The Techy

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2099-06-20T19:01:00.007+01:00

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Watch 8 Classic Review

2025-08-13T09:26:00.006+01:00

Design

The Samsung Watch8 Classic is a great smartwatch with long battery life. The design can be a bit unusual, though, featuring a unique combination of a circular screen and a square frame. While I don't mind the shape, I feel this design choice makes it a bit chunkier.

In addition, the band of the watch doesn't have a lot of holes, and for a big guy like me, I had to put the band in the last hole. One drawback is that this watch won't fit bands made for previous watches. It uses a proprietary attachment mechanism that clicks into place. The mechanism is easier to install compared to previous watches, but the button can be a bit hard to press with your bare hands. I had to use a pen to press down on the button to remove the strap.

Although the watch can be worn at night to track your sleep, I find the watch a bit uncomfortable for to wear all night. It affected my sleep quality, causing me to wake up several times.

As with the other classic lines, the watch has a dial to help navigate the menu without touching the screen.

It also comes with 3 action buttons. However, the buttons are not as customizable as I would like.

Action buttons on the watch. Note that the watch is using the Spigen Lite Fit Strap

Only the top button is customizable to launch any app. The middle button is relegated to a few Samsung apps:

Samsung Health
Stopwatch
Flashlight
Water lock
Camera Controller
Voice Recorder

It can also be turned off if you don't use it.

The bottom button is relegated to recent apps or going to the previous screen.

Performance and Software

The watch comes with Wear OS 6. This comes with a slight change in interface. The notifications are grouped vertically. In addition, you can combine some tiles into a daily recap screen. For me, this feature allows me to see all the important daily stats, such as weather, upcoming events, battery life, and physical attributes, all on the same page rather than having to scroll through one tile at a time.

Otherwise, the interface is similar to previous Samsung watches, which I can't complain about since the UI is refined enough to make navigation through the different options seamless. The watch is snappy and responds well to user input.

However, what I find frustrating is that some of the old watch faces that I used on my previous watches do not work and require me to edit them to get them working.

The watch routines sync with the phone, and almost all the watch functions can be adjusted using the connected phone. That means you don't have to fumble around the screen to adjust the options you want.

Health features

The watch comes with a wide array of health features, along with the usual heartbeat, blood oxygen monitor, and activity tracker.

It can also measure blood pressure, but it needs regular calibration with a physical blood pressure machine.

A new sensor on this watch is the antioxidant measurement, which supposedly can measure the amount of antioxidants in your blood. However, I have no way to test whether it's accurate or not.

The watch can detect signs of sleep apnea, which can be handy.

Battery life

I was able to squeeze 4 days of use from this watch, but I don't wear the watch overnight.

Summary

In summary, this watch's main benefit is its long battery life. However, the watch is a bit chunky, and I don't find the default watch band too comfortable. The chunkiness means that the watch may not be too comfortable to wear to bed. Nevertheless, it is a good and stylish smart watch to wear to events or during the day.

Rant: Music with very similiar chords

2025-01-27T18:31:00.002+00:00

When I was watching the trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past, I noticed an eerily familiar music.

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK2zYHWDZKo

The song had the rift from "The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm" from the movie Lord of the Rings.

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8pWjiFxXkg

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWurKB-dQc8

However, comments on the trailer tell me that it is from the movie Sunshine.

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I6ffG9hid8

It is also used in Kick-Ass, also by the same composer John Murphy:

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5zDgqjgkM

Digging back even further, I noticed that the "rift" of the music is very similar to the Windows XP installation music:

Mobile link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zd1tIJuDqk

Tips to avoid pickpocketers in Paris

2025-01-06T12:52:00.016+00:00

I went to Paris in 2022 and would like to impart some tips to avoid being pickpocketed.

Use a front-facing shoulder bag or fanny pack (bum bag). Pull your bag up and clasp your hand over it during busy crowds so they can't easily open the zip.
Close your zips with a Bobino zipper clip (or a similar device). In my experience, the clips are tricky to open. You may want to use the clip with another key ring, as the clips' native rings can flay open if you tug hard on them.
Bury expensive items at the bottom of your backpack and cheap items at the top. On top of my backpack are the sunscreens and a spare T-shirt.
Spread out your cash, including putting some on a lanyard under your shirt. Personally, I have €10 in my wallet, €40 in the inner zip pockets of my backpack (spread out, of course), €5 under my phone holder, and €50 in small notes on the lanyard. I saw a tour guide placing money in a lanyard and adopted that trick. So, if my wallet is stolen, I can still reach my hotel by the latest.
Keep as little as possible in your wallet. Preferably, an amount you're OK with losing.
Use inner zippers to keep your credit card separate from your wallet or deep in your backpack. Use Apple Pay or Google Pay as much as possible, preferably with a watch, to avoid taking out your phone.
Split your ID from your credit card, especially if your ID has an address that matches the billing address of one of your cards. Carry the ID separately from your card. Or use an ID with no address on it.
Attach your phone using a retractable badge holder. You can also do the same for your Navigo Go card.
Use a Navigo card or a physical ticket, especially if you have pieces of luggage. Don't use your phone, as they may be able to "snatch" it while you have it out.
Avoid ticket machines. You can top up the Navigo card using your phone from the safety of your hotel.
Use a wrist strap with your phone.

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Major oopsie by Mattel. Giving a new meaning to "defying gravity"

2024-11-09T23:10:00.044+00:00

Mattel has made a major oopsie. On the packaging of the dolls, Mattel has linked to the porn site www.wicked.com (owned by Wicked Pictures, a porn production company) instead of Wicked movie's real site, www.wickedMOVIE.com.

The intended site www.wickedMOVIE.com

A safe-for-work screenshot of www.wicked.com. For the not safe for work screenshot, click here. Wicked.com had changed their website after this incident to make it tamer.

The wrong website appears on the box of all the Mattel range of Wicked dolls, including the Glenda doll, the Deluxe Elphaba Fashion Doll, and the Madame Morrible doll (pictured below).

Madame Morrible doll (credits: Leah Kissinger on Facebook)

Video proof provided by just2goodYT

This isn't isolated to the US. Dolls sold in the UK are also affected as shown by the pictures obtained from dolls purchased from Amazon UK Amazon UK.

Glinda Fashion Doll (credit: Thu Win/The Techy)

Deluxe Elphaba fashion doll (credit: Thu Win/The Techy)

In addition to the errant misprint on the packaging, the error also appears in the manual of both the singing Elphaba (archived via Wayback Machine) and singing Glenda dolls (archived via Wayback Machine).

Picture from the review of Mattel Wicked, Singing Elphaba Fashion Doll & Accessories Amazon listing

Picture from Mattel's PDF user guide of the singing Elphaba doll

Picture from the user guide of the singing Glenda doll

As of the publishing of this post, Mattel has published an apology but has not issued a recall of the dolls.

Mattel had sent a statement to The Techy saying:

"Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link found on the package, and obscure the link found on any instruction materials."

This would be a costly fix for Mattel because the domain www.wicked.com belongs to Wicked Pictures and was registered on July 19, 1994. The first appearance on Wayback Machine was on December 19, 1996. Therefore, Mattel couldn't simply buy the domain.

Wicked is a film by Universal Pictures and will be released on November 22, 2024.

If you are wondering about the title, Defying Gravity is one of the main theme songs in the Wicked musical.

See this version by Idina Menzel:

The author would like to credit iamwomanhearmepour on Reddit for breaking this news.

Update: Added statement from Mattel.

Review: Samsung Fold6 folding phone

2024-07-29T17:35:00.011+01:00

Ever wish you could have a large display on a phone that still fits in your pocket? The Samsung Fold6 (which as of January 8, 2025, costs £1498 on Amazon) is the answer.

Design

I like the way the phone "unfolds" to have a larger display. The device is a cross between a [mini] tablet and a slab phone phone. This phone is the best of both worlds since if you need a large display, you can simply unfold it, and when not in use, it folds down to a compact device that easily fits in your pocket.

This makes it an ideal media consumption device. I found myself using the fold more than my tablet, even around the house, since it's compact enough to put in my pocket when I'm out and about and then use it to play media when I'm cooking.

Additionally, the large inner screen makes it easy to read emails, news articles, websites, and other content. No more squinting and trying to zoom around on a website.

As with other Samsung phones, the display is quite bright and vivid, and despite its size, the phone is quite light.

The large display also makes it an ideal note-taking device with an S-Pen. I've used the Fold to take notes during courses.

Performance

The phone is quite fast and doesn't display any lags.

The camera on this device is also quite decent, and you can’t tell the difference between a picture taken by the Fold and one taken by Samsung’s other flagship devices.

One drawback of the phone is that the battery is smaller compared to traditional phones at just 4400 mAH, though there are battery improvements compared to previous generations. However, in my experience, the device lasts about a day and a half before having to charge up again. But again, your mileage may vary depending on your use pattern and device installed.

Usability

In Fold6, Galaxy AI is front and center, taking up space in the menu item. I haven't fully used all the features of Galaxy AI, but I frequently use the feature to remove items like people in the background from photos that I have already taken.

Galaxy AI also has a sketch-to-image mode, which looks quite fun. I haven't used the feature extensively, but I can see where it could be useful.

One area where Samsung devices shine is the Samsung Dex feature. On my recent vacation to Scotland, I forgo my laptop and brought a touch-screen monitor, which I plugged into my phone. This greatly reduced the number of devices I had to carry around and keep track of. Plus, I could play media content from my phone.

Durability

One of my concerns about getting a folding phone was its durability. In my time with it, it has withstood the rigors of daily life. Unlike previous generations, the hinge looks robust, and the device folds flat, which leaves a small gap between the two screens.

The phone has an IP48 rating, which means it should be resistant to water and dust, for the first time.

Summary

In summary, the Fold6 is a good all-round device. Though its battery life may not be that good or the camera that great, its biggest strength is compactness. It offers the benefits of a large screen without the bulkiness.

Review: Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5

2023-06-24T14:00:00.013+01:00

I received the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review. Mobvoi had no editorial rights to my review, and they received no preview copy of the evaluation.

The watch costs £329 at the time of this review.

Pro:

Extremely long battery life (upward of 4 days)
Lightweight
Activity tracker
A highly readable secondary display
Goes into an essential mode to save battery if there's no activity
Syncs Do Not Disturb (DND) with phone

Cons:

The vibration motor is a bit weak
Proprietary charger
No Google Assistant
Can go into essential mode and lose connection with the watch.

Style

The product inherits the design style of previous Mobvoi watches and subtly improves on it. For example, the two protruding crowns that graced previous Mobvoi watches are gone. Instead, the Pro 5 has one rotating crown and one recessed button. A single tap of the top button triggers the recently used app list. And double pressing that top button launches Google Wallet. The rotating crown triggers the "back" button and the button to launch the app. Double pressing the crown launches the most recently used app. However, you can't customize the action of the controls. For example, you can't change the app launched by double pressing the top button.

The crown is less pronounced than the previous generation watches, so that's a step in the right direction. In addition, the crown is now rotating and can be used to scroll through items.

The watch utilizes a low-power secondary display that is easily read under bright sunlight. The watch face of this lower power display cannot be changed, though.

The watch band of the Pro 5 is silicone, which means it does not suffer the stress creases of the Pro 3 Ultra. Thankfully, the band is longer than the Pro 3 Ultra. The band of the Pro 5 measures around 10 inches.

Technology

Activity tracking

The TicWatch Pro 5 (and most other smartwatches) tracks heart rate, steps, activity, etc. However, it comes with a few added features. It has IHB AFiB Detection and 24-hour stress monitoring. A "one-click measurement" feature measures pulse, Oxygen, breathing, and stress in one go. As with the Pro 3, the Pro 5 didn't sense the sport accurately, and you had to manually select the sport. The watch can auto-detect walks, runs, and cycling, but in my experience, it only said I had walked for 1 minute, while I know I have walked for at least 10-20 min during my commute to work.

Vibration motor

The vibration motor on this watch isn't as strong as the Samsung, but it's strong enough.

Battery life

Mobvoi watches are the king of battery life, and the TicWatch Pro 5 is no slouch. The watch's battery easily lasts 2-3 days and, for me, pushes on to the 4th day. This means I do not have to worry about charging my watch daily. The watch also comes with fast charging, so it doesn't have to dwell on the charger for long. It can charge the watch from 30% to 100% in under an hour. The website says a 30-minute charge will give you 65% battery. This technology is not reliant on the charger since the Pro 3 Ultra charger also gives you a fast charge on the Pro 5.

Mobvoi says it will last 80 hours in normal "smart" mode. One new feature Mobvoi introduces with the Pro 5 is the "smart essential mode." Under this mode, the watch will switch to essential mode automatically during the scheduled time slot. However, during the scheduled time slot, your TicWatch will only switch to Essential Mode if you wear it to sleep or leave it off your wrist for more than 30 minutes.

The essential mode only uses the secondary display and allows you to see your steps, battery life, and the time and date.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic lasts about a day of heavy use and often has 40% battery life at the end of the day unless I top it up during the day.

One drawback of the watch is that the TicWatch Pro 5 uses a proprietary charger. However, this problem is not unique to the TicWatch Pro 5. Even Samsung's wireless charger is proprietary and won't charge with ordinary Qi chargers. However, Samsung sells a charger device that simultaneously charges 2 devices plus a watch. And the watch can reverse charge from a Galaxy phone.

Wear OS version

The watch comes with Wear OS 3, which is upgradeable to Wear OS 3.5. With this change, you pair the watch with the Mobvoi Health app rather than a separate Wear OS app. Unlike the Samsung Wear app, you can't fully customize the watch's settings through the phone. However, like the Samsung device, the TicWatch Pro 5's "do not disturb" setting syncs with the phone, significantly improving over the previous watches.

Although the watch has the same apps as Google's and Samsung's Wear OS 3.5 watches, the TicWatch Pro 5 doesn't come with Google Assistant. However, during my 2 weeks of use, I rarely used the assistant on my watch. Although it supports control of my smart home devices, it does not support routines. When I'm at home, I use my Google Home devices anyway, and if I'm on the way, I will use my headphones to trigger the Google Assistant from my phone.

Now, let's segue to software updates. Regarding smart devices, OS updates are just as important as hardware features. Mobvoi doesn't have the best track record for updating their watches. The Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra's promised OS 3 update was severely delayed. According to an XDA developer, Mobvoi told a customer that the update would come in Q3 of 2023. This spans a 3-month period from July to September.

Mobvoi released a statement on Twitter, which says the reason for the delay is due to the dual system architecture used by the E3, Pro 3, and Pro 3 Ultra:

We sincerely acknowledge your concerns and understand that you may be disappointed by the fact that our TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, TicWatch Pro 3, and TicWatch E3 have not yet been upgraded to Wear OS 3. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this may have caused. Our commitment to delivering the upgrade remains unwavering. We share the same enthusiasm and eagerness as you do about this upgrade.

Please allow us to clarify the reasons behind this. Our TicWatch utilizes the SDW4100 chipset and a Mobvoi proprietary dual system architecture. This necessitates further architecture upgrades and performance debugging when updating to Wear OS 3 to guarantee the highest level of software quality and user experience. Rest assured, we are actively working on this matter.

We will soon be conducting an extensive closed beta testing phase. Please stay tuned for our official announcements if you are interested in participating.

According to this post on Reddit, Mobvoi has once again slipped their Q3 deadline.

I emailed the Mobvoi rep for their plan to update the Pro 5 to WearOS 4, and they replied to me with the following statement:

Hi,

Sorry I missed your email. For the W4 update, currently we have not received such information. We will announce it as soon as it is confirmed

Sleep sensing

The watch comes with sleep sensing, which tracks the quality of sleep. Compared to previous watches, the watch now comes with real-time SPO2 sensing. Also, the watch is more comfortable to wear during sleep.

TicWatch Pro 5 Watch specs (from TicWatch website)

Physical specs

Dimensions (mm): 50.1(H) x 48.0(L) x 12.2(D)

Weight: 44.3g

Color: Obsidian (Black)

Watch Case: Metal, 7000seriese aluminum and high-strength nylon with fiberglass

Watch Strap: Solid silicone (interchangeable), 24mm.

Durability: 5ATM, Open Water Swim/MIL-STD-810H

Technical specs

Operating System: Wear OS 3.5

Chipset Platform: Snapdragon® W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform

Memory: RAM: 2GB / ROM: 32GB

Display:

1.43 "466*466 326ppi
Full Color Always On Display AMOLED + Ultra-low-power Display
Corning Gorilla Anti-fingerprint Cover Glass

Connectivity:

Bluetooth 5.2
Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz
GNSS: GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS

NFC Payments: Google Pay, 13.56MHz

Battery Capacity: 628mAh (typical)

Compatibility: Android 8.0 or newer

Application: Mobvoi Health

Additional features:

Speaker
Mic
Vibrator
PPG
Barometer
Compass

Sensors:

Accelerometer
Gyro Sensor
HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor
SpO2 Sensor
Skin Temperature Sensor
Low Latency Off-Body Sensor
Barometer
Compass

Conclusion

Mobvoi is a champion with battery life, and their dual-display technology is extremely legible even in bright sunlight. TicWatch Pro 5 continues this trend of excellence in the TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra.

The watch has a couple of minor negatives. But the biggest is Mobvoi's track record regarding software upgrades. Their TicWatch E3, Pro 3, and Pro 3 Ultra have not received the promised Wear OS 3.0 update. Even then, Wear OS 3 is 3 generations behind Wear OS 3.5. Plus, Wear OS 4 is on the horizon, making Wear OS 3.0 4 generations behind.

Although I can recommend the watch based on hardware features alone, Mobvoi's updated track record is not the greatest. And the reply from the Mobvoi rep isn't reassuring. Therefore, I can only recommend with the caveat that the watch will be delayed in being updated to Wear OS 4. If the software is important to you, I would give this a miss.

Quick camera test Dell WB5023 vs Logitech Brio

2023-03-14T19:33:00.011+00:00

Photograph test

Dell WB5023

Low light (no lamp)

Illuminated by lamp

Logitech Brio

Low light (no lamp)

Illuminated by lamp

Video test

Dell webcam video test

Logitech Brio audio / Video test

Samsung S23 Ultra

Original video

Conclusions

The Logitech Brio beats the Dell webcam in most conditions, despite shooting at only 1080p (2.1 MP) on a Chromebook; the Dell webcam, on the other hand, shoots at 3.7 MP (1444p) on the same Chromebook.

~~In addition, the audio quality of the Logitech is much better than the Dell webcam.~~ The Dell webcam's microphone is disabled by default. According to Dell, you must enable the setting through the Dell Peripheral Manager (DPeM) software first. And the software is only compatible with Mac and Windows.

AEG 8000 Series AP81A25ULT Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review

2022-06-23T20:58:00.004+01:00

Today, I will be reviewing the AEG 8000 Series AP81A25ULT Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - Bronze. I needed a new vacuum cleaner since I moved to a new property.

Pros:

Agile in vacuum mode
Decent price
Decent battery
Light at the end to see dark spaces

Cons:

Heavy to use one-handed, and if you're trying to vacuum the ceiling
The trash bin is tricky to open

The AEG 8000 costs £390 from AO.

I was initially considering a Dyson cordless cleaner. I had worked for Curry's before and liked Dyson's lightweight nature. They have a reputation for being one of the best cleaners.

However, the AEG gives Dyson a serious run for the money.

The vacuum picks up dirt quite well. It is agile when vacuuming the floor. However, it is not so comfortable to do one-hand operations for cleaning ceilings and other tight spaces.

Although it seems like a gimmick, it allows me to see when vacuuming in dark spaces.

The interface of the vacuum is pretty simple, too. There are only two buttons. One is to turn it on, and the other is to adjust its suction strength. The battery indicator isn't too granular and can only measure the remaining power to the nearest 30%

The cleaner also has a "tree" to charge and hold all the accessories. This is rather neat and handy for small-house dwellers.

However, releasing and reinstalling the vacuum cleaner's bin can be a bit tricky. In addition, you have to touch the dust a bit when removing the filter "cap" for the bin.

Overall, the device is a good one at a decent price. Its pros greatly outweigh its cons.

Review: Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra

2022-01-06T17:18:00.003+00:00

Today I'm reviewing the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra worth, as of the time of this review, £267.43 on Amazon UK. The LTE version costs £329.99. I received the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra LTE product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review. Mobvoi had no editorial rights to my review and they did not receive any preview copy of the review.

Pro:

Extremely long battery life (upward of 3 days)
Lightweight
Faux leather/silicon wrist strap (if that's your style)
Activity tracker
An extremely readable secondary display

Cons:

Short wrist strap
The vibration motor is meh
Protruding side buttons
Leather wrist strap
Proprietary charger
LTE version locked to Vodafone

TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra... that's quite a mouthful. It seems the company is just tacking on words to the name. It reminds me of this video by Mrwhosetheboss.

https://youtu.be/wadg_mLOPJQ

But I digress. If you have the TicWatch Pro 3, the Ultra version is more or less the same as the TicWatch Pro 3. Unlike the Pro 3, the Ultra has an internal compass. They both have great battery life. In fact, no watch to date beat Mobvoi's Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra in terms of battery longevity.

Style

The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra LTE has a dual-screen display. The second low battery secondary display reminds me of the Casio non-smartwatches.

Unlike the non-Ultra version ie TicWatch Pro 3, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra's Secondary display can change colors. However, that setting isn't in the main watch settings and is controlled by the Essential mode app.

To change the color:

Open the Essential Mode app (using its launcher icon)
Swipe left for settings
Scroll down until you get the option for backlight color

Thanks to u/DYNALogix on r/WearOS

If you want to boost the brightness of the screen, you can double-click the top page button.

The LTE version is made of faux leather/silicon hybrid. Although it looks more stylish than the non-Ultra or non-LTE version, the leather band has a few caveats.

After about two weeks of wearing, it suffered some stress on the bands, causing marks around the holes.

Also, I find the buttons a bit protruding and uncomfortable under certain conditions. The bezels on the watch are also large, making the watch a bit bulky. However, unlike the Samsung Watch 4, the bezels are useless; it does not have a rotating crown. Although the crown on the Samsung may be a bit of a gimmick for some, I use it fairly often, especially when it's raining since the touches may misregister if the screen is wet.

For me, the strap was a bit small.

In fact, out of the three watches I own, the Pro 3 Ultra is one of the smallest circumference bands. However, you can probably get bigger bands aftermarket.

Technology

Activity tracking

As with the TicWatch Pro 3 (and just about most other smartwatches), this watch tracks heart rate, steps, activity, etc. However, it comes with a few added features. It has IHB AFiB Detection and 24 hours stress monitoring.

The step counter was fairly accurate and was about 50 steps off from the Galaxy Watch 4. This is a small margin of error and can be attributed to perhaps me being more dominant on the arm that I wore the Galaxy Watch 4. One good thing about the Mobvoi watch is that it syncs with Google Fit, unlike the Samsung watch. Samsung Watch only syncs with Samsung Health and you need a third-party app like Health Sync. In my experience, it didn't sense the sport that accurately and you have to manually select the sport.

Vibration motor

The vibration motor on this watch isn't that strong compared to the Samsung but it's strong enough.

Synergy with phone

One feature on the Samsung that I miss is the synergy with the phone. The Samsung Watch syncs the do not disturb mode with the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. In addition, with the Samsung, any alarms ringing on the phone also ring on the watch, which is nice. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra, however, lacks this feature.

Google Assistant

Unlike the Samsung watch, the Pro 3 Ultra comes with Google Assistant. However, during my 2 weeks of use, I rarely use the assistant on my watch. Although it supports control of my smart home devices, it does not support routines. When I'm at home, I tend to use my Google Home Hub Max anyway and if I'm on the way, I will use my headphones to trigger the Google assistant from my phone.

4G/LTE

Although my version provided by Mobvoi is the LTE version, it is tied to the Vodafone network. However, there is an unoffici al workaround on Reddit. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is slightly more open but I found out only certain networks and certain plans support the esim on the watch. Your watch and your phone must be with the same provider.

In other words, if you want to use the watch to make independent calls, you need to be with a certain network (on your phone) and you have to pay more to support the watch. Last I checked, none of the supported providers support the watch on their PAYG plan. You need to be in with a contract with the network. There isn't a PAYG plan just for the watch.

I miss my Huawei Watch 2 when you can simply pop a sim into the smart watch and use it as a phone.

Battery life

The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra has no contender in the battery life category. It has extremely long battery life. With its 577 mAh battery and secondary FSTN display, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is the king of battery life. Mobvoi says it would last 72 hours in normal "smart" mode and 45 days in the essential mode. The essential mode only uses the secondary display and allows you to see your steps and battery life along with the time and date.

Wear OS version

The watch comes with Wear OS 2.33. However, no other smartwatch apart from the Samsung Watch 4 comes with Wear OS 3.0, so I'm not going to count this as a con, unlike other review sites. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra are slated to be upgraded to Wear OS 3 later this year.

Watch Specs

These are the watch details from Mobvoi's website.

Model: TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS

Dimensions (mm): 47 x 48 x 12.3

Weight: 41g

Color: Shadow Black

Watch case: Stainless steel and high-strength nylon with fiberglass

Screen: Corning Gorilla Anti-fingerprint Cover Glass

Operating System: Wear OS by Google

Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 Platform and Mobvoi dual processor system

Memory:

RAM: 1GB
Onboard storage: 8GB

Display: 1.4“ 454x454 326ppi Full Color Always On Display AMOLED + FSTN

Connectivity:

Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (Wifi 4)
GNSS: GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS

NFC Payments: Google Pay

Additional features:

Speaker
Mic
Vibrator
Barometer

Sensors:

Accelerometer
Gyro Sensor
HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor
SpO2 Sensor
Low Latency Off-Body Sensor
Barometer

Battery capacity: 577mAh

Durability: IP68, Pool Swim/MIL-STD-810G

Conclusion

Mobvoi is a champion with battery life and their dual-display technology is extremely legible even in bright sunlight. TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra continues this trend of excellence in the TicWatch Pro 3. It has a couple of negatives though. The watch is slightly bulky and the wristband is smaller than other watches, including the TicWatch Pro 3. Also, unless you're with Vodafone or plan to switch to Vodafone, don't get the LTE version. The Bluetooth version will suffice and you will save a couple of bucks as well. For a more in-depth review, please see Brian Burriston's excellent review on Notebookcheck.net: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobvoi-TicWatch-Pro-3-Ultra-GPS-in-review-Small-update-of-a-good-smartwatch.574006.0.html.

If battery life is your main concern, get the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra. If you have a Samsung phone and would like the greater synergy between your phone and watch, get the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 classic.

This blog participates in the Amazon affiliate program and if you buy through the links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This does not affect the quality of the review, however.

Fossil Gen 6 Watch (FTW6078) review

2021-11-20T22:35:00.003+00:00

Today I'm reviewing the Fossil FTW 6078, which currently sells for £255.82 (as of November 22, 2020).

Pros:

Stylish
Fast

Cons:

Battery drain (doesn't last 2 days)
Slips off-hand if moving

Battery

Right off the bat, I would like to say, the battery of the Fossil sucks. If you turn on background HR, you won't last 2 days. At most the battery would last 1.5 days. By the end of Day 1 after charging, the battery remaining was 25%.

My suspicion is confirmed with Fossil replying to my comment asking how big are their batteries. It is only 300 mAH, which lasts up to 24 hours with normal usage

Hi. 300 mAh, 3.88V; up to 24 hours with normal usage.
— Fossil (@Fossil) November 18, 2021

When the watch reaches low power, the watch suggests switching to watch-only mode, which basically turns the smartwatch into a dumb watch that only shows the time.

The display turns off when not in use.

On the plus size, owing to the small battery size, the watch charges relatively quick. In my experience, it charges to 100% in just like 30 minutes.

Style

There's no denying that the Fossil is stylish, and I think it would be good for formal events as a dress watch. The watch is a bit bulky though but that's expected from smartwatches nowadays.

The turning dial is a nice touch, but I don't find it as useful. Throughout my two-week trial, I barely used the rotating side dial. However, I like the fact that the Fossil has two assignable buttons.

In addition, during my outdoor trials, I find the watch sliding around when I'm in motion.

Connectivity

The watch has the following sensors: " Accelerometer, Altimeter, Ambient Light, Compass, Gyroscope, Off-body IR, PPG Heart Rate, SPO2." That seems to be the standard on most modern smartwatches. The watch uses the "Wellness" app to gather data in addition to Google Fit. The Wellness app, however, doesn't reliably update heart rate to the Google Fit servers. Also, it does not update the SPO2 data to the Google Fit servers. To make matters worse, the Fossil Watch does not have a companion fitness app like Samsung Health, Huawei Health, or Mobvoi Health. With my TicWatch Pro 3, although SPO2 data doesn't upload to Google Fit, I can view it on the Mobvoi Health app, which is a good workaround.

Watch Specs

These are the watch details from Fossil's own website:

Product Details

Sku: FTW6078

Platform: GEN 6 SMARTWATCH

Case: 42 mm, Stainless Steel

Strap: 18 mm, Interchangeable

Lifestyle: Always on Display now brighter with more colours. Thousands of watch faces to personalise your look and always see the time. Hundreds of apps from assistant to fitness, payments, music, social, news, games, stop watches, and more. With a 3 ATM design and charging in about half an hour, it’s perfect for all your activities.

Health: Automatically tracks activity goals, steps, sleep, heart rate, cardio level, SPO2 (blood oxygen), and more. Activity modes with GPS keep you on track with your distance and path. Advanced sensors provide the data to power all your health and fitness apps.

Preloaded Apps: Agenda, Alarm, Battery-Optimised Activity Mode, Calendar, Cardio Level Tracking, Cardiogram, Contacts, Enhanced Phone Dialer App, Facer, Google Assistant, Google Fit (Workout, Heart Rate, Goals, Breathe), Google Maps, Google Pay™, Google Play Store, Nike Run Club, Noonlight, Smart Battery Modes, Spotify, Stopwatch, Timer, Translate, Wellness App with Sleep Tracking

Tech Specs

Operating System: Powered with Wear OS by Google

Compatibility: Wear OS by Google works with phones running the latest version of Android™ (excluding Go edition and phones without Google Play Store) or iOS. Supported features may vary between platforms and countries with compatibility subject to change.

Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Wear 4100+

Memory: 1 GB RAM, 8GB Storage

Display: 1.28" Color AMOLED / 416 x 416 / 326ppi

Input: 2 Additional Push Buttons (configurable), Rotating Home Button, Touchscreen, Voice

Sound/Actuator: Loudspeaker, Microphone, Vibration

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 LE, GPS, NFC SE, WiFi

Sensors: Accelerometer, Altimeter, Ambient Light, Compass, Gyroscope, Off-body IR, PPG Heart Rate, SPO2

Battery: 24 Hr + multi day Extended Mode **Varies based on usage and after updates install**. USB data cable with magnetic dock snaps to split rings on watch caseback and spins 360 degrees for ease of use. Approximately half an hour to reach 80%.

Water Resistance: 3 ATM

Watch gallery

Concluding remarks

Personally, I think the watch is more style over function. While stylish, the watch's short battery life is a major handicap.

Review of Sony WF 1000XMF

2021-09-24T18:09:00.003+01:00

I'm sure WF100XMF is on everybody's shortlist when they're looking for new earbuds. As of this review, the earbuds cost £249 on Amazon.

Right off the bat, I would say the WF100XMF offers one of the best active noise cancellations and it completely removes transport noises. It also has, on paper one of the longest battery life. However, its software and comfort leave much to be desired.

One thing I don't like about the headphone is that you have to choose the function of the left and right earbud. You can't customize the gesture. By default, it's the right ear control music playback and Google assistant while the left controls noise cancellation levels and pass-through mode. As you notice, this means if you want to adjust the volume, you have to change one of the default configurations. If you switch the left ear's shortcuts, you lose the ability to turn off noise cancellation on demand and the ability to have a pass-through mode (hold to turn off noise cancellation and turn down media volume).

This is somewhat mitigated by the speak to chat mode, which detects your voice and kills media audio, and turns off noise cancellation. You can also set it up so that the app detects your location and turn off noise canceling when you arrive at that location. The app can also detect the movement and set the headphone into "sitting, walking, running, or commuting" mode. However, if you're on the bus, it will occasionally return to sitting mode when the bus pulls into a bus stop. This can be a bit distracting if you have set up sitting mode to have noise cancellation turned off. The GPS mode switch is a bit glitchy at times as it detected that I'm at a place a good few distances from my place. For example, I have set up the headphone to turn off noise cancellation when I'm at the local bus station but it detects that I'm at the bus stop when I'm at the other side of the city, 0.3 miles from the bus station. The chat to talk can be a bit sensitive also. It thinks I'm talking when I'm just coughing.

This headphone comes with native Google Assitant.

However, this Google assistant is unavailable unless you assign a "playback" shortcut to one of the two earbuds. This feature is nothing to sing and dance about. it's just as good as the Google Assistant on your phone.

That said, the audio of the headphone sounds OK. It doesn't have that deep bass but the music comes in nice and clear. You can customize the sound using the inbuilt equalizer. The foam head tip does its job keeping outside noise out.

Now we come with my biggest complaint about the headphone. Comfort. For me, the headphone is a bit uncomfortable. The hard flat part of the headphone causes pain in my ear as I move my head around. Only completely removing the headset from my ear removes this pain. Also, I found out that the foam tip comes off the headphones and remains in the ear! Not exactly great when you're nowhere near a first aid kit. I have this happen once when I was in town and to my chagrin, nobody in town had a tweezer in their first aid kit.

In summary, the head bud has:

Great active noise cancellation
Good audio quality
Excellent battery
Low comfort
Not easily customizable software
Earbud shortcuts can be a bit rigid.

Review: DIGOO Wireless Weather Station Digital Thermometer Hygrometer with Outdoor Sensor (DG-TH8380)

2020-08-28T20:18:00.007+01:00

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Today I'm reviewing DIGOO Wireless Weather Station (DG-TH8380).

Pros

Measures temperature of the room
Measures humidity
Compact size
Able to change between 24 and 12-hour clock

Cons

Hard to see in a bright environment
Powered by 5 AAA batteries (Weather Station: 3 x AAA/LR03 Batteries / Wireless Sensor: 2 x AAA/LR03 Batteries)
No way to "expand" the weather station by adding more remote sensors.

The device is a neat way to measure the humidity and temperature in the room. The device also tells the time and the date.

However, the writings are hard to see under bright light as seen below.

In addition, the clock is displayed in such a small font that it's hard to spot from afar.

Although there is lighting that helps see the letters better, the light doesn't stay on. It's probably for the better since the unit is battery powered and the light remaining on all the time would drain the battery. However, I would like it to be lit so that I can read the clock better.

The remote unit allows you to get the temperature and humidity from different parts of the house.

The manual says the device can support 3 channels so up to 3 remote sensors.

However, as of this posting, there isn't a way to buy the remote sensor separately. And the listing on Amazon UK shows the remote sensor is out of stock.

The weather icon in the top right-hand corner seems accurate and so far, it accurately measured the weather that's happening outside.

All in all, while the temperature, humidity, and weather prediction seems accurate, readability leaves much to be desired.

Jabra 75T review

2020-08-07T19:17:00.002+01:00

Pros:

Comfortable
Does not fall out
Long battery life
USB C charging
IP55 waterproof
Allow auto-pause of the video when you take out the earbuds
Aware mode

Cons

Stuttering
Not a lot of bass
Audio sounds flat

The Jabra 75T is an OK headphone but not worth the price. The headphone is quite comfortable in the ear and you don’t notice that it’s in place.

Another feature that I like is that it allows you to hear your environment. With a tap on the ear bud you pass the sound from your environment. So if you’re walking on the go, this can be used for safety as it allows you to hear the surrounding.

Long battery life, USB C charging, and IP55 waterproofing is a plus.

However, its biggest let down is when it comes to the audio quality, the one thing you expect from a £169 headphone. The audio sounds a bit flat, something common on cheap headphones. Bass and treble is sorely lacking.

In summary, is it the worst headphone? No. But I don’t think it’s worth the current selling price.

Fix it: Using USB Webcam with Google Chromebook

2020-08-07T19:03:00.004+01:00

To use a USB Webcam with Google Chromebook, you first have to enable it. Go to settings and then search for "camera." Click on "Site settings" as shown. You can also get there by going to chrome://settings/content#content or chrome://settings/content/camera (direct link).

Then scroll down to find "Camera."

Change from "Integrated webcam" or "front camera user-facing" to the Webcam you're using. In my case, it's the Logitech C920, which is labeled as "HD Pro Webcam C920."

Tales from Retail

2020-03-15T13:16:00.000+00:00

I recently finished working for a major UK retail company and though they want to present themselves as a knowledgable source of information, I can tell you, there are lots of bullshitting going on. The adage "jack of all trades, master of none" is especially true.

Many times the assistant simply read off information from the tablet. In addition, a couple of times I have overheard information that is either misleading or plain wrong. For example, I overheard someone say that QLED means the TV has a full backlit display whereas LCDs are lit from the side. While technically true, since QLEDs are often backlit, LCDs can also be backlit. QLED refer to the quantum dots that Samsung uses for a "purer" light source.

Another example is that a manager said a fast read and write times for micro SD cards means the SD card can capture faster action. With slower speed, they said that the dash cam cannot capture fast actions. While technically true, I don't think a dashcam with a recommendation of UHS 1 will require a card with UHS3 speed. It would be a bit of overkill.

And don't get me started with the tech. The tills run a Windows 7 and they frequently freeze. Twice I have had a cash register freeze mid-sale. Also, there is a ticket printer that hasn't been working for over 1 month!

Furthermore, managers often push for the sale of mishaps insurance. Sale assistants get 50p for every plan sold. Also, the additional services count against your "measure" and you could be disciplined if you fail to meet your measure. What they don't tell you is that you can get £5-£10 discount on the plan, depending on the colleague or manager.

Moreover, one quirk I found was that some items are cheaper together than separate. For example, you can get Microsoft Office Home & Student (2019) for a lower price if bought with McAfee AntiVirus and their brand name cloud storage. So always ask to check for customer offers.

Another odd thing I found was that the "reviews" you get after a sale of an online order or delivery reflect upon the colleague who sold you the item, not the online team. I think that's a bit unfair if the delivery team did a rubbish job and the customer dings you for it.

Fossil Hybrid HR review

2020-03-14T11:35:00.004+00:00

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Fossil Hybrid HR is an interesting watch. As the name suggests it's a hybrid between the traditional watch and smartwatches. This is done with an e-ink display under the watch's mechanical hands.

With this approach, the watch is able to achieve a really long battery life. In my experience that's about a week or more. I had been using the watch for a week at the time of the review and it's still ticking.

Like Wear OS watches and other smartwatches on the market, these watches are able to receive notifications.

As you can see from the video above, the interface is quite clunky. Navigations are done using the buttons on the side instead of swiping like other smartwatches. Double tapping on the screen turns on the 4 LED embedded in the side of the watch.

The watch contains most of the functions you expect from a smartwatch. It supports heartbeat tracking and sleep tracking. However, there is no way to display a digital clock, so before buying the watch, make sure you're a fan of the mechanical watches with watch hands.

One feature lacking by the watch is the "find your watch" feature. On my Huawei watch, I can use the feature to ring the watch. However, this watch lacks this feature. It merely shows the location of the watch, which is not that useful if you lost the watch in your room.

Now for the watchband. The watch I received is stylized using a metal watchband. This is not ideal for those with chunky hands like mine. It digs into my skin and I am unable to adjust the band of the watch.

Based on this, I cannot recommend this watch.

Review: Huawei Watch GT 2. Overhyped, leaves much to be desired

2019-12-25T00:18:00.003+00:00

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

Long battery life
Comfortable straps
Very light
Attractive design
Accurate tracking

Cons:

No third-party apps
Limited function
Truncated notifications

I've heard so much about the Huawei Watch GT2. But I think it's a bit overhyped.

The watch is quite lite and has a long battery life. I had used it for 2 days continuously and the battery had only dropped 6%. I had a continuous heartbeat turned on.

Despite these pros, the watch leaves much to be desired.

For example, I can't do much from the watch. The music app won't work with Google Play Music, only the mp3 files transferred to the watch. Spotify is out too so as Google Fit.

Also, you can't use the watch to pay using NFC. In fact, most of the settings of the watch must be controlled by the phone; it cannot be used on its own.

While it does a great job at fitness tracking and sleep tracking, it's lacking on other fronts.

In summary, would I recommend the watch? No. At least not at the price point of £200.

Review: Huawei Nova 5T. Great phone, camera letdown

2019-12-24T21:44:00.000+00:00

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

Flagship level performance
Crisp clear screen
Fingerprint reader on the power button
Large screen
Great value for money
No notch
Long battery life
Dual sim capability

Cons:

No waterproofing
Camera is OK
No wireless charging
No headphone jack
Punch hole camera does not provide 3D facial recognition. Also, face unlock doesn't work without ample lighting

On paper, the Nova 5T has an impressive specs sheet. It shares the same Kirin 980 processor and memory size (6 GB ram and 128 GB storage) as Huawei's other flagship phones. It also packs a camera with a quad-camera layout:

48 MP, f/1.8, 28mm (wide), 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF
16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1"
2 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), dedicated macro camera
2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor

And it is almost half the price of Huawei's flagships.

But this is where the similarities end.

Design

The Nova 5T has a notchless 6.26 inch 19.5:9 screen. Instead, it sports a punch out in the left corner of the screen for the 32 MP front-facing selfie camera. The display is crisp and bright.

The back of the phone is clad in 2.5d hard glass, and there is a distinct camera bump for the 3 cameras + LED flash and depth sensor. However, despite the metal backing, the phone doesn't have Qi wireless charging.

Overall the design of the camera is curvy and easy to hold. The only concern I have is with the bump which juts out from the phone. Therefore, the phone doesn't sit flat on the table.

On the side of the phone is the power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint reader.

The reader works like a charm. It quickly and accurately unlocks the phone.

Camera

This phone has 3 cameras and one depth sensor. In theory, the 48 MP camera would mean great pictures, but in practice, I noticed that the camera quality is a bit lacking.

Fruit taken with adequate lighting

Nova 5T night mode. Blurry as hell

Picture of the peg taken under daylight


Nova 5T 48 mp (Ultra Clarity mode)	Shot of my neighborhood (48 mp)

Mate 20 Pro	Google Pixel 4

The camera performs well under adequate light, but once lighting drops, the phone starts to struggle. Also, unlike the Mate 20 Pro, the Nova doesn't perform that well if your subject is close to the lens.

The front-facing camera lacks 3D sensing capability. Therefore, the face unlock won't work in dull lighting. However, the aforementioned fingerprint in the power button makes a nice backup.

Performance

Nova 5T is powered by Kirin 980 and has 6 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage. This is the exact same specs as in Huawei's flagship phones. Thus, the interface is as smooth as butter. One thing I like about this phone is that it has dual sim capability. That means that I can have two sims in the device, one for my main phone and one for a back up. Therefore, I can use different network providers to improve my coverage.

Summary

This is an excellent device with flagship-level performance. However, its camera is a bit poor, especially in low lighting.

Fix it: Hacked Twitter account

2019-08-24T00:08:00.002+01:00

Recently there is a spate of Twitter account that has been hacked and spewing out spam tweets and direct messages to followers that says

Hi someone is posting horrible things about you... bit.ly/LKOFNj.

The shortened URL (address) and message may vary. Here is another variant:

Hi someone is saying nasty rumors about you... bit.ly/LKOqSG

But they all lead to tvvitiler.com/1w/ and have a similar suppose: to steal your Twitter account login details so they (the hackers) can pose as you.

How to fix it? Well, the solution is easy, change your Twitter account password. Also, change any other accounts that use a similar password. If you don't know how to do this, see this Twitter support article. For your convenience, the instructions have been copied over.

From your logged in account, click on the "more icon" in the navigation bar and select Settings and privacy.
From the account tab, click on Password.
Enter your current password.
Choose your new password.
Save your changes by clicking Save.

If you are unable to log in to your account, you may try resetting your password:

How to send yourself a password reset via email:

Click the Forgot password? link. Or click here.
Enter your email address or Twitter username.
Enter your mobile phone number, if prompted, in the format suggested. (Forgot your number? Contact support for assistance.)
Check your email inbox. Twitter will immediately send a message to your account's email address.
Click the reset link in that email.
Choose a new password.

How to send yourself a password reset via SMS:

If you've added your mobile number to your account in your Mobile settings, you may receive a password reset via SMS/text message.

On a computer, go to the Forgot password? page and enter your username (or email address).
Enter your mobile number.
Select Reset via phone.
Twitter will text you a six-digit code that is valid for 15 minutes.
Enter this code on the Twitter website. Use the code given and enter it in the space given. You will then be prompted to change your password.

Not receiving the SMS code?

It may take up to a few minutes for you to receive the code.
If you do not receive it after a few minutes, try texting HELP to your Twitter short code to ensure you are receiving SMS notifications from Twitter. If you do not receive anything back, please review our SMS troubleshooting page or use the email password reset option above.

If that doesn't work you may try contacting Twitter customer service. You may also want to check the apps you authorized to your account and remove any you don't recognize. To do this see this Twitter support article. For your convenience, the instructions have been copied over.

How to revoke access or remove an application

Review the applications you've connected in the Apps tab of your account settings.
Click the Revoke Access button next to the application.

Log out of other sessions

You might want to also log out of other sessions too. To do that go to https://twitter.com/settings/sessions, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit "log out all."

Clean up

Now that you've secured your account, you may want to clean up your post by deleting all the spammy tweets and direct messages. This can be done by either clicking on delete or on the symbol of the trash can or clicking on the tweet to expand it and then deleting it.

Prevention

To avoid falling for phishing scams, always check the address bar of the browser or URL. Most try to use a URL similar to the site they are trying to imitate. Therefore, check carefully. Avoid phishing, malware, and viruses by examining short URLs before visiting them. Find out where links really take you by expanding those pesky shortened URLs with CheckShortURL. Also, it is always best to go to the main website itself. In addition, ignore such message as others are spreading rumors about you since it is most likely fake and the account sending the message is compromised. It is also a good idea to keep an up to date AntiVirus on your computer, regardless of your operating system; yes, Apple Macs can get viruses too (see my list of blog posts debunking that myth).

Tech for University

2019-08-23T23:26:00.002+01:00


Source: Wikipedia by Ryan at UTSA Libraries

Now that you're in University, you might be wondering what new tech you might need. In the run-up to University, big store pushing ‘back to school’ tech sales in our face. You might see PCWorld having big banners advertising £100 discount off the latest computers or £50 rebate with the purchase of a certain brand of computer. And it may seem that technology may be embedded into our daily lives, but I’m here to guide you through the maze of tech buying. I will help you stay cool and within budget.

Computers

It is no arguing that computers and students go hand in hand. Almost all of the lecture notes in the upcoming weeks can be found on Blackboard (Blackboard.swan.ac.uk) and most of you will be writing essay papers on computers to be printed out later.

Today, there are so many laptops and so much competition in the market you should have no problem finding one that suits your needs at a reasonable price.

Four of the most important hardware specs to look at when buying a new Windows PC are the processor, memory, graphics card, and storage.

Hardware components

Source: JIP on Wikipedia

Processor

Computer processors come a myriad of models with a confusing number-based model like the Core i7, i5, etc. For everyday tasks, Core i3 or i5 (or AMD equivalent) would suit your need. For the gamers out there, if your budget suits, you could go for the Core i7 processor, depending on the need of the game you’re playing since not all games are built equal.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Ram is your computer’s ‘working area.’ The more RAM you have, the more concurrent tasks your computer can perform at the same time. An example would be working on an essay while playing music in the background. For a headache-less experience, look for a laptop around 4 GBs of RAM or more.

Storage

Your computer storage is like a filing cabinet. The more storage you have, the more you can store. Music, videos, pictures, and university work all use up storage. Long ago, if you store a lot of things on your computer, just get a computer with more storage options.

However, nowadays, there are tons of cloud storage option available. Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive allow you to save your work online and then access them anywhere. So essentially you might not need that big a storage that a salesperson might be pushing at you.

In addition, adding to the mix are the two main types of hard drives HHDs and SSDs. HHD or hard-disk drives are the traditional platter-based hard drive of magnetic tapes that store your files. As you can imagine, it takes time for the platter to ‘spin’ to the right place where the file is stored. Therefore, SSDs or solid-state drives were created. Unlike HHDs, SSDs have no moving parts; therefore, data can be accessed instantly with little to no delay. It allows your computer more speed and efficiency. A drawback of SSDs is the cost. SSDs are more expensive per GB. But they might be worth your attention if you don’t store a lot of things on your computer. And even if you do, hybrid-drives are an alternative compromise, storing essential software files on the SSD while regular files sit on the larger HHDs.

Graphics card

A graphics card, as the name suggests, is hardware that is used to convert the 1’s and 0’s into an image that you can see. Cheap laptops often have the graphics processor built into the circuit board or even into the main processor chip. These might be perfectly fine for everyday use, but for the power-hungry gamer out there, it might be worth investing in a dedicated graphics card for maximum performance.

In addition to the hardware specs, an important aspect of a computer is the operating system. Below are three of the most popular computer system.

Operating systems

Mac OS X

It is often the go-to computer in movie University where all students are seen carrying one of these shiny slick aluminum machines. But it is no arguing that they are quite pricey. But if Apple is your liking you can grab a cheap bargain by going to the Apple Student store and buying a new device from there. As of the writing of this blog, Apple is offering 15% off selected iMac lines.

Microsoft Windows OS

Microsoft Windows is the king of the operating system. It is the de facto operating system of choice by manufacturers.

Windows surface tablet by Takeaway.
Source: Wikipedia

There are tons of computer buying guide out there, but ultimately the decision rest with you with choosing a computer that fit your needs. Like the Mac OS X mention above, many of the Windows manufacturers are offering ‘student stores’ that offer discounts on the popular range of PCs. One example is the HP student store.

Google Chrome OS

Google Chromebooks are the newcomers on the block. They are powered by Chrome OS, a brand new operating system built by Google from the ground up with a view toward the web. If you have used a Chrome browser, you have pretty much used the operating system. Chrome OS is a browser OS, and it is lightweight and require very little resource. Updates install on the background and simply require a reboot to start. In addition, Chrome OS takes mere seconds (around 7 in my tests) from pressing the power button to being on the web.

Source: laboratorio linux

Now you might be asking what use is a web browser when you can’t do anything offline. Thanks to the Microsoft Scroogled smear campaign attempt to discredit Chrome OS, Chrome OS is painted in a negative light that it is basically a paperweight since it can’t do things that a ‘real PC’ can do. Well, don’t fret. Word processing? No problem. Two solutions are available: Google docs or Microsoft Office online. Music your thing? No biggy. I'm pretty sure most of you are on YouTube anyway. Plus you can upload your music to Google Play Music online and it will work on any PC. Anything you do on a traditional computer there is an equivalent application on the web.

Also, nowadays, Chromebooks can run Linux apps. And there's usually a Linux equivalent of any Windows software you want.

For an in-depth review, please see my article on Chromebooks.

Cell Phones

It seems that cellphones are all the craze nowadays, with the top of the line Samsung Galaxy S10+ or iPhone X seen as ‘cool’ and hip. But do you really need those phones or that many minutes? Shop around and find the best deal to suit your needs. You may find out you don’t actually need that many minutes offered on the plan.

In addition, you could try getting last year's model or the year before that. They are just as capable. How much do you need the new iPhone X or the new Samsung Galaxy S10? You could easily grab a bargain on the old iPhone 5 or the old Galaxy S4 or S5. Last year’s flagship models are just as capable as this year’s model for a fraction of the cost. In addition, there are tons of cheaper alternative like Motorola Moto X Play (from £21.99 per month (EE) or £249.99 sim free at Carphone Warehouse) or the Moto G (from £16.99 per month (EE) or £159.99 sim free at Carphone Warehouse).

Tablets

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Tablets are perhaps the least appreciated technology. With phones getting bigger and computers getting smaller, tablets are slowly getting crowded out of the market. But tablets are great for taking notes. I have one and frequently use that to scribble on lecture slides with any notes that I want to add during lectures. However, but you don’t need to go purchase a new tablet just for University. You could always search eBay for a good second-hand tablet

There are many tablets out there, but I personally recommend a tablet that has a stylus, which is good for taking notes.

Office software

Now we move onto the software. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Microsoft Office for writing documents. But if you don’t have that, don’t fret. Swansea University provides a free copy of Office ProPlus for the PC (inc. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, etc.) or Microsoft Office for Apple Mac (inc. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). To download a copy go to https://myuni.swansea.ac.uk/it-services/software-enquiry/. There may be a similar deal offered by your local University.

In addition, there are tons of free Microsoft office alternative out there. One of them is Google Docs, which is an online document writer that is just as good as Microsoft Office. One advantage of Google docs is that it allows easy collaboration of the document with other students. Just click “share” on the document and then type in the email. Then all your friends or group partner can type in the same document in real-time. There’s even a Google chat to discuss ideas.

Another free alternative is Openoffice or Microsoft Office Online, which is a watered-down Office provided online by Microsoft. It is quite similar to Google docs.

In summary, you don’t have to spend big bucks and go broke buying all the necessary techs for university. And wherever the road may take you, have fun and enjoy your time at your chosen university!

What to do if you're in debt?

2019-08-18T02:19:00.001+01:00

Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Students are well known for being poor and cash-strapped and loan companies know this. Therefore, some companies, such as Smart-pig, target students promising a quick and easy way to borrow money to cover shortfalls in the budget. These types of loans are informally known as "payday loans" as they are aimed at providing money between paydays. It is typically expected that the debt is repaid the next payday.

However, don't be tempted into taking out a loan with these companies. Smart-pig charges 0.8% A DAY capping the interest at 50% of the original loan (according to the website). Wonga, the infamous payday company that had recently gone bankrupt, charges an interest rate of 292%. Therefore, you can quickly get into more financial problems if you have used one of those short-term loan companies.

Image courtesy of ladybeastcharmer on DeviantArt

An even worse source of money is a loan shark. These illegal lenders target low-income people and charge high-interest rates. For example, according to the Money Advice Service, one woman who borrowed £500 ended up repaying £88,000. These lenders will seem friendly at first, but unlike payday loans, these loan sharks will often harass you or resort to violence if you get behind on your payment. In addition, they might pressure you to borrow more money to cover the original loan. As a result, you might end up in a spiral of debt that you can never repay.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/vZ4Sne0wdxY

A payday loan or a loan shark should never be relied upon if you are short of cash. What you can do instead, is talk to your parents or friends and see if they can help you out with your financial issues. I'm sure they are more than willing to help you out.

In addition, as a Swansea University student, you have a comprehensive team to support your financial issues. Your first point of call should be Money@CampusLife team which can give you advice about keeping your finance in check. In addition, the Money@CampusLife team can advise you about the various Hardship Funds available to help students who are struggling with their finances.

If you're not a Swansea University student, contact your local student union for directions to the relevant team at your university.

If you are not a University student, you can ask the Citizens Advice Bureau or the Money Advice Service for advice regarding debts.

You should never feel that you're alone. There are people there to support you.

Tech tips for students

2019-08-18T01:52:00.002+01:00

Hey. I'm sure going to University for the first time is both exciting and scary. Here are some tech tips for you.

Get your own router

Unless you like random people blasting music on your Google Home or Amazon Echo devices, I recommend getting your own router. Depending on your budget, a cheapo router from Amazon could do the deed but if you plan on holding on your router for longer than 3 years, maybe it would be worth investing in a good brand name router. Look at reviews to decide which router is best for you.

Our rooms at Swansea University Bay Campus have an ethernet to plug in a router but this can vary depending on the accommodation you are moving in to.

Also, a router allows you to form a local area network in your room so that you can connect network devices like printers, Chromecasts, etc.

Getting some oomph from library computers (specifically for Swansea Students but your mileage may vary)

The computers at Swansea University have a hidden "C:" drive that is not normally seen. All files you save are stored in a network drive located at Singleton Campus. So running large simulations or CAD software from it can be slow and laggy. Therefore, I would save your files on the local C: drive and copy it off to a USB thumb drive or external hard drive once the simulation is done

Also, by default, you get around 2 GB of space allotted but you can ask nicely to have it expanded to 4 GB. Just email "engineeringit@swansea.ac.uk" with your request or visit room Engineering Central C105 (Engineering Central, C Block, 1st floor, Room 105).

Other Universities may have a similar configuration set up.

Make sure to match the version of software installed on the library computer

Most engineering software is not backward compatible. That means that files made with a newer version won't run on older versions. Software with known backward incompatibility:

Solidworks
For example, files made with version 2018 won't run on version 2017.
Ansys
For example, files made with version 19.2 won't run on version 18.2.

Therefore, always check the version installed on your university computers before downloading and installing it on your own PC. There's nothing worse than having to re-do the work because the file you send to your groupmate won't open on their computer.

If you feel I'm missing any tips, be sure to leave a comment on this post.

Image sources:

Router: Image by RoboxInvasion from Pixabay

Speedometer: Image by janjf93 from Pixabay

Download icon: Image by IO-Images from Pixabay

Keeping your PC updated

2019-07-31T17:34:00.001+01:00

There is nothing worse than switching on your PC and seeing the dreaded "Working on updates" screen," especially if you have a major deadline a few hours away.

To make matters worse, you can't skip the update. However, here's some tip to keep it under control.

Microsoft release Windows updates on the second Tuesday of the month around 10 AM PST. That translates to around 6 PM UK time. Non-security updates to Microsoft Office tend to occur on the first Tuesday of each month and firmware updates for Microsoft's Surface devices on the third Tuesday of every month.

Therefore, to avoid unnecessary interruptions to your schedules, it might be good to block a "maintenance" period for your PC. That way Windows won't interrupt your work.

At this point, you might be wondering why do I need the updates?

People often put off updating their PCs thinking that the updates are annoying and unnecessary.

However, they are wrong. Windows updates often patch a major vulnerability that allows hackers to compromise your PC.

While it may take a while to update your PC, maybe block off a day "holiday" to update it. Your PC will thank you for it.

Tips for new students

2019-07-12T23:31:00.000+01:00

First of all, congratulations with securing a place at a university of your choice. All your hard work during GCSE and A-level paid off. You are one of the 241,585 (32.6%) of 18-year-olds who gained a place in higher education. [UCAS]

But now what? Here are some top tips ensure success at university.

After receiving your acceptance letter

Sort out your accommodation early

You have made your firm choice on UCAS and had sorted out accommodation to stay for the year. If you haven't yet already, this should be the first thing on your checklist. You certainly don't want to be homeless when attending university. While many universities guarantee accommodation to those that make that university a firm choice, on-campus residences are extremely popular and you might be placed in a hall miles away from the campus. Many university towns also sport student accommodations run by private companies but they could be more expensive or further away from the campus than the University's own hall of residence. When comparing your accommodation choices, make sure to factor in the cost of utilities as well as the cost of transportation.

Moving in day

Picture by John Benson

What to bring with you?

If you're anything like me, you will be tempted to just bring your entire room with you. However, sometimes it might be more convenient to just buy the items online and ship it to the place of residence. Signing up to Amazon Prime student allows you to get your Amazon shopping delivered to your door within one day.

If your place is anything like mine you can start sending parcels there about 2 weeks in advance of your arrival. That means that you don't need to load your car to the brim with stuff. Your parents will certainly thank you for it.

If you do want to bring some items from home, here's what I would recommend:

Duvet and duvet case
It would be good to bring a warm blanket or duvet. Universities in UK start in September and the weather would quickly become cold in the coming weeks and months. Therefore, it would be helpful to bring a blanket or duvet with you. In my experience, stores can run out of duvets especially on moving-in week since everybody would be clamoring to buy one.

Enough clothing to last two to three weeks
You don't need to bring mountains of clothing since almost all student accommodations have onsite laundromats. If you want, you can bring your fancy clothes for parties or a suit or two for formal events.

Extension cords
Not all places have conveniently placed sockets so extension cords are sometimes helpful

Laptop
A laptop should be adequate for most students. And bringing one from home means you are familiar with it. If you don't have a laptop, have you considered buying a Chromebook? These laptops are low maintenance. I personally would recommend a Windows desktop and a Chrome laptop (Chromebook) rather than a Windows desktop and Windows laptop. You can remote desktop into the desktop from the Chromebook.

Bedsheets
Many student sites recommend bringing a bedsheet but I would email or call the accommodation to make sure the bedsheet you bring fits the bed you have. Also, if you don't know the size, use flat sheets rather than elastic ones as they can fit beds that are larger than the size they are made for, albeit not perfectly.

Place an online order with your favorite retailer
Many high street retailers allow you to place groceries order with retailers like Tesco or ASDA who would often deliver right to your door. I often make my first delivery purchase the evening of my arrival or the day after. It can work out cheaper or more convenient for them to deliver to you than for you to go to them. Delivery savers by these sites would work out cheaper if you make multiple purchases. In addition, you can share them with your parents! You can ask your parents to part pay for the delivery saver and let them use the plan. The caveat is that you both can't book delivery slots for the same day.

Getting down to business

Now you have all your fun during Fresher's week and its time to put your head down and study.

Organizing your work

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

Use online cloud storage like Google Drive or OneDrive to save your work
More often than not, your university will be subscribed to Office 365, which comes with 1 TB of storage. Make sure to back up your work to online cloud storage. You never know when your computer might be hit by a nasty virus or suffer technical problems. Also, working off cloud storage like Google Drive enables you to work from any computer, not just your own.

Create a folder hierarchy and label each folder properly
Don't randomly assign names to the folders. This would make it hard for you to later find your work.

Download your lessons and save them on your cloud storage or hard drive
This may seem like an unusual tip but sometimes Blackboard (used by Swansea University) goes offline. So saving your lessons would allow you to access the lectures even if your University site crashes or have technical problems.

Take notes

Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

Take plenty of notes during lectures
Personally, I would recommend taking notes using a tablet to take notes. This would enable you to store tons of notes without having to lug around tons of notebooks around. If you can't catch up to the lectures, use your phone to take pictures of your lecturer's writing.

Film your lectures
This may seem a bit controversial so ask your lecturer before using your mobile phone to film the lecture. Filming the lecture makes it easier for you to review them later on at your leisure. A lot of Swansea Univerity courses use lecture capture to store the lecture slide along with the lecturer's teachings. However, not all lecturers use it and the audio quality might be poor depending on how far the lecturer is from the mic.

Watch out for phishing email

University students are often a prime target for phishers and hackers. I have made a handy article about how to keep yourself safe online. Be sure to check it out. Also, practice caution lest you hand over your student log in to spammers who use your account to spam other students and academics.

These are my top tips for Univerity. Be sure to check out my other advice articles and pob lwc (good luck) with your future!