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Credit Crunch
Taking Advantage of the Credit Crunch
In times of economic downturn, it can seem like there are few things to be grateful for. With all the doom and gloom that’s being spouted on the news, you may find yourself wondering what happened to the so-called light at the end of the tunnel. However, the credit crunch doesn’t have to mean the end of the world. If you are wise, you can take advantage of the economic situation and grab some great deals for things that you need.
Eating out. When times seem hard and you’re feeling the pressure, you should be able to take a little time for yourself without feeling the need to punish yourself for over-spending. When you need to treat yourself to keep your spirits up, why not take advantage of one of the many deals available at restaurants at the moment? With many places offering 2 for 1 vouchers or money off, you can eat out without feeling horribly guilty about it. Have a look at sites like MoneySavingExpert.com for the latest deals available.
Mobile phone deals. If you’re in dire need of a new mobile but feel like you can’t afford it, you might be in for a surprise. There are loads of great deals on at the moment aimed at encouraging customers not to give up on the industry. Visit the Vodafone website for a great selection of phones, like the Samsung J700 – available for £40 on pay as you go plans, you will also receive a £20 voucher for LoveFilm. Or, if you can afford to spend a little more, they are also offering a Talk 24 month price plan which is £35 a month, with which you get a free Samsung Steel phone, free Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero game worth £239, and 600 minutes, unlimited texts and mobile internet.
Clothing sales. When you’re wardrobe looks like it could do with a bit of freshening up, and your clothes are looking a bit worse for the wear, why not take advantage of the many mid-season sales that are hitting the shops nationwide? Allowing you to buy your favourite items at a fraction of the price, if you wait for the sales before buying your new clothes you could save yourself a bundle.
Yes, the credit crunch has had an awful effect on the
Mobile Phone Deals
Round up of the hottest mobile phones
Owning the latest mobile phone makes a statement in many ways. For the clued-up techy people among us it''s a chance to get your hands on the latest developments in mobile technology.
For some, having the latest mobile phone is about being ahead of the crowd and making a statement when it comes to phone fashion.
Whatever the reasoning behind it, there aren’t many of us who don''t wish they could be carrying around one of the latest phones on the market. We''ve selected some of the top mobiles available boasting endless cutting edge features such as sophisticated cameras, high speed internet connectivity and media players that will enable you to choose a handset that will meet your specific requirements.
Nokia n96
This handset is one of the latest to be created by Nokia, undeniably one of the leading names in the mobile phone industry, with enough features to rival Batman’s utility belt you’ll be hard pushed to find a more sophisticated and impressive handset. The Nokia n96 comes complete with a highly developed media system, which is compatible with the iPlayer, this enables customers to enjoy previously aired BBC radio and television programmes. In addition to this, the way in which the phone’s internal antenna and tuner are poised means that it will soon be possible to watch television in real time when the DVB-H systems begins broadcasting in the UK. The Nokia n96 comes complete with a 5-mega-pixel camera with Tessar and Carl Zeiss optics with an additional camera for video calling, high-speed Internet connectivity and inbuilt GPS that will rival any leading Satellite Navigation System. The phone also comes complete with a massive 16GB internal memory, which means you can download pictures, music and videos to your heart’s content!
LG KC910 Renoir
As the name Renoir suggests, this handset from LG is inspired by the leading light of the impressionists and comes complete with an impressive 8-mega-pixel camera, undoubtedly one of the best cameras available on a mobile phone. The camera comes with xenon flash, automatic and manual focus and a video recording function. The KC910 Renoir is also equipped with ‘Dolby Mobile’ which brings further depth and richness to the quality of the handset’s sound quality meaning you get an impressive phone, camera and media player all in one attractive package!
HTC Touch HD
This handset is particularly useful for those who often do business on the go; the handset has an easy to use touch screen with excellent colour and image quality. The handset is also equipped with high-speed Internet connectivity and advanced email functions such as the document viewer. In addition to these functions the HTC Touch HD boasts a high quality music player with FM radio, a camera, a broad game selection and a highly developed GPS, which is again, particularly useful for those who find themselves travelling a lot!
Try the Vodafone site for a great selection of mobile phone deals.
If you’ve got the Plasma TV in the living room……
It’s now time to update to hi-definition in the bedroom.
The latest crop of small, well smallish, screen TV’s are superb and here we choose three of our favorites.
Samsungs 26in LCD looks fantastic on or off, and will also double as a decent PC monitor. The picture quality is brilliant and on-screen menus make it an absolute breeze to use.
Looks decent, although a bit retro, and features like the FM radio give this 23in screen an advantage over rivals. Looks great with HD signals but pretty average with standard TV
One of the most expensive sets in this size range, but it does look great. The concealed speakers sound excellent and the HD pictures look stunning – it’s a great all rounder.
Looking for an iTrip?
No longer a perfect cell mate for your iPod…….
iTrips are the latest in wireless technology, micro FM transmitters which connect to your iPod and broadcast and broadcast a signal to nearby radios.
You can listen to your favorite iPod tracks on your car radio, home stereo, or any other receiver in the vicinity.
iTrips are currently illegal in this country, falling foul of measures designed to stop pirate radio stations. However, Ofcom is planning to amend the law, legitimizing their use.
If and when that occurs, iTrips are set to be big sellers; Ofcom estimates that around 87,500 people are using iTrips already and a further 800,000 units will be sold in the
Ofcom’s final consultation is set to have finished on November 6th, and the devices should become legal shortly after.
So, this Christmas you can probably have an iTrip in your stocking without a trip to prison.
Singing in the Rain……
with this Sony Sports Walkman MP3 player.
Not only will Sony’s NW-205F MP3 player/FM radio monitor the distance you cover and calories you burn, its ‘music pacer’ feature will match tunes to your speed.
With and absorbent armband and handy short headphone cable there is now no excuse not to burn those calories.
Check for the best prices on the Sony NW-205F either online or if you are in store with us at text4price and be a smarter shopper.The Christmas gift idea that could match anyone’s style.
The Intempo PP01
This little beauty claims to be the world’s first personalisable DAB radio.
The Intempo's flat speakers come with two colourful protective sceens out of the box, but we think this could make the ideal gift for as you can design your own for her using a favorite photo, pattern or colour to match the room.
It’s not just a good looker either as you get 20 hours of listening on a full charge too.
Check it out online now and beat the high street rush before Santa's shops shut.
‘Sony Reader’ will be an iPod for Bookworms….
When it launches in America.
Bestsellers such as ‘The Da Vinci code’ will soon be available to buy for just 0ver £3 on a new portable electronic reading gadget.
The Sony Reader, a device that can store hundreds of books and display them with the same clarity as ink and paper, is being launched in
The makers have also created an online library of 10,000 electronic books from six publishers to coincide with the launch.
It’s described as the new iPod for books, and Sony hopes it will do for reading what the apple product has done for its music.
The readers screen has no flicker and no backlight, so bookworms can read for hours without straining their eyes.
Selling for under £200, the reader measures about the size of an average hardback.
The Creative Zen V Plus
Excellent but it’s not Mac-compatible
Creative is always keen to stress why its MP3 players are better than those of its rivals, so its no surprise then that it has emphasized that the Zen V Plus is scratch resistant, after the damaged screen scandal that greeted the launch of the Ipod Nano.
Like the Nano, it is a flash-memory player, and comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB sizes, to store up to 1,000 tracks (creative gives higher figures than this, but it means losing audio quality).
Beyond that, its very different from its Apple equivalent – you can plug it into a Hi-Fi and record to it directly without the need for a PC, it has both an FM radio and a microphone built in.
We think it is a fine mid level MP3 player, its just a shame the Zen V Plus is not Mac-compatible, but with prices starting from £65 we can forgive it that.Logitech’s New Internet Handset
Internet phoning is in the palm of your hand.
With the launch of this new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) cordless handset from Logitech, net calling appears to becoming mainstream.
The stylish phone allows Internet-based calls using the Skype online service, with support for call forwarding to mobiles, landlines and conference calling.
The colour LCD screen shows a list of Skype users, and phoning a friend is as simple as selecting a contact and pressing call.
The cradle remains connected to your PC whilst the handset – wireless to 50m – can be used anywhere in the house.
Best of all the online Skype service is free of charge, meaning that apart from the handset price of around £60 there’s nothing else to pay.
Whoever said “talk is cheap” was clearly quite correct.
Aquavison 17” Bathroom TV
Now there’s literally nowhere in the home you can’t watch TV!
The Aquavision 17” Bathroom TV is a completely independent waterproof television you can install in the wettest of places – not just the bathroom, but anywhere in the house or garden.
It’s really slim (just 65mm thick) and can easily be fitted into any wall, making it an integrated part of the room.
The screen is heated to prevent misting in humid conditions and IPS (In Plane Switching) allows an amazing 176 degree viewing angle.
The TV comes in a choice of 5 different glass finishes, including MirrorVision, which allows the screen to function as a near perfect mirror when not in use.
An integrated FM tuner and floating remote control comes as standard, and a remote switch panel is available as an optional extra.
Aquavision Bathroom TVs also come in a range of sizes and other models are specifically designed to fit towel rails and kitchen cabinets.
Go on, you now you want one in time for Christmas.Microsoft Launch Xbox HD DVD micro-site
Showcasing their new HD DVD drive addition to the Xbox Console.
The micro-site features several images of this latest add on and Microsoft describes the HD DVD a 'killer app' for HDTV capabilities of the Xbox.
“You've experienced next-gen gaming on Xbox 360 … now experience next-gen DVD movies with HD DVD. The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the most affordable way to jump into the next generation of DVD technology, along with the flexibility to enter when you are ready. Just plug Xbox 360 HD DVD Player into Xbox 360 and enjoy the ultimate home theater experience with more clarity and detail than broadcast, cable or satellite HD. Feed your HDTV the high definition content it craves with HD DVD on Xbox 360!”
It goes on to explain why Microsoft chose the format over Blu-ray, including reasons such as manufacturing issues, less easy to damage, and reduced copy protection, better compression, hybrid disc capability, and the in-movie experience.
As we have reported before both Blu-ray and HD DVD have quite convincing arguments, but whether the Xbox HD DVD proves to be a ‘killer app’ will remains to be seen when its released later this year………
TV for people on the move
Archos AV700 the first handheld video recorder with digital TV receiver
The Archos portable video recorder has got a huge 7” screen and a freeview digital receiver in an envelope slightly bigger than a PSP.
To watch freeview channels, you simply connect the antenna to the handheld unit. The unit can also be used as a freeview tuner to your normal telly – just plug it in your fixed TV set.
Its 40GB of memory will store up to 35 hours of television and the battery life will allow you to watch 3.5hours of video playback. It’s also got the ability to store and play photos and music files.
It’s not the smallest of the media players on the market but its big screen makes it a more enjoyable experience and you can watch TV on the move rather than just recorded programs. Which is where we come to the downside of having to use the bulky external antenna while on the move … in a car it would not be a problem but it may be more embarrassing on a train!
Find and price the best handeld video recorder at text4price, the
Even better than the DSC T7 the DSC T9 is still sleek and small
Sony digital camera DSC-T9
The DCS-T9 might be slightly thicker than the T7, by about 6mm, but the T9 includes an optical image stabilisation which makes it easier to capture sharp shots when using the zoom. It’s also more sensitive during low-light shooting and produces richer and brighter colours.
The optical image stabilisation consists of two gyro-sensors. These detect movement (such as camera shake) and automatically calculate and apply the compensation needed to keep the picture crisp and sharp.
In addition, the battery life is longer and the picture quality is up to 6Mega Pixels rather than the 5.1 Mega Pixel of the DCS-T7.
We loved the DCS-T7 so we can’t wait to get hold of the DCS-T9 – Happy snapping.
Check out the latest prices online at text4price.com or on your mobile at 84070.
How to Choose a Cordless Telephone
Compare products and prices and find the best phone for you
First invented by Teri Pall in 1965, cordless telephones have become common place today. The first cordless telephones used the 1.7 MHz frequency. Today, cordless telephones come in four frequencies: 49 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. However, is choosing the highest frequency the best way to go about buying a cordless telephone?
The earliest cordless telephones at 27 MHz were affected by poor sound quality and security and had limited range. Even when the 49 MHz phones came out, poor sound quality and eavesdropping continued to be an issue. It was possible for someone in range to pick up on the conversation using a radio scanner. Many baby monitors were also capable of picking up conversations from a 49 MHz cordless phone.
With the introduction of digital spread spectrum technology in 1995, it became more difficult to eavesdrop. This technology uses frequency hopping to spread the audio signal over a larger bandwidth. While the digital 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz phones incorporate this technology to provide greater security, the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz phones also fall out of range of detection of most radio scanners, making it really difficult for someone to eavesdrop on your conversation.
The 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz phones also improved the distance of using a cordless phone from the base. For instance, the Sony SPP-S2730 claims its cordless handsets can be used as walkie talkies up to 600 feet. In general, 900 MHz with spread spectrum cordless phone has a range of 200-1500 feet whereas its 2.4 and 5.8 GHz counterparts are closer to 300 to 2000 feet.
The 900 MHz phones are the most common cordless phones in use today. The 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz band are also being used by other devices such as Bluetooth, wireless LAN, and microwaves. So while the 2.4 GHz maybe a secure phone, it is also more prone to interference if the devices mentioned are in close proximity. The 5.8 GHz telephones on the other hand are less prone to interference as they are mostly used in military communications. Your microwave and wLAN will not interfere with it. However, it also requires more power and may drain battery life quicker than a 2.4 GHz phone.
The size of the antenna on the phone is also inversely proportional to the frequency; the higher frequency phones needing a smaller antenna and the lower frequency phones having a larger one.
So which one is the right one for you? The most common cordless phone in use today is at 900 MHz; however the 2.4 GHz provides more privacy but could increase interference if devices such as wLAN or microwaves are in use in your home or office. In which case, the 5.8 GHz may be a better option but the drawback of potentially shortening battery life could be an expensive option. In the end which pone to buy will depend upon what you are willing to live with: less privacy (900 MHz), more interference (2.4 GHz), or shorter battery life (5.8 GHz).
Compare price and products at Text4Price.com
Should We Buy A Demo Projector Over A New Projector
Advice about which home theatre is right for you
After many years experimenting with and learning about home theatres, it is hard not to interject some personal experience into the subject matter sometimes. When I was a teenager, I was piecing together my first home theatre projector. I had a state of the art front projector that took up fully two thirds of my bedroom. Intellivision was a modern marvel with 64bit video game technology. Only one thing was lacking, I was buying a new stereo to complete the home theatre experience.
There was no way I could have afforded a brand new stereo, but I did, with some patience and searching, I found some demonstration models that were within my meagre budget. I completed my first home theatre system when I was about 16. Is the demo model still a viable option though? And will it work for home theatre projectors in the same fashion?
A fair discount is often given to the purchaser of a demo model. This is done mostly due to the fact that the demo model has indeed been used to a certain extent. While this may not be an issue for some audio and visual equipment, it is necessary to look at the whole picture before deciding if this is the right way to purchase a home projector.
Obviously you must decide if the projector will fit your personal needs. What kind of media display does it offer? Will it be suitable for mounting in your home? Will the cables be included? Is there still any warranty left on the projection unit? Is the projection screen included with the projector? This last part can be especially important since you can be assured that the screen and the projector are fully compatible if the unit has been displayed in the store.
Once all these questions have been answered, even if they are all answered favourably, it is necessary to look at what may be considered the most important two factors to consider when looking at demo models.
The first question to ask is what is the discounted price? While this is usually around ten percent, frequently an otherwise demanding store may be open to negotiations. The second very important question is to get an idea of how much the projector has been run. By knowing this simple fact, you can ascertain roughly how much bulb life will still be in the headlamp.
While it may seem silly to haggle over a light bulb, projector lamps can be a very expensive replacement part, usually costing between a couple of hundred and five hundred dollars each. Is any discount in the price of the home theatre projector going to be outweighed by the purchase of a new bulb in the next few months?
With some careful searching and a little patience, a demo model is an excellent and affordable opportunity for the home theatre enthusiast, just be careful and remember not only what to look, but what the relevant questions are when you are shopping this way. Of course don't forget to take your mobile with you so you can check and compare prices by using a text message just to make sure you get the best buy.
Compare light weight and stylist digetal cameras
The lastest in Sonys T-series
Slim and Sensitive
This stylish snapper gets even better in the dark
Sony's latest model in the T-series is the T-30. Its slim, stylish and boasts a higher resolution, longer battery life and a bigger screen than its predecessors. But what should catch you're attention is this little beauties much improved low-light shooting.
Sony have added a three-inch screen and with its all metal body its a touch wider and heavier than sibling T9. However it still uses the same tied and tested steady shot optical image stabiliser which really does a fine job of banishing blur from twilight shots.
But better still is an improved maximum sensitivity. At iso 1000 this means less need for flash at night and the grainy noise is kept down making for a much more rounded performer. One problem we did notice is that colours do fade away at these lower levels, so stick to lower sensitivities if you're shooting portraits.
Now you might be thinking that the lager screen adds even more weight to this little cameras performance. Sadly its more difficult to see the benefit since it doesn’t have any more pixels than the T9, so consequently it isn’t even sharper and we also found that at full brightness struggles in direct sunlight.
Camera controls are fast and easy to use, but they are positioned so close to the screen its easy to leave finger prints on it, once again leaving the larger screen at bit of a disadvantage.
Yet where it counts this digital camera really delivers, its truly amazing how much detail Sony extracts from the tiny, corner mounted Carl Zeiss lens. The Seven megapixel picture look simply stunning. They are as sharp, crisp and packed with colour as any happy snapper could wish for.
Despite the larger screen and a powerful flash, battery life has been boosted. The power meter is as good as always on a Sony, showing exactly how many minutes of operation remain.
Sony have learnt that its touches like these that demonstrate to us punters that a digital camera has maturity. T-series snappers have always been skinny, but this adds grace, solidity and impressible low light features to make it a really great compact.
Alternatives
Compare the prices of these digital cameras and many more at text4price the UK price comparison site.
Compare prices of DAB Radios
A review and comparison of DAB radios
Like the track? Want to buy it?
Why wait to get home now you can with DAB
DAB is everywhere these days and we seem to be going a bit DAB crazy. First came DAB radio, then there was talk of trialling TV to mobile via DAB as we reported in one of our earlier postings.
Now the UBC Media Group, one of the UK’s largest independent radio production companies, is testing a download service that allows music downloads via the DAB network.
Heart radio station will be trialling a service next month which will allow digital radio listeners to buy the track they’re currently listening to and have it transferred to a DAB-compatible music player.
Developed by UBC, the new service broadcasts encoded and encrypted music files alongside a radio station’s normal audio stream. These are then cached for a short time in the mobile device and can therefore be bought and kept immediately.
The company said the purchase would also allow the transfer of the song to a user’s web-accessed music library, allowing them to download the song to a PC and to copy it to a DRM-supporting portable player.
Pricing of songs is going to be around £1.25, bought through a pre-pay credit system. The company reckons mobile phones with built-in DAB receivers will appear later this year. The trial, support by the “big four” recording companies (Sony BMG, EMI, Warner and Universal), will run Birmingham next month, initially limited to 100 people.
Of course at the moment the range of DAB radios might not be considered portabel enough so Pure has come up with a handheld PocketDAB which is a rather tiny 123g.
Combined with FM radio and a new colour scheme and a rechargeable battery pack that gives up to 24 hours of playback its a great alternative why not look it up now online and compare prices at text4price.com
A new Sub 200 pound Sat Nav
Mio launches the C210 with a competitive 199 pound price tag
Belgian technology firm Mio Technology has launched the C210 Sat Nav system. It''s got all the basic navigation features you need at very competitive £199.
Let''S be honest, do you really need a multi-lingual voice translator when you''re lost in Bristol?
This GPS receiver features a 400 MHz processor, a clear and crisp but not large 2.7-inch screen and an SD slot for data storage.
Unlike some other Sat Nav systems, it uses seven digit postcode recognition rather than the usual six digits. This means it can locate an address to within a few metres. If you use six digits, you only cover a number of streets.
You can buy an optional Traffic Messaging Channel (TMC) antenna and, with this plugged in, the C210 can receive live updates of traffic problems and hotspots, planning new routes if required.
There''s a safety camera database alerting drivers of camera locations with the ability to add new cameras (there''s a free database update for one year).
It runs on four AA batteries, which provide over 4.5 hours of navigation on foot with the backlight on and GPS function at full power. An in-car charger provides power when on the road.
Try Text4price online here or on your phone 84070 and see if you can get a better deal than £199.
If you can, let us know.
What is an MDVR
Acrhcos would like it to be a Mobile Digital Video Recorder
Having recently released the AV 700, Archos has just released a new version. This is an MDVR - a mobile digital video recorder and to the best of our knowledge, it's the first of its kind.
The trouble is it still looks exactly like the AV700. In fact, it's exactly the same as the AV700 on the outside but if you could see the electronics beneath the plastic facade, you would think otherwise.
Just like a vanilla AV700 this device plays the video, music and prohun games files on the same vast 7in screen. This all-new AV700 tv also has two - yes this is not a typo - two digital tv tuners.
Why would you need an AV700 with two digital tv tuners?
Because you can record directly from external video sources via the composite input without the need to be linked up to anything else to record - it can do the business from its internal digital tuners and aerial, which pick up the various Freeview channels.
So if it has two tuners- does that mean I can record one programme whilst watching another?
Sadly no, but you can take this device and use it on the train or an area with poorer reception. The two digital tuners work in unison to provide the best TV reception anywhere.
As a bonus, you can schedule TV recordings from the EPG and store up to 35 hours of footage on the 40GB HD. And if you don't have a Freeview set-top box, you can link the av700tv to your telly and record from that too.
For a use anywhere Price comparison service use http://www.Text4Price.com
Is this your next Camera
The S6 is Nikon's slimline snapper. Its WI-Fi enabled and we think its clickin amazing.
This is a compact camera with a basket full of functionality and it's oh so slim and elegant. It packs an eye opening three-inch LCD and it lets you fly through the great looking snaps you've just taken using a small iPod style menu wheel.
To cap it all, you can send your pics to your PC or printer wirelessly - what more could you ask for?
Whilst Nikon's last WI-FI compact, the P2 really opened up a new chapter in wireless photography, it looked less than chic. In fact you could say it looked more like an overweight SLR. This camera, in contrast, is as thin as any lifestyle snapper currently on the market. The three-inch screen offers the clarity and colour that the HD-TV adverts are promising.
One on the best features is the menu wheel. It manoeuvres through the menus like Michael Schumacher through Monaco, allowing you to view your images at up to 10 a second.
We think it's the most intuitive camera control mechanism we have experienced at Text4price, plus it can even work as a traditional four-way selector -you just press it up , down left or right to use in the standard way.
A dedicated button for 'face priority' auto focus adds to the user friendliness and there are plenty more scene modes available via the clear menus to keep any digital camera guru happy. If there is one disappointment, it's the zoom lever which is just a tad too fiddly, but hey, we can forgive it this minor blemish.
At Text4price we are expecting that, just as wireless is creeping into more and more mobile phones, the same will be true for all portable devices with cameras being no exception.
Once you have set the S6 up via its USB cable, you can simply disconnect and beam your crisp 6 mega pixel images direct to your PC or its printer. Uploading a single shot typically takes about 7 seconds.
It looks great, shoots straight and with WI-Fi functionality, it's sure to be a winner.
Compare prices online now before they sell out - Text4Price.com
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