Tech Digest Reviews

Logic 3 i-Station

£60

The lowdown
If you want to listen to your iPod out loud and proud, the i-Station will turn your player into a mini hi-fi system. Plug it into the wall and it will also charge your iPod up as it goes along; stick in some batteries and you can take it out for day trips.

What’s good?
The white finish matches your favourite player (and, if you can cope with the colour clash it also works with iPod minis) and it comes with Firewire and USB 2.0 connectors, so you can hook it to a PC or Mac for transferring tracks.

What’s bad?
Sound quality is pretty much as you’d expect from a system that costs £60: rather tinny. There’s also not much evidence of a subwoofer at work.

Do you need it?
The i-Station is good enough for small rooms and, at £60, it offers good value, but there are better specified iPod speaker systems out there. The similar, but slightly pricier £100 Altec Lansing inMotion, Apple’s favourite, the £250 Bose SoundDock, and the audiophile’s choice, the £400 Eclipse TD307.
6/10

Logic3

Acer Ferrari 3200

£1545

The lowdown
This is the second time Acer has got together with Ferrari to produce a branded laptop. The first one was something of a disappointment. Will this one be any better?

What’s good?
If you like red you’ll love the outside of this machine: it’s extremely red indeed. This is a powerful machine with decent specs at a reasonably affordable price. While it’s not an ultraportable, it’s light enough for the odd trip out.

What’s bad?
The fussy interior styling won’t suit everyone. The keyboard rattles and the small touchpad is sluggish to respond (luckily, there's a matching red USB mouse included as standard). The screen buckled too readily under pressure and was poorly lit.

Do you need it?
If you’re a big fan of Ferrari you can be sure of getting something very individual in this machine. It’s got decent enough specs, but the build quality was disappointing.
6/10

www.acer.co.uk

Sendo X

From around £100

The lowdown
It’s taken its time getting here, but the Sendo X looks like it was worth the wait.

What’s good?
This may be the first smartphone from the British company, but the handset feels surprisingly professional. It’s far less stocky than similar phones such as the Nokia 6600 and the Siemens SX1, and much more pocketable. The OS has had some nice additions to it and there’s a decent amount of memory, along with an SD/MMC slot.

What’s bad?
While far from ugly, it’s not the most stylish phone around. Still, you wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen with it. The letters on the keys are so tiny you can hardly see them.

Do you need it?
A highly usable little smartphone. There’s a good array of features under that plain exterior, and since it’s so compact you can bin your normal mobile. Excellent first effort from Sendo.
8/10

Tech Specs
OS: Symbian Series 60
Memory: 32MB
Touchscreen: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Expansion slot: Yes
Dimensions: 111mm x 49mm x 23mm
Weight: 120g

Sendo

Nokia 6600

£Free BUY FROM HERE

The lowdown
Nokia's most popular smartphone to date. However, Like the Siemens SX1, the 6600 now looks a little on the chubby side when compared with the newer, slimmer smartphones that have been appearing of late.

The good
The case may not be very attractive, but it's well made and easy to use.

The bad
You can't synch with your PC via USB - you have to rely on Bluetooth. Less memory than the Sendo X and far bulkier. Have to take the battery off to get at the MMC slot.

Do you need it?
If you're determined to have a Nokia, this is a decent enough smartphone, but there's better things out there now.
7/10

BUY FROM HERE

Tech Specs
OS: Symbian Series 60
Memory: 6MB
Touchscreen: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Expansion slot: Yes
Dimensions: 109 x 58 x 24mm
Weight: 122g

Nokia

Sony Ericsson P900

£from free

The lowdown
The P900 was the handset that took smartphones into the mainstream. Large enough to act as a PDA while still small enough to be used as a normal mobile many see it as the perfect smartphone.

What’s good?
The P900 is easy to use, with a great scroll wheel and a touchscreen that makes PDA features easy to access. The Opera browser is second to none when it comes to getting online.

What’s good?
While it may be easier to access than many smartphones, it's nevertheless starting to look a bit beefy next to the newer handsets. It's now been superseded by the P910 which comes with a qwerty keypad on the inside of the flip-down number pad.

Do you need it?
It may have been upgraded and it may be getting on in life, but this is still a great handset that will do you proud. It used to suffer from being overly expensive, but now you can get hold of one free on contract it comes highly recommended.
8/10

Tech specs
OS: Symbian 7.0
Memory: 16MB
Touchscreen: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
Expansion slot: Yes
Dimensions: 115 x 57 x 24mm
Weight: 150g

www.sonyericsson.com/uk