhones battery life
Relatively small and portable

CONCLUSIONS

The Powerspring itself is constructed of what appears to be hard ABS plastic which is rigid enough to give a goodly amount of protection to the iPhone itself and also serves to prevent the grip of death. The housing is nicely styled both with respect to the silver black colour code as well as designed to fit comfortably within the hand. There are no issues at all when operating the encapsulated iPhone all controls are easily accessed. It is safe to say that the Powerspring does indeed greatly extend the power longevity of the iPhone 4 in most situations doubling it as claimed.

The Powerspring has now become part of my standard arsenal in the fight against power loss whilst away from a charging point when using my iPhone 4.

Review: Proporta Leather Case for iPad / Aluminum Lined Leather Case for iPhone 4

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:14:58 +0000

Recently becoming a proud owner of both an iPhone 4 and an iPad I looked around for additional casing to protect both from the rigours of daily life. I contacted the guys at Proporta and they were more than happy to send out to us:

Product: Leather Case for iPad (#32878)
Product: Aluminum Lined Leather Case (Apple iPhone 4) (#33929)

Which are part of their range of Apple products (cases, mounts, adaptors, etc). The cases came plastic bag wrapped and on removing the outer packaging the cases in black and beige leather are revealed.

The beige colouration contrasts well with the black leather to give a stylish and contemporary look.

The edges of both cases are finely stitched, the iPhone case in white stitching the iPad in black. The iPad case has a doubly reinforced hinge portion that allows the case to open book style and initially allows the iPad to be slipped into position.

Once in position the case can be closed to give a decent level of protection to the front on the iPad. There is no closing fastener on the cover but the padding adds a decent amount of weight to hold the case closed. As the iPad is likely to spend a goodly amount of time either in a brief case or on the desk this should suffice in most situations.

The case uses basic friction to hold the iPad in place within the case, and it can be removed at any time by gently pushing the screen sideways. A bonus as with the official Apple leather case the rubber holds it to tightly to easily remove the iPad!

Looking at the 'front cover' of the case one notices a black band stitched into the leather on the outer side, and held in place near the hinge by a medium sized press stud. More on this later.

Below the band is an integral pocket which can be used for holding business cards, A5 paper, etc. Useful.

When within the case access is granted to the iPads connection and speakers via stitched openings in the base of the case. Remember though that (as with the Apple case) you'll not be able to use the iPad with the official iPad dock as the case prevents the connector engaging.

Again there are additional openings in the right hand side of the case to allow access to the volume and orientation controls.

With the top corners of the case relieved to allow access to the headphone socket and the power switch.

The only drawback with the openings in the case is that due to the 'book' style design those on the top and right hand side of the iPad are open to anything that might be floating loosely in the brief case.

Back to that black strap mentioned earlier. In the press stud fastener is unpopped the strap and be bent backwards (taking the cover with it) and pressed against a secondary stud located on the rear of the case. This revamps the case into an 'A' section and allows it to act as a stand for the iPad. Again a useful feature as a free desk mount can be a boon when working at the desk!

In contrast the the iPad case the model for the iPhone is a flip style where the front cover flips open to reveal the iPhone.

The leather of the iPhone case is softer and less rigid than that of the iPhone, possibly by design to as not to cause any harm to the glass housing on the iPhone 4, however this also adversely affects the look of the case. Once the iPhone has been placed in position the screen opening tends to gape open somewhat which gives a false impression that the case is not well constructed.

As with the iPad case the left hand side of the case is relieved to allow access to the silent switch and the volume control buttons.

However unlike the iPad the case is not supported at the top by additional leather and this means that the front face of the case can flex upwards easily due to the thinness of the leather at both sides.

The right hand side of the case covers most of the housing of the iPhone 4 as there are no controls requiring access.

The base of the case, against which the iPhone 4 nestles comprises of only two thin leather strips, which do allow access to the connector, but also occlude the speakers to some degree and also serve to offer little protection to the base of the iPhone.

The top of the iPhone is protected by the flip when the case is closed and again the flip itself is cut back to allow access to the headphone socket.

The power switch is hidden safely away by the flap to help prevent accidental operation. One additional level of protection is given to the iPhone by the flap as it is lined with a piece on thin aluminum sheeting which should prevent screen damage from impacting external objects.

Conclusion - Leather Case for iPad

The case is well constructed from good quality leather with fine 'tight' stitching with no loose ends. The iPad is held safely and securely and the case will suit the professional user who will tend to carry the iPad with a bag or brief case. The added desk mount is as welcome bonus but as the sides are used to form the feet of the 'A' shape it can tend to slide across the desk if any sharp pressure is applied to the screen.

Quality leather
Stylish design
Good level of protection for critical areas on the iPad
Paper holder in cover
Integral desk stand

Will not fit the iPad dock

Conclusion - Aluminum Lined Leather Case

The case is well constructed from good quality leather with fine 'tight' stitching with no loose ends. The iPhone is held firmly in position but the reduced width of the leather at the sides of the screen and on the base can result in the 'fit' looking poor or a lack of protection being offered. In many cases of this type there is an option to belt mount the case, there is no such option available here.

Quality leather
Stylish design
Aluminum lined flap

Will not fit the iPad dock
Lack of sturdiness in some aspects of the construction
Speakers partially obscured
No belt mount

[All images in this review have been processed by Snagit by Techsmith]

Review: Zagg Leatherskin and Invisibleshield for iPad

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:11:57 +0000

With the recent release of Apple's iPad , a number of aftermarket suppliers and developers have started to produce cases and protective covers for the device. These range from slip covers through to portfolios, flip-over cases and screen protectors.

I have always preferred to use my devices unadorned but the large shiny screen of the iPad caused me a little concern about unwanted scratches, so I went in search of a suitable protector. Read on to find out how I fared!

I'm not sure how I got there, but I eventually finished up at the website of Zagg Inc, who make a range of their InvisibleSHIELD products for a huge number of devices. These can protect the screen only, or can be supplied to protect the whole device.

In addition to the clear protective skins, they also offer a genuine leather protector for the rear of some devices, including the iPad. For me, this was the preferred combination- a leather skin to cover the back of the iPad and a clear screen protector. This does still leave the edges of the iPad vulnerable but the aluminium frame appears pretty robust.

Supplier:
Zagg Inc

Product:
LEATHERskin and InvisibleSHIELD for iPad

Price as tested:
$79 plus carriage and duty. Various prices and options available.

Availability and Delivery

Having chosen my preferred combination- tan leather back and clear front protector, I went in search of a UK supplier. It appears however that apart from one Ebay and one Amazon dealer that there are no mainstream distributors for the LEATHERskin, though a number sell the clear InvisibleSHIELDs.

No matter, because Zagg will ship to UK for $13, plus I had the bonus of a 50% voucher after submitting my email address into a lucky draw on their web site's front page!

The full cost of my choice would have been $80, but this reduced to $40 plus carriage making a grand total of £36. There is a Gotcha here though, more of which later!

Zagg dispatched my order within two days though once it had spent a few days in UK Customs and then the Royal Mail distribution centre, it took a full two weeks to arrive.

The Product and Installation

My initial surprise was how big the box was! This proved to contain a flat pack with the LEATHERskin plus a cardboard tube containing the InvisibleSHIELD plus the application accessories- a soft plastic 'squeegee' and a bottle of application fluid plus an instruction leaflet which included the web address of some installation videos.

As the LEATHERskin looked the easier of the items to install, I decided to start with that. Unpacking it showed it to be a thin but high quality sheet of leather shaped to fit the contours of the iPad exactly. The front surface was covered with three peel-off strips allowing easy fixing.

After offering up the cover to see roughly where to fix it, you peel off the middle strip (labeled '1') and fit it in place. It can be lifted and reapplied to get it exact. Once done it can be smoothed down and the second strip pulled away allowing the top to be fixed. Finally the bottom strip is removed and the bottom part of the skin applied. Once complete the whole thing can be smoothed down to consolidate the adhesion.

This all went without a hitch and the leather skin did indeed fit exactly around the contours of the back panel. It is thin and supple enough to allow the recessed 'Apple' logo to show through and it retains the svelte lines of the device.

It was now time to fit the front protector, for which some preparation is advisable. My first piece of advice is to look at the instruction video very carefully. This differs a little from the printed instructions and shows much more clearly how to hold the items while applying. Better attention to this on my part would have been useful! Apologies for the lack of photos of this process- it is a two handed job at best!

Next, make sure the iPad screen is totally clean and free of greasy marks, dust, smears etc. Given the comprehensiveness of the package, I'd have expected Zagg to supply some sort of cleaner, as we see from the likes of Proporta and Martin Fields, but there was none. Use a lint free cloth, preferably one designed for optical items to get the best effect, and try to work in a dust free environment to prevent specks getting under the protector between cleaning and fitting.

Now you are ready, and the first step is to use some of the supplied spray to wet your fingertips. This helps prevent smears being placed on the sticky surface when applying. Now peel off the protective paper backing, and spray the sticky surface liberally with the fluid. I didn't use enough initially and had to redo the process the next day, so heed the instructions! Once well wetted, offer up the protector to the iPad. It will slide well until the fluid dries out so can be eased into place. There is an aperture for the iPad's button which helps the accurate location.

Once in place, use a cloth and the supplied squeegee to force excess fluid and bubbles from under the film, towards the edges of the screen where they can be mopped with some paper towels if necessary.

Small bubbles will reabsorb over a couple of days but larger ones won't so if you see any significant bubbles, lift the film from one corner and 'chase' the bubbles out.

Zagg advise leaving the iPad turned off for at least 12 hours after installation to allow the film to 'cure' and to allow any fluid seepage to dry, but it will continue to settle for about two to three days. Pretty much all small bubbles and imperfections will disappear in this time, leaving a very smooth surface.

Should the need arise, the InvisibleSHIELD can be removed at any time in the future. If this causes any distortion to its shape, simply leave it a few minutes, it will regain its original shape, and you can then refit it. Hopefully this should not be necessary- once installed, one of the benefits of this product is its robustness. If anything adverse does befall it, it is covered by a lifetime warranty and Zagg will replace it.

The product information for InvisibleSHIELD makes much of its robustness. This is an excerpt from the product specification:

The invisibleSHIELD - ZAGG's customized, patented flagship product is tough. Created from a resilient film that was first used to protect U.S. Military helicopter blades from high-speed damage, the invisibleSHIELD is your personal electronics defender. This rugged film wraps around consumer electronics and keeps them functioning and looking great, just like the day they came out of the box. Featuring ZAGG's exclusive Nano-Memory technology, the invisibleSHIELD has unique properties that provide self-healing qualities and unrivaled abrasion resistance.

I quote these because as yet I have had no cause to test its efficacy, and I trust I never shall have!

In Use

The most visible part of my purchase is the LEATHERskin rear panel cover; whether you like this or not is down to personal opinion. It is available in light or dark tan, and with or without an embossed design. This is not designed to be a robust protector like the InvisibleSHIELD, and in fact there are already a few light scrapes showing on the leather's surface after four days use.

After three days, the InvisibleSHIELD front film has become very smooth and bubble/blemish free. It does add a slightly 'rubbery' feel to screen touches owing to the nature of the material, but this is fine once you get used to it. The resistance to greasy finger marks compared to the bare screen is excellent. I've only needed to wipe it over about once a day, compared to previously when it needed cleaning after every session.

Value for money

There is no doubt that the screen protector does an excellent job and is well worth its cost. Zagg also make a full body protector for the iPad in the same material. Both are available in UK. I preferred the cosmetic look of the LEATHERskin and at 50% discount this represented reasonable value for money, with the total package including carriage coming in at £36.

I mentioned a 'gotcha' earlier on regarding the cost, and this is it: being an import from USA, the package has to pass through UK Customs. For some reason, Zagg quote the full price rather than the price paid, and additionally they incorrectly quoted the cost of the InvisibleSHIELD separately at $39 even though it was part of the $79 package. The result of that was a VAT bill for £14, plus a Royal Mail handling fee of £8, payable on collection. This increased the actual price I paid to £58. I'm not unhappy with that, but it is an added and hidden cost of buying from USA. By comparison though, buying the same package from one of the UK dealers would still have cost a total of £75, so Zagg's discount was welcome!

Conclusion

Overall I am very happy with my Zagg LEATHERskin and InvisibleSHIELD package for my iPad. Fitting can be tricky but I have no excuse- I failed to fully watch the video and had to redo it. This however was very easy and the second attempt was successful. The change to the tactile feel of the device, and its feeling of increasing its security in the hand is a real benefit. Although not likely to protect from catastrophic damage, the reputation of the film suggests it will be impervious to all the normal threats of everyday life.

Review: Brodit active mount for iPhone 4

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:28:10 +0000

Product: Brodit Active Holder Tilt Swivel for the Apple iPhone 4

Our good friends over at DSL Developments have supplied us with one of the first Brodit mounts for the Apple iPhone 4. The mount in question is the Active model which is suitable for powering via a cigarette lighter socket. [Product code: 521164].

This arrived packaged as per usual by Brodit in a plastic bag which contained the mount itself, the instructions and a bag of mounting screws. For a new user to the world of Brodit you'd also have to purchase a matching Brodit Mount for your car.

As you can see the mount comprises the mounting bracket itself and a trailing 'active' power lead which ends in a USB connector. This in turn plugs into the supplied USB to car power adaptor (cigarette lighter socket). Once fixed onto the Brodit mount and the power plugged in the iPhone 4 can then be slid into place. Power feeds into the mount via the active lead and from there directly into the iPhone 4, giving plenty of power for hands free phone calls or satellite navigation.

Brodit (as with previous iPhone mounts) have covered the mount with a fuzzy velvet-like material which serves to prevent any scratching of the iPhones surface. I'd prefer the mount to be plain plastic but as we're taking about a phone housing with a lot of glass in its construction Brodit are taking no chances!

As always with Brodit the iPhone 4 is held very firmly and even when driving at speed over bumpy roads there is no problem with vibration or movement - the phone is held safe and securely.

It is worth mentioning that as a Brodit user of many years when I've received a new mount I've always taken a shortcut in the mounting process. This has been achieved by unscrewing the prior mount at the universal swivel and then bolting into place the new bracket and swivel. With this mount this was not possible as Brodit have changed the design of the swivel and I had to install the mount in its entirety on to the bracket mounted in the car.

This was queried with ProClip USA who advised:

Quote

The tilt swivel is a new and better design. From now on all new holders will have this new tilt swivel. It will hold the tension better.

So a design improvement that caused a little more work on the install, but at least it looks like the new design will be maintained for future mounts making life easier once again in the future! There seems to be more movement in this new swivel design which allows the iPhone to have a greater range of positional range once mounted.

One other point of note is that the cable exists from the back of the mount instead of the more usual exist in the base, this actually helps cable management as it pushes the power lead towards the dashboard of the car instead of the gear lever (in my 307CC), this means there is less chance of cable snagging so can be seen as an added safety feature.

To conclude: Yet again another well engineered mount from Brodit, proved with speed and efficiency by DSL.

Pros and Cons:

A good sturdy mount designed by experts
Velvet-like coating protects the iPhone 4
No vibration or movement in the phone when driving at speed
Ensures a good level of power for operation when making calls or navigating
Reasonably priced
Designed specifically for the iPhone 4

Supplier (UK): DSL Developments
Supplier (USA): ProClip USA

[Note all photographs within this review have been processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

Review: Vaja ivolution Grip for Apple iPad

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:54:50 +0000

Product: ivolution Grip for Apple iPad
Manufacturer: Vaja

Our good friends at Vaja Cases have kindly supplied us with one of their latest products, the 'ivolution Grip for Apple iPad' for us to take a look at and review. It's been a while since we last investigated a Vaja case and it'll be good to see if their reputation for producing a high quality product is still in place.

What impressed even before the case arrived was the customer service, within half an hour of the review request been made we had a response that a case was being dispatched to us and seconds later a dispatch confirmation e-mail giving the FedEx shipping details.

The case shipped from Vaja in Buenos Aires, Argentina, over to us in the UK in a total of five days (including a weekend) which is amazing, I've waited longer for UK shipping products to arrive!

On opening the FedEx packaging the Vaja product box was revealed as usual in the brightly coloured and striking packaging.

The outer sleeve is then slid away to reveal the rainbow coloured inner box.

Which was then finally opened to reveal the ivolution Grip itself.

The inner surface of the grip is covered in a thin white layer of leather which is embossed with the Vaja logo, and this is bonded with what looks like a high strength epoxy adhesive to the rest of the case.

As always from Vaja the product oozes quality with the Grip being manufactured from full grain cowhide leather which is in turn selected from the top ten percent of Argentina's leather, and it shows. Nowhere at all is there any defect, no scarring, no insect bites marks and no imperfections. The leather is premier quality as is always the case with Vaja.

The main body of the case is of thicker formed leather with what feels like a goodly layer of firm, yet soft, foam padding sandwiched between the inner face and the outer back surface which gives excellent protection to the back of the iPad.

Vaja always astound me with their case manufacturing process as the corner grips are made from the same piece of leather as the rest of the iGrip yet feel almost as if there is spring steel inside them - they are so strongly 'sprung'. This almost magical leather skill serves to create a strong yet supple gripper action that holds the iPad securely yet with do danger of marking or damage to the device.

The iPad is lowered down into the iGrip case and gently yet firmly firmly pushed slowly downwards into the casing. One can almost feel the leather stretching reluctantly open and then gratefully close back into position as it enfolds the iPad in it's grip.

Once enfolded within the iGrip the feel of the iPad is completely transformed. The back of the iPad which had felt slick, somewhat hard and fragile to the touch, is now much more robust and a joy to handle. The leather feels wonderfully soft and warm in your hands and you are much less concerned about handling the iPad, even putting it down on the desk is less of a worry as you know that the inherent padding will soak up a lot of impact shock loading. I did spend a fair bit of time just enjoying the pleasure of holding the iPad with it's new leather coating even prior to turning it on!

When in use the iPad is of course regularly rotated between landscape and portrait orientations and the added tactility of the leather gives greater confidence in handing the iPad as it is much less slippery and therefore less likely to be dropped! As well as looking impressive the iGrip gives both protection from impacts as well as less risk of losing your grip on the machine - with the iPad being an expensive gadget those are important points!

The iGrip is constructed so that easy access to all controls is given, with a recess in the grip on the right hand side to allow you access to the volume and rotation lock controls. The leather is nicely rounded at the edges and folded inwards on itself, there is no raw inner leather to be seen which ensures that there is no area to snag or catch or wear. This ensures that the iGrip will remain good looking for the life of the iPad.

Adjacent to controls is the metal Vaja logo which follows the diagonal lines of the recess and as always looks smooth and carefully designed. With Vaja even the logo fitment shows the quality of the design, and as an ex-design engineer these small points are important.

There is no recess on the left hand side of the iGrip where the SIM card slot is located (if you have a 3G iPad), this ensures that the slot is well protected against external hazards such as dust. Plus of course on a non-3G iPad there is no requirement for such a recess to be present. Therefore the left hand side of the machine is completely protected in leather.

In contrast to the sides of the iGrip both the top and bottom of the iPad are only partly protected, that is the rounded back itself is covered but the edging which holds the top face controls and the bottom facing speaker and external connection port are fully open.

This may minimise the protection offered to the device but it does ensure that the controls are easy to get to, that on the 3G model that the antenna is not obscured and that the sync cable can connect freely and the sound output from the speaker is clear.

It is however worth noting that once the iGrip is in place the iPad will not fit onto the official iPad Dock and to connect to your PC / Mac you can only use the sync cable. This same limitation also applies with the official Apple plastic / rubber case, so no great drawback.

Conclusion

Yet again Vaja have created another premier case from top quality leather using their own in house engineering techniques producing a superbly designed and elegant housing for the iPad. Not only is it stylish in the extreme, but serves to give the iPad much needed protection when both on the desk or in the hand. Once fitted it feels a natural part of the iPad and greatly enhances the tactile feel of it when handled.

The only drawback is that it is highly priced, at $100 per iGrip it's not cheap, but if you want the best quality leather produced by top leather craftsmen then the price is well worth paying.

Pros and Cons

Quality premier leather used
Crafted by the best leather craftsmen
Adds a good level or protection to the back / sides of the iPad
Greatly enhances the handling of the iPad when in use
Allows the sync cable to be used when in place

Minimal protection of the top / bottom of the iPad
Prevents the use of the iPad Dock

Final Thoughts

Some may comment that the iGrip offers no protection to the screen of the iPad and this is indeed true, but is of no detriment to Vaja as they have many other cases available for the iPad which offer such protection, both in 'flip up' and 'book' configurations. Some of these cases even include support for desk mounting the iPad at ergonomic working angles. [The Leather Agenda 2 being my favourite]. So feel free to check out their other iPad products at vajacases.com.

[Note: All images in this review have been processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

Review: iPhone 4 Bumper

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:46:45 +0000

Product: iPhone 4 Bumper (Black)
Supplier: Apple UK

One of the ancillary products launched by Apple along side the iPhone 4 was the 'iPhone Bumper' a protective sleeve that the iPhone fits into. With the decision being made to retain my iPhone 4 I thought it wise to invest in some protection and that going with the official system might prove the best way to go.

The iPhone 4 bumper in the UK retails at £25 in the Apple store and as usual comes in an Apple style package which makes it difficult to see any details.

Once removed from the packaging it becomes clear that the bumper is manufactured from a harder plastic body surrounded by a softer rubber edging. This rubber is then gently flexed open to allow the iPhone to be pushed in to position.

The base of the bumper in pierced to allow access to the sync port and speakers, with similar holes on the side and top to allow access to the 'silent mode' switch and the jack plug / noise cancellation mic.

The on / off switch and volume controls are activated via controls in the bumper which press through on to the controls on the iPhone 4.

The bumper fits relatively closely to the body of the iPhone, but on my machine felt slightly loose until I'd grasped the phone on all sides and clenched my fist, thereby pushing the case tightly against the phones body which seemed to cause the bumper to take up some slack in the fitting. Once that had been done the bumper does fit closely and well.

If the iPhone is allowed to 'stand' for an hour or two on the desk the bumper returns to it's natural state and that slight looseness returns. A second or two of being gripped in the hand again though removes the loose feeling once more. Annoying but you'll have to live with it.

Points worth considering with the bumper housing:

It will certainly add some level of protection to the iPhone 4 if it is dropped and lands on an edge.

The rubber edge sits proud of the front and back of the iPhone serves to raise the glass back (or front) off the surface it is placed on - which may reduce the risk of micro-scratches in the glass.

If you have bought an iPhone desk dock (as I have) you may as well forget using it with the bumper in position as the bumper will not fit into the dock, the slot in the dock is too small to accommodate it.

Concluding Thoughts

I had expected that the bumper would be a simple rubber sleeve which would be stretched to fit around the iPhone and this is not the case, it has been well constructed of both rubber and plastic and engineered nicely to fit on the iPhone.

It does add additional levels of protection to the phone and actually looks good in place (which surprised me) plus the rubber edge makes the iPhone slightly less slippery in the hand which does tend to increase your level of confidence in handling the iPhone.

The bumpers evidently come in six colours; Black, White, Blue, Green, Orange and Pink, however the Manchester store only had black on the shelves. Mind you in my opinion it looks good on my Black iPhone.

If you therefore need a little extra protection for your iPhone 4 the bumper case is to be considered, however at £25 for a single bumper it has to be classed as expensive. However it is an official Apple product so a high price is to be expected.

Added Benefits

Alas I am one of those who suffers from the dreaded 'Grip of Death' issue at my home whereby if my fingers or palm 'short' the left antenna (WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth) with the right / bottom antenna (GSM and UMTS) the signal reduces from 2-3 bars:

To 0-1 bar.

However once the bumper had been fitted to the iPhone 4 the signal seems to be rock steady at 3 bars. Good news indeed!

[Note: All images are processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

Review: O2 Dell Streak

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:12:53 +0000

Product: O2 Dell Streak Tablet
Supplier: O2 UK

O2 have once again kindly provided us with a rather unique product to review - the Dell Streak, which is a mammoth 5" screened beast of a machine running the Android operating system. This alas will be a review in brief as we only have the machine on loan for a very short time.

The Streak specification is as:

Operating System : Android (multi-touch UI)
Processor : QSD 8250
Bands : UMTS 2100 / 900 MHz, GSM / EDGE 1900 / 1800 / 900 / 850 MHz, HSDPA / HSUPA:HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
Display : 5" (12.7 cm) WVGA (800 x 480) in-cell TFT LCD supporting multi-touch
Camera : 5.0M Rear-Facing Auto-Focus Camera + VGA Front-Facing Camera
Video : H.263 / H.264, .3GP, MPEG4, WMV
Sound : MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, Midi, WAV
Messaging : SMS, MMS, Email, IM
Browser : WebKit (Android)
Memory : 512 MB ROM + 512 MB SDRAM + 2 GB non-user accessible MicroSD for system & applications files only
Storage : 1 user accessible MicroSDTM cardslot (8GB, 16GB & 32GB pre-installed options available)
Connectivity : WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR, USB 2.0
Dimensions : 152.9 x 79.1 x 9.98 mm
Weight : 220g
Battery :Li-ion 1530 mAh
Others : Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, e-compass, GPS, Capacitive sensor keys

Our review package comprised of:

The Dell Streak itself
The Li-ion battery
USB cable
USB to mains power charger
Streak 'sock' case
16Gb Micro-SD card

The very first impressions that the Streak gives are two fold:

It's very very BIG indeed 152.9mm wide x 79.1mm tall (landscape orientation)
It's very bright as the back of the housing is a metallic red!

As you can see compared to other current devices:

HTC HD2
HTC Desire
HTC HD Mini

the Streak is massive indeed, but think on, a few years back most Windows Mobile users fell in love with the O2 Exec (HTC Universal). Granted the Streak is an inch (25.7mm) wider but it is slightly less in height and a lot thinner. So considering it is massively more powerful that the Exec with a heck of a larger screen maybe folks need to take those facts into account! Yes the Streak is bigger than current 'PDA' devices but as it is marketed as a tablet device it's really quite small.

On booting the Streak illuminates the front LH side buttons:

Back
Menu
Home

and presents a glowing white Dell logo on a black background. You'll notice one button missing, there is no dedicated Search button.

Which clears into a beautifully clear rendition of the O2 logo

And eventually reaches the 'desktop', with the Dell lock screen showing at this time no SIM card has been inserted, that the screen is locked, and the current time and date. One nice touch is that the desktop screen (and indeed the three screen wallpaper) shows a rather nice landscape image on the O2 Dome. Pure class that is, and a nice touch by O2. Pressing the 'Menu' button unlocks the screen.

The upper side (or top) of the Streak holds the rest of the control buttons:

Volume up / down rocker button
On / off button
Camera button

as well as the 3.5mm jack socket on the right of the volume rocker (underneath my thumb)

The base holds the Dell non-standard (that is non micro-USB) USB connector. This looks to be based on a similar design as to that used by Apple on their devices and means if you want accessories you must use Dell specific ones!

Moving on to the back of the machine we have the battery cover which is constructed of a very thin piece of steel, which feels flimsy indeed, and which is very easy to slide on / off. To the left of the cover is the single speaker which the back plate slides over when it disengages. To the right of the cover is the 5Mp camera as well as a LED flash / auto-focus sensor.

Removing the back cover reveals the battery socket and battery as well as the slot for the micro-SD card and the SIM card. The SIM is inserted sideways and lies directly underneath the SD card. When the back cover is removed the phone automatically turns off - I assume to ensure that is the SD card is removed there is no data corruption.

As you can see to remove the SD card the battery does have to be removed.

Once at the main desktop of the Streak (the central screen of the three available) you are presented with a goodly number of pre-loaded applications and widgets.

One nice touch is the Getting Started widget which is specific to the machine and it guides you around the control interface.

The control interface comprises of the segmented touch top of screen menu which offers (from left to right):

Menu which contains shortcuts to; Browser, Phone, Contacts, Email, Market, Google Mail, and More. Selecting the More icon pops open a modified Android launcher - See below:

The next segment allows you to either access recently used applications or to add more screens to the desktop system, up to a maximum of six. This is pretty damned impressive and a nice Dell innovation.

Next is the 'dot display' which serves (iPhone like) to show you which desktop screen is currently active. This is followed by the Notifications segment which when tapped pops downwards to show any current notifications.

The final segment displays the status of the machine showing if WiFi is active, the GPRS signal, and battery remaining. If tapped upon it pops downwards to offer more detailed status information as well as allowing access to the more commonly used settings such as Aeroplane mode, WiFi and Bluetooth toggling, etc.

When at the desktop the 'Menu' button activates a further pop out screen which allows you to add a program shortcut or widget (which you can of course also do by tapping and holding on the screen), change the wallpaper for that specific desktop portion, perform a Google Internet search, view any notifications, or access the main Android settings screen.

As standard the far left desktop is populated with the Facebook and Twitter widgets, and you can of course change these to any others you may prefer. Installed as standard are:

Analog clock
Calendar
Email
Facebook Widget from Dell
Latitude
Now Playing
Picture Frame
Power Control
RSS
RSS - BBC Business
RSS - BBC Entertainment
RSS - BBC UK
RSS - Sky Business
RSS - Sky News Home
Search
TouchDown Calendar
TouchDown Email
TouchDown Universal
TouchDown Tasks
Twitter

Now you may be wondering what on earth TouchDown is, I was

Touchdown is a commercial Exchange application of which a 30 day trial only is included on the Streak which is not good news, to me a license should be included. The good news though is that Touchdown can handle multiple Exchange profiles - I've just tested it out with my own Exchange accounts for home and work and it works perfectly!

One very nice application included on the Streak is the Pictures and Videos program, when loaded it displays any media discovered on your storage card, and they are all displayed very sleekly with a timeline bar underneath so you can see when each was taken. Scrolling through the pictures is smoothly accomplished via left and right swipes of the screen.

Tapping on an a photograph opens it in full screen.......

And a further tap zooms the image to full size. All of the transitions are smooth and fast.

Impressive Dell, very impressive.

We'll finish of the screen shots here with a few other applications. Here you can see the phone dialler, nice large buttons.

Google Maps displays in awesome clarify and detail on the large 5" screen!

And Google Night Sky (not loaded as standard) is amazingly impressive in both speed, accuracy and detail.

The keyboard; Dell have made good use of the screen real estate and include as standard a full QWERTY keyboard with a numeric keypad, this makes data entry very easy, even though you do end up stretching a little due to the keyboards span. The only niggle here is that there is no haptic feedback which would be useful to indicate a key had been tapped.

And finally, those who know me probably expected this. eBooks - I loaded FB Reader and wow - the large screen is wonderful for enjoying a good book - who needs a Kindle device!

Example Photos:

The camera application loads with a press and hold on the camera button, taking around 3 seconds to become fully operational.

There are the usual features concerning resolution, balance etc, but there are some omissions too; there is an autofocus on the camera but nothing to set the point of that focus, no tap to set the focal point, there is no auto-flash, it's a manual toggle.

There is however a 4X digital zoom option, although the quality when the device is hand held is not that impressive:

Note: Each of the below is a large thumbnail which may be clicked on to load an original non-reduced size image.

Conclusion:

Dell have worked hard to produce something rather unique, that is a small form factor tablet device (or a large form factor phone device) that has a decent balance of size against functionality. Their customisation of the Android operating system onto the machine has been carried out with aplomb and the interface is a pleasure to interact with. The segmented bar along the top of the screen gives a lot of added functionality and works very well indeed.

However there are a few serious niggles that do need resolving (in my opinion of course):

Google Contacts - When using search to bring up a contact, if that contact is then tapped on the contact application crashes.
The micro-SD card is held in place purely by friction, there is no locking mechanism at all.
The USB connector should really be micro-USB.
The operating system is using Android firmware 1.6 which is now pretty old, really what it needs on there is Froyo - version 2.2.

Some of the above are obviously hardware issues that need a redesign but the others should be resolvable via an OTA software update. Dell have promised a Froyo reboot towards the end of 2010, and one would hope by then that the Streak would use the Android Exchange system to support multiple accounts instead of a third party application.

However saying that the current OS implementation is speedy enough and the Streak offers a lot of user goodness:

Large screen (well readable in sunlight)
Very smooth in operation
Dell customisation of the interface works very well
Photo and video playback are wonderful on the large screen using Dells enhanced software
Good battery life - 81% left after 5 hours usage with WiFi and GPS turned on
Impressive large keyboard

Final thought would I buy a Streak? That is difficult, if it felt a little more robust, and had the software glitches fixed, then yes. Otherwise if I bought one now I'd be handling it very carefully and complaining to Dell over the few bugs that are in there!

Out thanks as always are extended to O2 UK for providing us with the review sample!

[All images processed using Snagit from Techsmith]

Review: Brodit mount for HTC HD Mini

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:33:16 +0000

If you've been keeping up to date with reviews on SPG then you'll have read my musings on the HTC HD Mini recently provided to us by O2. As we tend to go on a fair number of mini-breaks around the UK one lack we had as far as the Mini was concerned was mounting it in the car for navigation.

Luckily our good friends at DSL developments came yet again to our rescue and provided us with the 'Active Holder, Tilt Swivel with cig plug. HTC HD Mini', Brodit item number 512142.

This arrived packaged as per usual by Brodit in a plastic bag which contained the mount itself, the instructions and a bag of mounting screws. For a new user to the world of Brodit you'd also have to purchase a matching Brodit Mount for your car, but as an existing Brodit user it was easier for me - all I had to do was unscrew my current active mounts universal joint and screw the mount for the HD Mini in place.

As you can see the mount comprises the mounting bracket itself and a trailing 'active' power lead which ends in a car power adaptor (cigarette lighter socket). Once fixed onto the Brodit mount and the power plugged in the Mini can then be slid into place. Power feeds into the mount via the active lead and from the micro-USB mount directly into the HD Mini,giving plenty of power for hands free phone calls or satellite navigation.

As always with Brodit the Mini is held very firmly and even when driving at speed over bumpy roads there is no problem with vibration or movement - the Mini is held safe and securely.

To conclude: Yet again another well engineered mount from Brodit, proved with speed and efficiency by DSL.

Oh and please excuse the dusty last photograph - the sun was very bright and I'd dusted the screen twice - sigh

[All Images processed using SnagIt by TechSmith]

Review: O2 HTC HD Mini

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:21:42 +0000

O2 HTC HD Mini - Day 1 - Initial Thoughts

The first thought that entered my mind on seeing the O2 HD Mini was that is is truly miniature in size. After using the HD2 and the Desire the Mini really appears minute in comparison. It nestles in the palm and feels really really small, with no doubt the feeling being enhanced by the rubberised outer covering which surrounds the main metallic chassis.

This housing constructed of heavy plastic should serve well to protect the Mini from hard knocks and dare I say being dropped on the occasional floor. It covers the Mini completely top, bottom, sides, and back and then reduces in thickness towards the front which of course it leaves open for the screen to be displayed.

The covering is so complete that the second thought is how on earth does one get into the machine to insert the SIM card. The only openings are to allow the power button (top right), volume rocker (upper side left), and micro-USB slot / tube (bottom) to protrude through it, as well as piercings for the 3.5mm audio jack (top left), camera (upper rear back), and some screw-like column fixings.

The matter of removing the housing was solved after a few seconds thought, and the removal is accomplished by pressing down on the screw-like columns that protrude through the back of the device. Putting pressure on the two at the rear top of the casing allows it to be popped off in seconds. This locking method requires some force to be applied so it is very unlikely that anything else apart from a determined pair of thumbs will cause the back to be removed.

Third thoughts..... oh WOW that yellow inner cover is bright, as once the back cover has been removed you can see the canary yellow inside that HTC have engineered. A bit bright for my taste, but well it does look kind of impressive. The battery was removed via the insertion of a fingernail and both the Micro SD and SIM card inserted, the battery place back in and the cover re-affixed. A press of the power button and the Mini powered on.

As the machine powered up the white back-lit touch sensitive buttons on the lower front of the Mini lit very brightly and became clearly visible:

Phone (Call)
Home
Windows
Back
Phone (End Call)

These are not raised up at all and when not lit appear as white silhouettes under the surface of the front of the Mini. No buttons raised up as on the HD2, the face of the Mini is completely flat and smooth. However the top of the machine above the HTC logo is relieved slightly downwards to allow the microphone to be presented to the ear, and as on the HD2 the loudspeaker is covered by a very fine black mesh for protection purposes.

Whilst describing the above the Mini has finished booting with the anticipated O2 water theme animation rolling past and the OOBE (Of of Box Experience) wizard running - which allows one to configure email, connectivity, social networking, etc. When that has completed the Minis home screen arrives with the Mini version of HTC Sense to the fore.

The screen although relatively 'small' at 3.2" the HVGA (320 x 480) is bright and clear with all text readable and clearly visible, no ghosting or blurring at all.

The mainstay of the display is of course the HTC Sense application which overlays the Windows Mobile operating system. As with other recent Sense creations from HTC the main tabs on offer are:

Home
People
Messages
Mail
Internet
Calendar
Stocks
Photos and Videos
Music
Weather
Twitter
Footprints
Settings

Whilst navigating through the tabs, and entering data in the OOBE wizard it was noted the the capacitive screen was incredibly sensitive, only needing a feather touch for a screen press to register. This meant that the keyboard was difficult to navigate initially until the right light touch has been developed.

In operation generally the Mini feels fast and smooth and in fact is very much on par with its more powerful big brother, the HD2.

So initial thoughts about the device are good, it's fast and smooth and certainly easy to fit into a convenient pocket.

We'll see how it performs over the next few days!

O2 HTC HD Mini - Day 2 - App Loading and General Use

Late last night and this morning before work I loaded up a selection of my usual applications to see how the HD Mini would fare, with the non standard (to a lot of developers) screen resolution. I aimed to pick a selection of application types, from those which modify the system, add functionality, use the GPS system, as well as provide some light entertainment - things that most users would be interested on while on the move.

The applications loaded were:

uBook
MobiPocket
FourSquare
EverNote
CorePlayer
MS Marketplace (downloaded from the pre-configured shortcut)
MS MyPhone (updated via via Marketplace)
Bing (via Marketplace)
HomeScreen Customiser (loaded via Marketplace)
SynchroTime

All worked perfectly well apart form uBook (which crashed when I tried to enter the SD card - bug in the application), and FourSquare. The latter had buttons overley large which overlapped one another and crashed at every attempt to move into one of the sub areas - but then again that is a beta application.

Book reading with Mobipocket was not as easy as on the HD2 as with the default settings the text is very small, but increasing the text size solved that issue and book reading was suitably pleasurable.

The only other application glitch noted was with the HomeScreen Customiser - it loaded onto the machine without any issues, but the add on modules for weather, contacts, launcher were not offered as addons. I removed the application and reinstalled but still not offered, very strange.

Thanks to my good friends at ALK a registration code and maps were provided for CoPilot Live 8 (preinstalled in ROM) and that loaded and worked perfectly. It was noted that is was the 'professional' version too which leads me to think that the Mini may have a Navipanel built into it for when dashboard mounted in the car.

While I was in navigation 'mode' I had a brief fling with Bing and Google Maps, both worked as expected with no problems, but one cool thing as noted and that is a GPS activity icon. This appears very similar to the Android GPS indicator as it appears in the top system bar and flashes on and off to indicate GPS activity. Does this mean we can turn on the GPS and not worry about power drain as it'll only be activated when needed? Further investigation is needed here!

When loading up and configuring the Mini (which involved couple of soft resets) it was noticed how quickly it booted up after the reset, and on testing tonight I can confirm that it boots around 15 seconds quicker than my HD2 - maybe the smaller screen and less complex Sense application gives it an edge here. The only drawback of the small screen is that some of the smaller sized text in the configuration screens is slightly blurred due to the small physical size of the font used and the cleartype adjustment applied to it. This not helped by the cleartype toggle being removed from the ROM.

Speaking of Sense the Mini had to be tested out with Titanium as a front end interface, despite not having all the 'panels' loaded that I wishes to use. Titanium proved to be very finger friendly and smooth in operation compared to the HD2 where it feels a little unfriendly as one ends up wishing fingers were a little longer! On the Mini there are no such problems Titanium suits the small screen perfectly and is very usable. If my lost panels were in place I could well prefer using it to Sense!

Three things that surprised me with the Mini today were:

CorePlayer - this was used to play back a couple of recorded TV episodes, and with it set to play back video in 'RawFrameBuffer' mode the videos played back smoothly and quickly, there were no stutters in playback, no sound sync issues and the screen was rock solid and pinpoint accurate and clear - pretty impressive in fact.
Footprints - Not expecting it to work I exported all my Footprints recorded on the HTC Desire (*.kmz file) and imported them into the Mini. They all imported fine and are not resident. That was a cool discovery!
Battery Life - Okay I'm not comparing Apples to Apples here, but with approximate similar use of devices I tried to compare the HTC Desire to the Mini. At the end of the day the Desire had 42% battery life remaining, the Mini had 80% still left. Taking into consideration my HD2 which usually ends the day at between 55-65% charge remaining this is staggering! The Mini had been used with GPS, phone calls, with Exchange push email on constantly, Facebook updating and Tweets coming in as frequently as possible, and it still achieved 80% charge left! Wow!

O2 HTC HD Mini - Day 3 - In use

Okay onwards...... to see how the Mini performed in everyday operation it was taken away for a weekends mini holiday in Wales and was used as my main phone (apart from ebook reading) and it performed wonderfully well.

The first thing of note was that it was run from 7:30am in my pocket mostly while at work, a couple of phone calls were made, etc and a little PIM use. After work I popped home, loaded up and we drove from Manchester to Llwyngwril (in Wales near Tywyn), and arrived at 21:07. Now bearing in mind that a lot of the work environment holds signal dead areas, and that signal loss is high in mid Wales........

So I was expecting the battery to be down to around 60%, I turned the the machine on and the battery use was down to 80%, very impressive. But was it a fluke? No it was not, the machine was used while in Wales to make phone calls, take photos and respond to emails. Typically we'd be out of the cottage by around 10:00am and return around 18:00 in the evening. On all of those days battery life never left below 10% used which is truly outstanding!

Another bonus is it's tenacity in keeping hold of a signal. The cottage we sleep in has walls of stone - 2 to 3 feet thick and the signal is therefore dodgy so say the least indoors. The Mini was pulled off charge on morning and it was noted that it had held the mobile web (O2) connection to the net for over 51 hours, so all day, through the evening and during the night. Calls were also made home through the walls with no problems at all. As a double check the HTC Desire was checked for signal and data connectivity inside. Signal was either 0 or 1 bar, where the Mini had 1 to 3 bars!

Gotchas, there have to be a few gotchas lurking and alas there were.

These were nothing inherent with the device itself but have to be down to the HTC Sense implementation. Both may have been connected as they both tied into data updating. The problem was with both the updating of the Twitter feed and with the weather. Twitter updates were made, but not on the hour as scheduled they seemed to take place randomly during the day. Locational weather updates had a similar problem, and even when triggered manually the update either did not occur, or if the update did take place the correct location was not obtained. It's no good being in Wales and the device insisting we were still just outside Wrecsam!

The final gotcha may be partly down to the user having large fingers as I found it awkward when taking a photograph in controlling the precise focus area with the camera. So a fair few of the shots taken ended up a little of of focus. However with a bit of perseverance decent pictures did result and I'm glad to say the photo quality was good, no dreaded pink tinge at all. A few shots are attached for your enjoyment (All taken using the default camera settings and not resized at all!

More to follow as I move through the working week!

O2 HTC HD Mini - Day 4 - Battery life

I’ve been using the device minimally (no ebook reading as I'm waiting for a fixed uBook), so it has been used for weather watching, push email and general PIM tasks as well as at least two phone calls per day.

One thing that was starting to be apparent, the battery was not going down at all under the first few days of use, so I decided to test it out!

The Mini was fully charged and then removed from all power sources (no mains or USB charge) at 6:45am Tuesday morning and it’s been running 24/7 with GPRS (2G) left on and all functions allowed to auto-update. (Exchange turned off for off-peak night time), the rest of the time operating with full push email.

Battery remaining as of Friday at 16:50..... wait for it... a staggering 40%.

So only 60% battery usage through Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday.

This is completely awesome and unheard of for a modern Windows Phone Device!

This mini review comprises four blogs which were posted concerning the device. Please check out the relevant blogs for the accompanying photos.

First impressions - Piel Frama HD2 iMagnum case

Wed, 12 May 2010 15:38:07 +0000

First impressions - Piel Frama HD2 iMagnum case

At the end of January I purchased the HTC PO S511 flip case for the HD2. It has been a great case for only £15, but is already showing some signs of ageing so a replacement was needed.

I ordered the Piel Frama HD2 iMagnum case in black from mobilefun.co.uk for £54.95 plus shipping. It was dispatched promptly and here are some first thoughts and pictures.

The iMagnum is a flip type case hinged at the top and sporting an overlap magnetic clasp for holding it closed. The iMagnum is comprised of 2 very thin and hard plastic shells which are shaped like open ended “trays” . These are both covered in thin embossed leather on the inside surfaces and thick, padded leather on the outside surfaces. They are connected together by the top leather hinge.

The HD2 is held in place by sliding it between the side walls of the lower “tray” and is gripped very firmly by virtue of a tight fit and the obvious rigidity of the plastic shell walls. There is no suggestion that the HD2 could work its way loose either by movement or gravity. It really is held very firmly in place and the case is a very exact fit.

My first thought on viewing the case is that it is in fact a little bulkier than the advertising pictures would suggest because of the padded leather exterior. The dimensions with an HD2 inside are:

Overall depth averages 25mm – over twice the depth of the “naked” HD2. The case is deeper, nearer to 30mm, in places because of the magnetic closure clasp and the screw mount base of the belt clip lug.

I find this a little disappointing, because whilst the lower tray is a respectable 15mm deep, barely deeper than the HD2 itself which sits flush in it, the upper tray / lid of the case is nearly 10 mm deep and much of this is fresh air because of the walled design. I have to assume this is an intended form of anti-crush screen protection for the HD2, but it does take away some of the attractive thinness of the device.

Case width is a very respectable 73mm, just 6mm wider than the HD2

Height is just over 125mm including the hinge, so again only a few mm more than the HD2 itself.

The iMagnum case features a rear cut away for the speaker, camera lens and camera led’s. The overlap closure tab has a cut-out to allow access to the headphone jack when the case is closed, but has no cut-out access to either the micro-usb port or the phone microphone when the case is closed. The left side of the lower tray is cut back to allow access to the volume switch.

Included in the box is a quick release belt clip and a spanner type tool which allows you to unscrew and replace the belt clip lug on the rear of the case with a flush fitting silver button, if you don’t wish to use the belt clip.

The magnetic clasp works well enough, though it is possible to accidently open the clasp by the action of putting it into or removing it from a pocket. The magnetic clasp does not affect the operation of the electronic compass when the case lid is hanging downwards in its normal open position, but folding the lid back on itself to be nearer the case does start to swing the compass around when the magnetic clasp gets closer to the device.

This is a clearly very well made case which uses high quality materials throughout. I feel that it makes the HD2 a little bulkier than perhaps it needs to be, but overall I am very impressed.