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E-book review: Long term test of the BeBook

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E-books are still a topic that manage to enrage the nation. Half are for, half are against, and most feel the price isn't justified. But is either side right? And if you take into consideration the price of an average book, surely paying a one off fee for an e-device that comes with literally thousands free to download isn't such a bad deal? I've been road testing the BeBook, and can now present to you my findings. And it's love.

It's an amazingly lightweight (220g) portable device that slips easily into any bag, and nestles contentedly within its leather-bound cover. It can store up to 1000 books on its 512MB memory, and so far I've got around 300 on it. Should you go over this, there's an SD card slot to upload even more, and you can walk around with your whole library on you- something a voracious reader like me really enjoys. Now I can flick through old classics on whim, as well as add new books whenever I desire.

Review: Trialling the GO!View service on the PSP

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The PSP has been trying to get a foothold in the on demand media market for while now, and it hopes that its Go!View service will be the one to establish it in the publics mind. We've told you already about its functionality and video on demand service, but how is it from a users perspective? Here's my tale...

Signing up

It's a pretty straightforward system. I was trialling out the touted one month's free trial and happily entered my name, email, address and bank details... Hang on, I thought this was free? Ah, this would be when your one month expires and you love it so much you don't want to leave. But what if you don't want to stay with the service? Do they send you an email reminder? No, and if you forget you'll get charged- as I noticed on my statement the other day. Boo. On the plus side it's only £5 for one package so it's not bank breaking, but still annoying.

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Hippyshopper's Abi has been testing out the eco-media player, which is the latest brain manifestation of the environmentally friendly Trevor Baylis. The player itself works via your winding power, using your kinetic energy to power its media playback.

Read on for Abi's full review...

Shiny Review: Datz Music Lounge

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When Datz was announced, with its one payment pricing plan, DRM-free unlimited downloads, we had questions. Would the catalogue be as extensive as promised? Was the one-off fee for the ease of consumers, or did it hide the fact that Datz had a solution that wasn't good enough to ask people to pay month after month? Well, we've had a play with our copy, and we think we have the answer (briefly, no, and the latter, but we can expand on that).

The service itself masquerades as a CD and a USB stick. The CD comes with all the installation gubbins, whilst the USB stick seems to work as the key to unlocking the service. Installation is pretty hairy - nothing makes me panic more than seeing the MS DOS stuff flash up. Basically, it'll install a hell of a lot of stuff on your computer.

We told you about the Nokia 5800 today and I manged to get my paws on it later. I get slightly overexcited about the touchscreen and dual flash, and manage to capture my film countdown for you as well. Still, it's a stunning product and as it's equipped with their Comes With Music service may well end up ruling the market.

Approx 279 Euros from Nokia in 2009

See here for more phones

Parrot_Minikit_Slim.gifBluetooth headsets may very well be legal for a bit of hands-free talking, but that doesn't mean they're comfortable, or that they won't make you look ridiculous. Bluetooth headsets are particularly annoying if you have a pierced tragus, or small ears for that matter. Isn't it good news then, that the follow on from the Parrot Minikit has landed today - presenting the Parrot Minikit Slim.

The Minikit Slim is a really stylish, compact and lightweight (83g) Bluetooth speaker, designed for using pretty much wherever you darn well please - the car, the office, a mate's house or while out for a stroll. It also features a discreet clip, so it attaches easily to your car's sun visor, to something on your desk, or maybe you want to be a bit different and clip it onto your lapel. Doing the latter might make you look a tad silly, but who's to say you can't do that at home eh? Design-wise, it looks pretty good, although it doesn't have a screen, but this in no way affects the device's performance.

Shiny Preview: 3G iPhone

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Here it is folks - our first look at the 3G iPhone. We sent Intrepid Reporter Lucy down to Carphone Warehouse to get her thoughts on this new version of the lovely iPhone. Stay with us, as I've been playing with my very own and will have a full on version for you shortly.

Carphone Warehouse

More iPhone news? Are you serious? Ok...

mario at oilympics.jpgGame: Mario & Sonic and the Olympic Games
Available: 29.99 from Play.com
Best for: Those nights you've got your mates over

What could be more topical than Mario and Sonic doing the Beijing Olympics? Well, not them in particular doing it, per se... actually, the idea of those guys doing it is faintly ridiculous. But ho hum, there is something pleasingly topical about reviewing this game now.

This idea is simply to compete in a load of olympic events, either as a character from the Mario games or the Sonic games - all the good ones are there (man, I forgot how dark Shadow was. Full of self-hatred, poor lad). It's basically a collection of mini-games from javelin to swimming to trampoline to jousting.

Shiny Wii Review: Guitar Hero III

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Game: Guitar Hero III - Legends of Rock
Available: £59.99 from Play.com
Best for: The armchair rock star

I may as well lay my cards on the table now. I love this game. Like, *really* love it. My housemates love it. The cat who sometimes comes and visits my house loves it. The kids who hang around smoking and can see through my living room window love it (I might have to keep an eye on just how much they love it, actually).

As someone who really should have been headlining Glastonbury by now (had it not been for the complete lack of musical talent) and as someone who really doesn't have the patience to learn either an actual instrument or a complicated gaming set up, it's perfect. And it's also the perfect opportunity to find out who really does win in the battle of the batteries - if there's one thing Guitar Hero is, it's power hungry (more on this later).

Shiny Review: Sansa Fuze

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Zara took a look at the new Sansa MP3 player, the Fuze. As well as coming in at a nice comfortable price point, there's a couple of nifty features that make it definitely worth more than a second glance. Zara's sold!

Sansa

There's a whole site of video reviews over yonder!

Shiny Review: Nokia 6600 Fold

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Zara took a look at one of the prototype handsets from Nokia, the 6600 Slide. When it was announced here, the specs looked basic, but in the flesh we've decided it's a lot nicer than you might think.

Shiny Review: Motorola Z10

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I'm well aware that anger should be kept out of video reviews, and mostly contained in pillow-screaming, but you're going to have to let me have the Z10 - probably one of the most frustrating phones ever to hit the market. In other news, it has lots of video editing software on it.

I'm not sure why you would, but you can get one here.

[Apparently, Motorola thinks they might have sent me a pre-production model, and they maintain the models in the shops will be up to scratch. Or at least come with the software, rather than a blank disc...]

Like that? Read this: Motorola launch the Z10 for realzies this time

Shiny Review: Trekstor iBeat Sonix

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Lucy took a look at the Trekstor iBeat MP3 player, and whilst it faired well enough, it didn't seem to be able to replace the Sony Walkman in her heart.

Personally speaking, my favourite thing about the Trekstor brand is that they've got a player called The Emo. Love those guys.


Find out more here.

Check out a whole host more video reviews here.

Well, I never thought I'd see the day. I never thought Zara would pledge her heart to a Bluetooth headset. It seems they're no longer for just for terribly busy business men, but can now be legitimately worn by the likes of you and me. Good news.

Get one here for 50 quid

Here's another one of those cheap as chips notebooks, fondled here by Kat and Dan. The Acer Aspire picks up where the eeePC left off last week, and by all accounts, it's worth every one of the 23,500 pennies it costs.

Oh ok, it's Friday, I won't make you do the maths. That's £235.


Check out Acer here.

Like that? Read this: eeePC 900 video review|Sub £300 edu-laptop from HP - the Mini-Note 2133

Shiny Review: Fuji Finepix J50

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There's a nice big screen, but it feels a little bit plasticky. Zara looks at the J50, which she can't bring herself to fall in love with. Maybe next time.

Get yours here.

Shiny Review: Canon IXUS 90 IS

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Yesterday, Zara tried her hand at the pink Canon 80IS. Today, she takes a step away from the pink, with the slightly higher spec'd IXUS 90 IS. It's chiselled, it's crafted, it's here to steal your daughters.

You can get one of your very own here for £259.

htc-polaris_468.jpgThe HTC Touch still causes some people in Shiny Towers to give a small orgasmic shudder (disclaimer: this is an exaggeration) and to me nothing could be more perfect that taking a lovely phone and shoving a sat nav in. I'm one of those crazy Londoners with a car, yet have no sense of direction, so this speaks to my heart.

So does the Touch Cruise, formerly known as Polaris, succeed in being the dream phone?

Review: KickTrak pregnancy monitor

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emma bamford.jpgTo me KickTrak sounds like a fun way of measuring foetal health, but not being preggers it's difficult to tell. Luckily, I know someone who is in this state, so I can hand over to her.

The lovely (and five months pregnant) Emma, owner of the beautiful Vintage Style boutique, measured her kicks, for the benefit of you. Nothing like putting the pregnant to work...

What is KickTrak?

A handheld device to use from 24 weeks of pregnancy to record your baby's movements. It also tracks the progress of your pregnancy in days and weeks and counts down the last 99 days 'til your due date.

Susi finally got to try out the snow setting on a digital camera. Having a trip to Lapland come up right in the middle of reviewing a camera makes for a very thorough review, we think you'll agree.

Kodak

Like that? Read this: Kodak Easyshare Z1012 IS announced for the UK | Kodak camera bag: good enough to take a photo of? | CES 2008: Kodak's new digital cameras, including touchscreen EasyShare V1273

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