So I was talking to a few friends today about my cinema setup at home and a lot of them were saying that they would love to do the same, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg. This got me thinking, and a quick browse around the Internet quickly revealed that you no longer have to spend big to get the cinema experience at home. Only a couple of years ago High Def projectors were over £1000 for starters and this for many was too much, especially as the recommendation would be to only use this for the likes of sports, movies and gaming. Believe you me Pat Butcher on a 9ft screen isn’t pretty.

So how about the Optoma HD65,  which is a 720p capable projector for under £400.  Now just because this is cheap in money terms don’t think that you are getting a sub-standard projector. Depending on throw distance you could achieve a screen size of up to 7.6m (diagonal) which is more than enough for even the most cinema hungry person. You also get a host of connectivity options, including HDMI 1.3 (that’s the latest standard) which is a  fantastic addition for a sub £500 projector.

Bulb life is also rated at 3000 hours which is an important factor when considering a projector, especially if you, like me, are putting in a number of hours per week in front of the screen. Given it’s lumens rating as well (1600) you could also expect to get away with watching content via this system, in a reasonably lit room, again another consideration when choosing a projector.

So now you perhaps have no excuse for bringing the cinema experience home. And of course the likes of GTA IV look fantastic on a large screen. So what you waiting for?

So if you have even the slightest interest in video gaming then you will be well aware that the latest game in the Grand Theft Auto series has landed. GTV IV is available for both the PS3 and the XB360. This is the first time the genre has been available on the next generation consoles and it does not disappoint.

I actually picked it up on the XB360 yesterday (launch day of course) and managed to get a few hours (okay more than a few that took precedence over a certain important thing called sleep) after the football last night. My first impressions? I have to say I agree with the numerous reviews that are out there. This is a title worthy even at this early stage to be crowned game of the year.

The great thing I love about these games is the sandbox environment that you are placed into and this open-ended feel to the game has been continually improved upon each new release. This time around it really does feel as though you are a real citizen in the Liberty City world, and in fact the ability to complete many missions will rely on you roaming the streets simply trying embrace all this pulsating city has to offer.

Some of my highlights so far. I came across a smartly dressed woman on her cell phone and upon knocking it out of her hand she ran off, however the person on the other end was shouting Hello? Hello? down the other end. Then how about cruising around the city at dusk, listening to some serious house music, simply taking in the atmosphere. Or how about at the end of a hard days grafting taking in a comedy show, or using your mobile phone to arrange a night out. Yup this game has it all, and I’ve only just scratched the surface.

The main decision I guess for you isn’t if you should pick this up, that’s a given. It’s if you own both an XB360 and PS3, which console to pick it up for. One thing for sure however - you need this game in your life !

When I first came across the name DROBO I thought this must be a cool gadget, just because of its name. It’s all space-age and futuristic. So what exactly is DROBO? Well it’s a fully automated Direct Attached Storage Solution. Now it wasn’t that long ago that I was singing the praises of the Linkstation Live, especially as it was networked attached rather than direct attached. So what’s changed?

Well, if the truth be told, not a lot has changed. I just think the DROBO is a solution which has so much to offer, especially for those who only have one machine at home. I feel the killer feature of this solution is that it gives you full peace of mind in regards to disk replication and redundancy, unlike the Linkstation which of course is only one drive. At the same time however DROBO does not expect or indeed need you to have any kind of technical understanding of RAID levels and the like. Instead you can start off with two drives, plug them in and DROBO will take care of the rest. Heck the drives don’t even need to be the same size. Then when you need to upgrade DROBO will take care of balancing your data between the 4 drives. And once you have 4 drives in place you don’t have to stop there. Simply replace the smallest drive in the set with a larger drive and once again DROBO will work its magic.

DROBO also works under a very simple principle of flashing lights which can easily guide even the most novice of users to where action needs to be taken, even warning you in advance when you need to think about upgrading.  Just in time storage upgrades are now possible thanks to DROBO.
Having come from a background of managing online storage systems for corporations I can’t stress enough the importance of either some kind of RAID protection, regular backups or both. DROBO will give you the peace of mind on the data protection front without any of the stress of trying to manage it yourself.

For our regular readers out there you probably were somewhat aware of my plans to move across to Apple at home. I had decided to get myself an iMac, however shortly after I decided to move the rumour mill started that the iMac range would be updated and I quote, “any day now”. Well that was almost 3 months ago and if the truth be told I had started to give up hope of any updates ever dropping, even going as far to place a self imposed deadline of 30th April on the updates to drop or to give up.

Well imagine my joy this morning as I made my regular online pilgrimage to the Apple store to discover that the updates have finally happened. And it wasn’t even a Tuesday. So what’s new?

Well first of a bit of a speed increase on the CPU front, as well as a move to the Core 2 Duo Penryn processors. At the top of the range you now see CPU speeds breaking through the 3Ghz barrier, 2GB of memory as default, a 500GB hard disk drive and a nice shiny new 512MB nVidia Graphics Card. The iMac for me is the perfect combination between power and beauty and will certainly get a lot of love and attention once installed at home. The 24″ screen is to die for and will certainly be the perfect way to indulge my passion for photography and video processing.

And of course when I’m not working on the iMac, I’ll be able to pass away many hours playing the likes of World of Warcraft, which of course is available for Apple computers.  I almost can’t contain the excitment of playing this on the 24″ screen.
I just hope my poor desktop PC will forgive me. Its days are numbered, soon I will be turning to the cult of Mac !

On Friday, Nintendo’s new exercise based game, Wii Fit, was released in the UK and they have been flying off the shelves over the course of the weekend. For a game that is not even really targeted at the gamer it may come as a bit of a shock that sales are through the roof but what is even more surprising to me is that us, “Europes Fattest Nation”, seems to have taken to Wii Fit more than any other nation. Why? Maybe we have finally gotten sick of topping every “Europes Worst” list that has been created and decided to do something about it but it’s most probably down to that Nintendo have given us the option of getting ourselves fitter without having to leave the house. Which is great! I mean, going jogging outside isn’t everyones cup of tea, especially in this country where the majority of the time it is either freezing or raining and all these fancy health clubs we have are quite expensive.

With Wii Fit, you have it sitting in your living room or bedroom and you can exercise anytime you want, before work, after work, before bed, hell, you can do it all day if you wanted to and you won’t ever see a bill from a monthly subscription health club or pay for yoga classes or whatever. So what is the point i am trying make with all this rambling then? I guess what i am trying to say is, Wii Fit is so in demand in the UK because we all want to get fit but we are too lazy to go out and do it and Wii Fit is the lazy way to get fit that we have been looking for. If that doesn’t appeal to you then nothing will.

You can find out more on Wii Fit by reading our Mario Kart And Wii Fit post and our Wii Fit Update post or if you’ve heard enough and want to try it out for yourself, Wii Fit is available to purchase here.

Jamming until the wee small hours of the morning is one of the guitar players favourite hobbies but believe it or not the neighbours don’t take too kindly to having to put up with your take on Sweet Child Of Mine in the middle of the night. So what you need is to find a way where you can still practice your guitar riffs whenever you see fit without the folks next door calling the Old Bill. This terrific little gadget from Vox allows you just that.

The Vox amPlug is a cool little amp that plugs into your guitar and gives you all the benefits that your full-size amp gives you, only through a set of headphones and the best part is, it fits right into the palm of your hand so you can take absolutely anywhere. Two AAA batteries will give you around about 15 hours a battery life so you don’t have to worry about running out of charge mid-jam either.The Vox amPlug comes in three different sound styles, the VOX AC30, Classic Rock, and Metal which will all deliver different performance benefits depending on what kind of sounds you are into. A built in aux-in jack also gives you the chance to play along with your CD or MP3 player.

It may not give you quite the same satisfaction as belting out a big power riff that takes the roof off every house in the neighbourhood but for £30 you can’t go wrong and it may just save you a court order or two.

We live, or at least I do, in a day and age where we want information at our fingertips, not only at home or in the office, but on the move as well. At the same time though we don’t want to be forced into carrying a bulky laptop. For some even the likes of the Asus EEE PC may be too much to carry around. The solution? Perhaps the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet is the way to go.

I managed to have some hands on time with this mini marvel at least years Stuff Live show in London and I must admit I was very impressed with what I saw. At the core is a pretty powerful 400Mhz processor with 128MB of memory. Connectivity options include wireless (that’s both b and g) as well as Bluetooh. I’ve actually seen this device connected to a mobile phone over Bluetooth, which it uses as a modem for Internet connectivity when there isn’t a wireless hotspot around. To complete the picture the device boasts an impressive 4.1″ screen capable of displaying over 65 thousand colours. This system really comes into its own when connected over wireless and offers a wonderful end user experience for the likes of web browsing, instant messaging and email.

The main differences between the n810 and its older brother is a pull down thumb keyboard and GPS. The keyboard is a nice touch and I found myself being able to use it quite well, always important when it comes to taking down those important minutes at that urgent business meeting you have been called to.  The system itself can also support the likes of Skype which in an instant can turn this into a handset capable of making decent quality Voice calls.

My overall impression of the n810 were good, especially when it came to the web browsing experience. I really do believe this system is almost on a par with the much hyped iPhone for simple web browsing. The inclusion of a 3G chip would however fully complete this device for me and make it something I would be very interested in picking up.  Overall though if you are looking for a hand held device whch can deliver top quality web browsing and email on the move the the n810 may be worth considering.

All these media devices that we have at our disposal nowadays are great but isn’t a bloomin nuisance when they die on you. It would be great to have a mains socket on every corner to recharge but unfortunately that just isn’t possible. So what do you need? You need a device that will let you recharge your media goodies no matter where you are. Thanks to that great ball of fire that sits in the sky and the Solio Solar Charger you can have that luxury.

The Solio Solar Charger will allow you to top up the power on pretty much any of your handheld electronics, anything from your mobile phone or your iPod to your Digital Camera or Game Player. A fully charged Solio will give you up to 20 hours of play time on your iPod or give you enough power to charge your mobile phone fully more than twice and its lightweight compact design means it is easy to carry around or travel with.

The Solio charger will come in particularly useful for say, a camping trip. Let’s face it, the most excitement you are capable of getting out of a camping trip is probably being eaten by a bear but that’s not the ideal situation to be in is it? So forget about being in one with nature and all that nonsense and take along your electronics and Solio charger and make the woods feel more like home.

It seems the last few posts I’ve put up here have had something to do with the weather, or more specifically the lack of sunshine that we seem get in this country. Well never one to be put off by a small matter such as weather I thought I’d continue my little mini-theme looking at weather related items. There are a host of gadget goodies out there which come to life with a bit of solar energy.

For starters how about this solar powered, build it yourself, helicopter. Made of laser cut plywood this easy to put together flying machine has a solar powered rotor blade. I’d be interested to see how high you could get this somewhere like Dubai If flying isn’t your thing then how about this solar powered windmill. Now I make no promises that this will be your first step on the road to becoming a baker but it may make a nice garden feature.

Building not your thing? Well how about a bit of a gardener. Well it would seem the solar gurus have you covered here as well. Never let condensation or heat build up in your greenhouse again with this solar charged greenhouse vent. Again easy to install with no electrical wiring necessary. Got a pond? Well how about that finishing touch with some floating solar lights. These lights sound rather relaxing as they glow in a slowly changing cycle through all the colours of the rainbow.

Finally if cheese (apologies in advance to all you gnome fans out there) is your thing then how about a solar powered light-up gnome. Just the thing to deliver the final touch of, errr, class to anyones garden, just not mine please !

So there you have it. Just some of the solar related gadgets available on the market today. Again though I make no promises regarding sunshine hours available in the UK this coming summer should you invest in any of these items.

Lighting is a great way to capture moods and different atmospheres in the home, for example, if you were making your hot new date a lovely meal you’d probably be going for the cliche dimmed lighting effect and if you had some friends over for say, the football, you’d probably want to go for something different, unless you are all too close to them of course. There is an even better way to capture different moods and what not though… with colour!

The ingenious new LivingColors lamp from Phillips contains 4 light-emitting diodes (that’s LED’s to you and me), 2 red, 1 blue and 1 green, each of which can be increased, decreased, brightened or dimmed to create a total of 16 million different colours! So unless you are capable of going through 16,000,001 different moods then there is a colour to match your frame of mind. So you can go red if you’re feeling all emotional, green if you’re day-dreaming of swinging through the jungle or blue if you are chilled out and listening to dolphins. Get the idea?

The LivingColors design is also very unique, made out of Perspex and resembling some sort of strange glowing fishbowl it is very new-age. Which is the only way it can be really, i mean, gold-plating and hanging a lamp shade over weird and wonderful glowing LED’s just wouldn’t work! To add yet more new-ageness, LivingColors is worked using remote control. The remote consists of an iPod-style click wheel, which will allow you to run through a range of different colours and there are separate controls to adjust brightness and dispersion. Instead of using infra-red like your average remote control, the LivingColors remote uses radio frequency which means you don’t actually have to point it at the lamp in order for it to work, pretty cool huh?

At 100 bucks a go, it’s not the cheapest form of lighting out there but it is most definitely cool, funky and fresh and we all know that’s all that matters.