The Garmin Oregon 300 – GPS for the adventurer

If outdoors is your thing, and Bear Grylls is your role model, Garmin have come up with some high tech to ensure you don’t get lost in your pursuit of the untamed. Garmin have released their midrange Oregon 300 GPS, and it attempts to be the rugged jack of all navigation trades. STEVEN AMBROSE takes the Oregon through the wilds to see if it delivers.
A GPS device is becoming more and more an essential part of the modern day toolkit. No more the old paper maps and asking for directions. Handheld GPS devices now abound, with prices that make them almost a no-brainer – and they are even included in phones. The downside of many of these is that a quick swim in a river or a fall off your local mountain may not be good for their health. In response to this issue, Garmin came up with the compact and rugged Oregon 300. Garmin are almost the generic in GPS devices in South Africa, and the Oregon underlines their positioning.


The Oregon 300 is compact, smoothly rounded but fairly chunky in design, and is ruggedized with a sealed USB port and locking back flap, in order to protect it from the elements. The exterior is clean and pleasantly rubberised, with a single button to turn the device on and off. A micro SD card slot located underneath the batteries is not the most accessible, but it is unlikely you will be changing cards regularly.

The Oregon sits nicely in the hand, and the rubberised coating assists to give added grip.


The device is a bit of a jack of all trades, with pre-installed applications for a wide variety of functions, ranging from leisure pursuits, such as geo caching and fishing, to standard GPS direction-finding and navigation, to functions for fitness training and hiking. The software uses a simple and fairly intuitive (read: easy to get used to) profiles system to help you access the applications you need. For example, switch to the geocaching profile, and all the associated geocaching tools are moved to the first menu screen. There are five available profiles you can set up, and you can create more if needed.

The simplicity of the interface makes the Oregon a joy to use. It has a few unexpected extras, like viewing pictures stored on the SD card and a nifty ability to share tracks, trails, and waypoints wirelessly with other Garmin users. The overall lack of buttons and the touch screen make the Oregon easy to use, even if the protective coating on the screen forces you to push fairly hard to get the screen to respond. The built-in worldwide basemap with shaded contours is useful and powerful for those intrepid adventurers. This feature is touch enabled and shows the surrounding terrain.
I did find small issues with the Garmin, the first one related to satellite sensitivity and acquisition. It took a while from a cold start to acquire (i.e. pick up the signals from) the required satellites. And the devices lost the satellites when in heavy undergrowth. It recovered fast, but this could be a concern. The handy and very useful electronic compass also proved a little difficult to use as I had to hold it level to make it work.

My biggest issue is the screen. It is simply not bright enough. As the device is designed to work outdoors, the screen should be viewable in bright sunlight and it is not. You can shade it to see better, but this could be a problem if you are running or on your bike. Garmin needs to come up with a software update to fix the issue.

Speaking of which, I downloaded the updater from the Garmin website, and after a painless install, an update for the Oregon 300 was available. The update installed smoothly and a number of small issues were fixed, for example the sensitivity of satellite acquisition and retention appeared to be solved, along with a number of other issues. It is highly recommended that you download the updater application and check regularly for updates.

Pricing

The current street price of the Oregon 300 ranges from R4170 to R7110, which is expensive for a GPS device. The high price is somewhat mitigated by the additional functionality over standard GPS devices, and the ruggedness of the unit itself. That said, it is not great value for money at these prices, as the feature set does not offset the high price entirely. There are few alternatives with this combination of features and ruggedness in the South African market, so the Garmin gets a conditional recommendation. It would make sense to shop around for the best price though.

In summary

Overall, the Garmin Oregon 300 is a wonderful device for the adventure-minded. It has all the features you may need for your expeditions to faraway places. It takes regular batteries, or rechargeable. A carabineer back cover is included, so clipping it to your gear is easy. It is rugged and effective and easy to use. Garmin must have spent some time really understanding where a device such as this would go, and have made sure that most bases are covered, with useful applications and functions. Simply never get lost again, no matter where you go.
For more information go to http://www.garmin.co.za

Nokia N97 Promises much but does it deliver?

On the face of it, all the tech boxes are ticked: 3.5” touchscreen, all the HSPAs, WiFi, GPS, 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, mega 32GB memory, expandable of course, build quality out of the top drawer and much, much more. STEVEN AMBROSE slipped his SIM card into this technical tour de force, and set out to see if the user experience matched up to the design.
Nokia have held a large chunk of the cellular market for a good while and have been the top dog as far as smartphones are concerned for years. Symbian, their now wholly-owned operating system, had played a part in this dominance. In the last year, however, all this has begun to unravel, Nokia still dominates for the moment, but other brands, notably the Apple iPhone and the BlackBerry, have been making solid strides into Nokia territory.

In the fast changing world of cellular phones, a year is a long time and, for the past few months, it has become apparent that the current batch of Nokia devices are finally beginning to show their age. The user interfaces are dating, fast, and this is the reason that the latest Nokia devices, including the N97, are falling a little short of the mark.

Back to the N97. In true Nokia fashion, the device is beautifully made. Just unboxing and holding the N97 is a wonderful feeling, but set me up for a bit of a disappointing experience. The build quality of the phone is excellent, it is a large squareish slider phone with a full QWERTY keyboard; the solid thunk as you open the N97 and the smooth way it slides up to a predetermined angle, combine into an engineering masterpiece. The screen is good but, compared to the latest screens from other smartphones, it is below par.

The first inkling that all is not well with this Nokia was the time it took to start up. I had to try a few times to get the phone to boot up and while the time it took would have been fine for a laptop running Windows Vista, it was not acceptable for a mobile device of this nature.

The next disappointment was the response of the screen and the device in general. Resistive touch screens are not nearly as responsive as the capacitive type found, for example, on the iPhone. However the Nokia does resistive as well as most, if not better. The upside is that you can use a stylus and write on the screen for character recognition. The slight lack of responsiveness of the resistive screen, coupled with what in my opinion is the biggest oversight on the device, the 424MHz processor, makes the interface jerky and very hard to navigate.

My interaction with the N97 lacked any fluidity and was extremely irritating, as the obvious lag and jerk of the screen interfered with basic operations, such as making a call.

All the N97’s competitors have faster processors and more memory. Having briefly tried the same Symbian operating system on a much higher powered device, I have to say Nokia have crippled the N97 with the processor supplied. Load up the Twitter client, mail, and the web browser, and the already slow response moved down a whole lot of notches, well into unusable territory.

The Symbian operating system is also showing its age: doing a simple thing like making a call takes far too many pushes and clicks and whacks at the screen. Interestingly, the same operating system on the E75 works fine. Though it still has too many clicks, pushing responsive buttons is not nearly as irritating.

In general, this version of Symbian is not optimised for touch interaction and it shows, making the user work far too much to do simple tasks. You are also asked to confirm and reconfirm your choices, too many times, often for no logical reason. On balance, the operating system makes the phone usable, but it is never intuitive. In fact, it can become highly irritating if you are in a rush to make a call or answer an email, and generally are having a busy day.

Among the great features of the phone was the camera: fast, good detail, low noise, and a bright fast flash, for an LED unit. The N97’s video recorder is also usable and its integration is great. The built-in FM transmitter is wonderful: no more cables just tune in and use the music on the roomy internal drive in your car, boat, plane, you choose.
The 3.5mm headphone jack is welcome, and something all smartphones should have. The N97 also is one of the first units from Nokia to exclusively have the micro USB jack for charging and syncing. Another standard Nokia feature is the Nokia Suite for syncing your phone to a computer. This was and remains the standard: fast, effective and unobtrusive. Also supplied is the new Ovi suite, which is more multimedia-based, and this was not very good. A Beta of the Ovi suite showed great promise, but was far too unstable for general use. My recommendation is to stick with the Nokia PC suite for now.

The built-in browser is also very good. I really liked the way it handles multiple pages when going back and forward; it is also fast and very usable. The ability to see flash sites is also rare, and welcome. Generally, web pages rendered well.

The N97 also has a range of built-in widgets and one of these takes you to the recently launched Ovi app store. The Ovi store, similar in concept to the Apple iPhone store, is really new and has a limited range of apps for download; the majority are not free and are rather expensively priced in Euros. Nokia are taking the store seriously, and while the current quality and range are questionable, I am sure that it will fast develop into something impressive.

In conclusion, I was very disappointed. I loved the build and the feel, but I am not sure where to start on the user interface. On other Nokia devices, such as the E series, it is a little dated and somewhat clunky, but overall very useable. On the N97, it is simply bad and it makes the device unusable for a busy working day. The user Interface is dated and completely inconsistent: sometimes one tap will work and other times two are needed - I never got to understand when. Gestures or flicking did not work, except in arbitrary applications.

Nokia need to beef up the processor, double the system memory and then, maybe, the N97 will come to life. This device will in all probability sell well, based on reputation alone. However, we at Gadget can’t recommend this over many other similar multimedia powerhouses.

LG P300 The Black Rose Notebook

It fits in an envelope, it is light and has a 13 inch screen, it is silver, mostly, and it also has a full size keyboard. The New MacBook Air? No way: it's the latest light compact laptop from LG, the ultra slim 13.3" Black Rose Notebook. STEVEN AMBROSE takes the new P300 for a road trip.

Various manufacturers have released a host of light, functional and good-looking laptops; there is the IBM X300, the MacBook Air and the Sony Vaio, to name but a few. The bottom line is that the road warrior, or any user, who wants a full-featured laptop that also looks good, has never had it better.

The just released LG is a surprisingly well-specified laptop in the ultraportable field. Most ultra light, sub-2kg laptops make significant compromises. The LG, at 1.6kg, has few. The first major compromise is obviously the size of the screen. With 10 to 12 Inches being the norm for sub-compacts, the LG has a 13.3 inch screen. The benefit of this is that, at the resolution chosen, which is 1200 x 800, most spreadsheets, documents and web sites are big enough for you to use the laptop all day. The smaller screens of 12 inches and below, which have similar screen resolutions, have very small text, and can result in eye strain after extended use.


The P300 screen is a LED-lit LCD, which simply means that the screen is lighter, brighter, thinner, and uses less power than a standard backlit LCD screen. The LG screen has a glossy finish which gives deep blacks and amazing colour rendition, but can be a little reflective in bright light.

What makes the LG special, even compared to the other models in this group, is that it incorporates the latest Penryn processor from Intel. The T8300 2.2GHz processor, which was released by Intel in January 2008, is also faster, cooler and uses less power than previous generation processors. The main benefit is that the laptop is very fast and has extended battery life, despite its speedy performance.

The P300 also has the latest Nvidia 8600M video subsystem, which is another first for Laptops in this space. The result, once again, is fantastic video performance. I tried a number of PC games and was extremely impressed by how well the laptop handled this type of content. DVDs are no issue and even simple video editing and web design is well handled. The laptop is also very fast and responsive in general use.

The firsts don’t stop there; the LG also incorporates Intel Turbo Memory. Turbo memory is the additional – in this case of 1Gb – memory which is built in and utilised by Windows Vista as a temporary cache for currently used data. This again results in a brilliant responsiveness, similar to what I have only seen in seriously high end laptops or workstations. Switching between programmes is very fast and loading programmes is very quick. The laptop additionally can be specified with a hybrid hard drive, which has a large built in cache of very fast memory, and this once again helps to make the laptop feel very responsive.


The build quality of this laptop, from the very cool but somewhat pretty top cover, is excellent; the keyboard has good travel and a very solid feel; the lack of openings in the base make the whole laptop feel very solid and well made. This impression of quality is apparent throughout: the included external DVD drive is a top of the range unit from LG; it is light and has a thoughtfully included USB cable, which pulls out from the drive, so no extra cables need to be carried.

The question is obvious: is this laptop the best of the bunch? Well, it is not cooler than the Mac, but it is faster and has far better specifications. It is much nicer looking than the ThinkPad, and is as well made as the Sony Vaio.

This LG really impressed on all fronts. It ran Windows Vista flawlessly, it went to sleep when told to and woke up fast, and really blazed through anything that I could throw at it. At no point did I feel short-changed when going on the road and leaving my high end Mac or HP on my desk at home. The LG made working on the road and out of the office a real pleasure. The battery life was very good at around 4.5 hours. The overall responsiveness and sheer power of this unit, made using the laptop a really great experience.

Finally, I had no reservations using Windows Vista, which is included as standard. Vista on the P300 never put a foot wrong; it just worked. The bundled software from LG, from the useful sidebar widget to the intelligent update utility, is unobtrusive and well executed, and useful. No bloatware included on this machine.

In summary, LG have hit the sweet spot with this laptop. If you are in the market for a light, small, full function laptop, you should put this one on your shopping list.

Steven Ambrose

Tech Specs

Processor Intel: Core 2 Duo Processor T8300, 3MB L2 Cache, 2.2GHz, 667MHz FSB
Operating System: Windows Vista Business
Chipset: Mobile Intel PM 965 Express
System Memory: 3GB DDR2(667MHz, Dual Channel Support, Up to 4GB)
Intel® Turbo Memory: 1Gb
Display: 13.3inch WXGA (Resolution 1280x800)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS (256MB VRAM, TurboCache Technology)
Hard Drive:160 to 250GB (SATA, 5400rpm)
External DVD Combo / DVD Super Multi Dual Layer (DVD-R/RW, +R/RW, RAM)
Wireless: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN or Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
WLAN Antenna: Hexa-band Antenna or Triple Hexa-band Antenna(Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Only)
LAN : 10/100/1000MB Ethernet
Bluetooth: Bluetooth v2.0+EDR
Webcam: 1.3M Pixel LG Smart Cam
Audio: - 24bit HD Audio, SRS WOW HD, SRS TruSurround XT
Security: HDD Security
Keyboard: Full Size 86Keys
Pointing Device: Touchpad with Scroll Function
Multimedia Card Slot: 5-in-1 (XD/SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro)
PC Card Slot: -ExpressCard/34
Input/Output Port :- 3xUSB ,RJ45 ,VGA ,HDMI ,HP-out, Mic-In, Smart Link, DC In
Battery: - 6 Cell (Li-Ion / 2600mAh)
Software: Pre-installed: Battery Miser, On Screen Display, LG Magnifier, LG Smart Cam, LG intelligent Update
CD/DVD Titles : Recovery Centre DVD, LG Intelligent Update DVD(Norton Anti-Virus, Drivers, Applications, Easy Manual and Easy trouble shooting Guide, IVT Bluesoreil), Power2Go CD
Size 315 x 236.5 x 21.2, 25.8, 32.1 mm
Weight:1.65kg

Absolutely fabulous tablet - for the right user

HP Compaq 2710p Ultraportable Tablet PC

In the Gadget world, reviewing PCs is always extremely difficult. We all have our own requirements and the plethora of options and models available from the various manufacturers makes an objective viewpoint a difficult task. HP recently released their flagship ultraportable convertible tablet PC, and it proved no exception. Steven Ambrose finds out what is cool in this HP Tablet.

The HP Compaq 2710p is an attractive and rugged looking convertible notebook with some ultra cool features. On the downside it doesn't have a very fast processor or an integrated optical drive, but as a result its battery life is fabulous and its LCD backlit screen is responsive and very high quality.

The 2710p is somewhat ruggedized, with a full magnesium alloy enclosure that gives the 1.6 KG unit a stylish, industrial look. HP claims that the glass screen top is chemically strengthened; the keyboard is also coated via special processes, in order to eliminate wear and tear. The hard drive includes a sensor which provides shock-protection for the data during a fall. The 12.1-inch, 1280-by-800, LED-backlit screen is very bright and viewable indoors or outdoors. White and other light colours on the screen look crisp and glare-free even in bright sunshine. Indoors, the screen doesn't have the same annoying sheen under office lights that some tablets can have.

The 2710p also works very well in the dark. There is a night-light on the top screen bezel which illuminates the keyboard so you can type in complete darkness if needed. This night-light is brighter than Lenovo ThinkPad models' ThinkLight and has a cooler design, as a spring-loaded barrel pops out of the centre of the upper screen frame at the press of a nearby button. To turn off the light, you simply push the barrel back in.

The basic unit, as supplied by HP, retails for around R16 995 and, as such, represents good value for the technology supplied. This price also includes a full three-year walk in warranty, and an inexpensive and highly recommended extension of the warranty to next business day, on-site, for around R1000.

There are a few key options offered by HP for expanding the 2710p. The test unit supplied did not include the ultra slim Expansion Base which costs around R2200; this base includes an integrated DVD±RW drive. An Ultra-Slim Battery (R1500) is also available. The battery slice attaches to the notebook first, and then the docking station attaches to the battery slice's pass-through connection. The base and the battery slice are each thin and light. The total weight of the 2710P, with AC adapter, standard battery, extra battery slice, and docking station was only 3.3 Kilograms – lighter than most standard 15.4 inch laptops.

The 2710p has a full-size, well-laid-out keyboard with a good solid stroke. For the mouse it includes a concave eraser head style pointing device that's easier to master than it looks, especially in cramped situations like economy class airline seats. There is no touchpad included, and this could be a negative for some users. HP’s similar 2510P laptop, although not a tablet, includes both a touchpad and the eraser head pointing device.

A touch-sensitive, backlit panel at the top of the keyboard lets you easily launch a presentation or control volume with a tap of a finger. Another cool bit of gadgetry is the integrated 2-megapixel Webcam, which has a macro setting that lets you photograph business cards and store them as contacts, using bundled software. Skype also found this camera immediately, and the quality was very acceptable.

Converting the laptop to a tablet takes only a couple of seconds; the lid rotates smoothly on its hinge and locks down against the keyboard with a gentle press. Tablet input is effortless and such fast, smooth input is crucial, because the 2710p has only two tablet shortcut buttons (both on the edges of the unit) and no auto rotation, so you'll be depending a lot on the pen to move around the screen.

The 2710p comes standard with Windows Vista Business edition, complete with tablet extensions. The performance of Vista on this unit was more than adequate. The review unit was not a speed demon, mostly due to the low voltage processor and the tiny 1.8” hard drive, which spins at only 4500 RPM. I did not however find this to be an issue at all for all my usual tasks, such as e-mail, web browsing, spreadsheets, and writing reviews. HP have wisely only made this model available in South Africa with 2 Gb of main memory, as they have found that this is the optimum amount for the best Windows Vista experience.

The overall tablet design is very good. Most of the features, such as the pen silo, the Wi-Fi switch, the fingerprint reader, one of the USB ports, and the attached optical drive, via the expansion base, are thoughtfully and conveniently located at the top. Pressing a small side button pops out the Wireless WAN antenna, for the optional 3G HSDPA card, for better reception. The build quality is impressive, and the unit gives the impression that it will take a good beating on the road and come back looking fresh.

For business users, the 2710P also includes some cutting edge security features. There is a sensitive fingerprint sensor, well placed on the side of the screen. HP also bundles a very functional and very comprehensive security manager suite, called HP Protect Tools, which controls all aspects of the built-in security, including the fingerprint reader and the embedded TPM chip. The TPM chip allows a level of hardware encryption which renders the unit absolutely useless if lost or stolen, as all data is as securely locked away as is possible using today’s technology. The setting up of the various elements of the security suite was relatively easy.

The battery life was outstanding, even when the notebook was not equipped with the additional six-cell slice attachment, lasting about 4.5 hours in our tests. The optional battery will add around an additional 3 hours, giving the Tablet almost a full day’s working without plugging in. The battery slice adds very little weight and size to the laptop, and is recommended if you do a lot of travelling away from the office.

In conclusion, the 2710p is not for everybody. If you require a tablet style laptop, the HP2710P is a very well-built, daresay almost a good-looking laptop. It looks far better than all the other dark grey and square HP business notebooks. The screen is very good and, once mastered, the tablet input is easy. Windows Vista performed flawlessly, with excellent letter and handwriting recognition and stylus functionality.

This unit is not for people who need a very powerful portable. It is, however, ideal for busy road warriors who need a light, rugged, and highly functional laptop that will not break the bank, or your shoulder, even with the optional battery and docking station.


Tech Specs

Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor U7600 1.2 GHz
12.1" Illumi-Lite, WXGA UWVA, anti-glare with Digitizer
Windows Vista Business
Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset
80GB (4200 rpm) hard drive
2GB basic memory + 8MB video memory
Intel HSDPA Broadband Wireless Network adapter as an option
Intel 802.11a/b/g
Blue tooth 2.0
SD slot, 2 USB Ports, VGA Port, Included Microphone, stereo microphone in, stereo headphone/line out, Firewire (1394a), power connector, RJ-11 Telephone connector, RJ-45 LAN Input
HP ProtectTools, TPM Embedded Security Chip version 1.2, HP Fingerprint Sensor, Symantec Norton Internet Security, optional Smart Card Reader, Kensington lock slot, HP Quick launch buttons, Win DVD – DVD Player
2.82 cm thin
Weight: 1.68 KG
-Steven Ambrose