Netgear DGND3700 N600 ADSL2+ / Fibre / Cable Router Review

Recently Netgear sent me their new DGND3700 router for review, which was very lucky as mine was playing up at the time.  Now on the face of it you might not think the arrival of a router for review would be anything exciting, in this case you could very well be wrong.  This model is one of the company’s top-end N600 range and it somehow manages to pack in just about every feature you could ever want in a router.  The big question though is, is it any good?

Let’s begin with the hardware itself, it’s a tall, slender and very attractive device with a WPS WiFi connection button, a very helpful WiFi on/off button and a USB port on the front and on the back another USB port, four gigabit Ethernet sockets, a cable/fibre connection, a DSL connection the power socket and a power switch.  Internally the features it boasts are many and varied.  They include WiFi connection speeds up to 300Mbps, parental controls, range extension with dual-band antennas, gaming support, guest access, a traffic usage meter and ADSL2+ support.

Plugging the router in and using it for the first time did present a few challenges however.  The administration interface is typical advanced router fare and doesn’t have the friendly simple modes of some routers these days.  That said there’s nothing here that isn’t sensibly laid out and labelled and each and every page has a help panel on the right of the screen with explanations of the options on that page, all written in plain language.  This will be a big help for many people.

Adding the login details for my ISP was simplicity itself and I only encountered a problem when I found I couldn’t see my network storage devices.  This was because they were set to a default IP of 192.168.1.x and the Netgear as default comes with 192.168.0.x so I decided it best to change this setting in the router.  It was simple to find and a quick restart solved the problem and all was well.

I should comment on the restarts with this router.  At no point during any router restart did the web interface kick me out or fail to refresh.  This is the only router I’ve ever seen that is this good at keeping the interface window open when it restarts, even after an admin password change.  This really is commendable and helps keep you working quickly and simply.

The amount of features on offer internally is simply huge.  One of the best features from my point of view is the WiFi setup which not only allows for separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks to ensure maximum compatibility, but up to 8 separate SSIDs, each with their own password and different guest mode settings.  This allowed me very simply to set up a basic Internet only SSID to prevent visitors getting access to my network backups and other attached computers.

Perhaps less effective are the parental controls.  You can block websites by name or content keyword which is very impressive, and disable network and Internet access on specific days and between user-specified times.  Unfortunately there’s no way to map these across to specific SSIDs, so you can’t, for example, block sites and content or turn off Internet access for the kids without doing it for yourself as well.  Hopefully this will be fixed with a firmware update.

The router is great with updates as well, checking for them whenever you log into it and installing them without booting you out of the admin console.  Quite an achievement.

Range and reliability are great and the router has proven rock-solid for me so far where my old ISP-provided one was flaky at best, commonly needing to be reset several times a day during activities such as gaming.  Just plugging it in improved my Internet speed too jumping from 5.4Mbps under my old router to just over 6Mbps, and I’m looking forward to trying it with the new fibre connection I’m having installed in a few weeks.  On the more technical side there’s a dual SPI and NAT firewall, WPA, WPA2-PSK and WEP WiFi protection, a powerful 400MHz processor inside and even Denial of Service attack protection.

I use a NAS drive for network storage but plugging in USB devices, for storage, sharing and media is a very simple affair, as is setting up specific port rules for gaming.  As I said, while the interface is a little technical, everything is very clearly labelled and help is always right there.

In all the Netgear DGND3700 is a solid all-round performer.  There are areas where it’s not quite there, but this can be said for any product really and with Windows 7 offering pretty solid parental controls itself, the lack of full control here isn’t a deal-breaker.

For the flexibility this router offers with connections, WiFi networks, adding USB and other devices, managing security, guest networks and the added benefit of full support for VPNs and range extension makes it a solid all-rounder.  If you’re looking for a powerful router for your home, or a business-ready model for the workplace it should be one of the models you seriously consider.  Recommended!

Blackberry Playbook Tablet Review

Last year I picked up an HP Touchpad in the fire sale that resulted in the model, and all of HP’s tablet plans, being discontinued.  Now RIM appear to be doing similiar with their Playbook tablet, with prices being slashed around the world.  You might think then that now would be the right time to pick up your first tablet, after all a great many people believe that tablets generally are just too expensive at the moment for what they offer.  I thought then that I’d review the Playbook and give my verdict as a seasoned tablet user.

I’ve used quite a few tablets in the last year, and indeed I now own three of them (don’t ask!) including the Touchpad and now the Playbook.  So which is better and how does RIM’s model stack up against the competition?

The Blackberry Playbook has a 7 inch screen, a 1GHz processor, 1Gb of RAM and comes with either 16Gb, 32Gb or 64Gb of storage.  It weighs a dinky 425 grams.  By comparison the HP Touchpad has a 9.7 inch screen a 1.2GHz processor, 1Gb RAM and either 32Gb or 64Gb storage, weighing a heftier 740 grams and the iPad 2, also with a 9.7 inch screen contains a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512Mb RAM, 16Gb, 32Gb or 64Gb of storage but weighs in at a much more reasonable 610 grams.

The Playbook does have certain advantages over the competition however which start with a micro-HDMI socket and include extras such as a touch-sensitive bezel, clearly labelled controls on the outer edge and two cameras, a 3MP affair on the front and a healthy 5MP camera on the rear.  This is compared to the woeful 1.3MP webcam on the Touchpad.  The battery life on the Playbook is also excellent, being a match for the Touchpad, but perhaps not the huge battery life of the iPad 2.

The screen is excellent but the resolution is only 1024 x 600 and this results in a fair amount of scrolling being necessary in order to read a full web page or document.  The included software bundle is generally speaking bog standard with apps for the camera, mapping (using the on board GPS which doesn’t work anywhere near as well as the TouchPad), music and music store, video (and YouTube), pictures, video chat (but only with other Playbooks which seems pointless), Calculator, Adobe Reader, Weather, Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail and Gmail (the last three are simply links to the relevant websites), app store and voice notes.  There is also DataViz’ excellent Documents to go for creating and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

I encountered a significant problem with my Playbook however in that these apps aren’t delivered in flash memory with the OS itself but are rather downloaded from the cloud and Rim’s own servers.  The update server was down when I got my machine and so for almost an entire day my tablet had nothing more on it than the web browser.  This is the achilles heel of RIM’s services as their servers do seem to go down with some regularity.  To have a hardware device that you’ve bought and paid for so tightly integrated with the company’s own servers is something of a worry.

The software is missing a few key apps.  There are currently no native email and calendaring apps (though these are coming later this month with the next OS release so this shouldn’t put you off buying one) and the machine and screen lock feature doesn’t work properly, it asked me for a password every time I turned the machine on even though I had told it to only lock after 30 minutes.  Hopefully this is something else that will be sorted out.

The app store is well stocked but not quite as well stocked as I might have hoped and it can be difficult and fiddly to navigate and find what you want.  I thought the app store on the Touchpad was fairly barren but the Playbook’s store is not much better.

With the OS itself I found some simple tasks, such as closing a browser window, took two actions where on other devices they would only take one, and the left-right swipe action needed to select a running app on the home screen to open was often over-zealous and swiped straight past the one you wanted.  Despite these niggles though the OS is certainly polished, very fast indeed and very responsive.  I really like it.

One of the problems I faced with my Touchpad was being unable to hold it in one hand when using it, it’s just too heavy and bulky for that, as is the iPad.  I was hoping then that a smaller 7 inch tablet would solve these problems.  Alas it’s still just a little heavy and left my hand aching between my thumb and forefinger after holding it for moderate periods.  Resting it on the knee doesn’t work too much either as it’s just too small for that and suddenly you find it’s too far away.  It can also get a little hot in extended use.

You might think then that I don’t like the Playbook and wouldn’t recommend it.  In fact quite the opposite is true.  For the problems and niggles there is also much to like.  RIM’s QNX operating system is very similar to WebOS in many ways, almost always in ways that make it intuitive and simple to operate.  It’s nice to see that RIM have put a great deal of focus on ease of use and they’ve certainly succeeded.

It is very small and light too, so if you’re looking for something to use on the daily commute this won’t get in the way and will be very comfortable to use in an airline seat too, where larger tablets can be too big.  I’d have liked to have seen a 3G/4G slot on something so portable, and this is a complaint I commonly make about tablets and laptops, but for these new super-cheap prices I couldn’t really complain.

It’s this new low price though that really sells the tablet to me.  In build quality, form factor and weight it’s every bit the competitor to Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet, but now it also competes keenly on price.  With that excellent screen it’s a very capable eBook reader but doesn’t have the Amazon Kindle-store-focused front-end.  If you’re after your first tablet you won’t get any better for the price.  If you want a tablet to use seriously though and don’t mind spending more, then you might be better looking at the available Android machines.

Which is the Best Tablet Form-Factor – Review

In the last year I’ve reviewed and owned a fair number of tablets covering just about every aspect of the market.  These have included the monster 12 inch ASUS EP121 complete with a Core-i5 processor and 4Gb of RAM down to my latest arrival, a 7 inch Blackberry Playbook.  But what is the best size and form-factor for a tablet?  Having used a fair few now I thought I’d share my thoughts with you on what the different screen sizes mean in terms of usability, weight and portability.

The first thing I need to say here is that personal choice comes into this in a sizable way.  I for instance like using large computer screens, 23 inch and above, on which I can see complete web pages and other programs and documents simultaneously.  I extensively use Windows 7′s Aero Snap feature which allows me to pin programs and documents to the left and right of my screen so that I can compare them.  That’s when I’m working however.  A tablet for me is something that I will commonly use lounging on the sofa or sitting on the train.  It’s purely an entertainment device and, currently, will only be used for checking my email, a little light web browsing and gaming.

Weight and portability will also factor in largely depending on your own personal view.  Some people won’t mind having a slightly larger and heavier tablet with them as they commonly carry a bag that suits it.  For other people who might carry a smaller bag, or dislike such things, then portability and even pocket-ability is a major factor.

In the image below you can see three different tablets.  The 11.6 inch EXOPC Slate running the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the 9.7 inch HP Touchpad running WebOS and the 7 inch Blackberry Playbook running QNX.  This will not be a review of usability of the individual devices and their operating systems, just of their size, weight and form-factor.  So which do I prefer and why?

Clearly if you are using a tablet for light duties anything above a 10 inch screen is going to make for a weighty machine that you simply won’t be able to hold comfortably in one hand.  The EXOPC weighs in at around one and half kilos and the ASUS EP121 was just as heavy, if not slightly more so.  I would say that these tablets aren’t for using casually or for travel.  They are for people who take their computing seriously and want a tablet they can actually do some work with.  I’ve seen people using iPads with docks and bluetooth keyboards on trains and it can safely be said this is by far the best way to use a tablet over the size of 10 inches.  In a way this actually negates the point of it being a tablet as it’s easy to argue that adding a keyboard to a tablet turns it into a laptop, or at least means that it suddenly isn’t a tablet any more.

So what of the 10 inch tablets.  Now this category includes many Android machines and also, most famously Apple’s iPad and iPad 2.  It is in this arena that Apple are on to a winner as weight does become an issue.  You might remember Steve Job’s address when he first unveiled the iPad.  Many people criticised him for resting it on his knee while he was working on it.  While this might have been necessary it still remains that the iPad and iPad 2 are two of the lightest tablets available in their class.  The HP Touchpad, seen above, is almost a third heavier than the iPad 2 and it shows.  In use I almost always have to rest it on something when using it, but as I’m usually relaxing on the sofa it doesn’t really bother me.

On the plus side, that 10 inch screen does allow me to see an entire web page or a whole document at one time.  There’s no swiping and scrolling around all the time so that I can read everything.  This is a huge plus for people who just want to be able to relax with their devices.  This form factor is really very portable too, though you’ll quickly notice the bulk when carrying it in your luggage for a trip away and for using it on a train.

One of the reasons that 10 inch tablets are more bulky is that this is the size of tablet that still uses the traditional 4:3 screen aspect ratio.  It’s very true that this allows you to see much more at one time, but if you’re after an entertainment device to, for example, watch movies then you will be using electricity to power parts of the screen that won’t be doing anything.  If you’re in an airline seat too this aspect ratio can get in the way and make what is in effect a small device suddenly feel bulky.

So it must be the 7 inch tablet then that wins?  Well, let’s not be too hasty as while these machines are certainly small and light, some will even fit in an ‘oversized’ jacket pocket, that small screen isn’t very suitable for today’s modern web browsing.  You will find yourself scrolling around a lot to read the information you want, though in portrait mode they can make excellent eBook readers, being the only tablets you can comfortably hold with one hand.

One major advantage of the 7 inch tablets is also one of their largest failings.  I feel with the Playbook that if I go out, perhaps to walk the dog, I want to take it with me and carry on web browsing while walking round the common or sitting on the bus.  Alas far too few tablets these days come equipped with SIM card slots and this is where these ‘mobile’ devices begin to fail.  If you’re after a tablet, whatever size you want, I would strongly advise getting one that’s 3G or even 4G enabled.  Mobile data costs are plummeting and a device such as this, unless you watch video on it, will use much less data in general usage than you might expect it to.

I firmly believe that all mobile computing devices these days should support mobile broadband, it’s a no-brainer given how we now work and play.  It is a shame though that too many manufacturers don’t include this, or charge significant premiums for it, when it’s such a cheap and accessible technology.  My EXOPC for example didn’t come with it, but the company fitted it for me for just £40 (around $55).

It’s this lack of portability on some 7 inch tablets that makes me ask why I should use that if I’m going to be tied to my home, why shouldn’t I use a 10 inch tablet instead?  For this reason I believe the 10 inch tablets are the overall winner, and clearly Apple believe this too as they currently make no other sizes.  If you can get a 7 inch tablet with a SIM card slot then I would advise to think seriously about it, but if a SIM card slot isn’t available, or is out of your budget, then 10 inch is definitely where the best value for money lies.

How RIM Spoiled my first day with a Playbook

I received a new Blackberry Playbook 16Gb tablet today, actually it’s not completely new as it’s two weeks old and was owned by a family member who bought it because prices had been discounted recently here in the UK.  She liked it so much that she decided she’d rather have the 64Gb one and bought that, giving me her ‘old’ tablet as she felt I was perhaps spending too much time with Windows (on this I did point out I didn’t own an iMac but this was just met with a “nice try” comment).

I was excited about its arrival today.  I already own an HP TouchPad that I picked up in last year’s fire sale and I love WebOS.  It is an extremely friendly and usable OS but, alas, sometimes the 10 inch form factor is a little large and the TouchPad weighs more than its equivalent iPad.  I was looking forward then to trying a dinky 7 inch Playbook and when it arrived I opened the packaging with scant regard for reusing it sometime.

When I turned it on I found that it was still logged-in with the user account of my relative, complete with her settings and possibly even credit-card details for the marketplace.  I decided then to start from scratch and reset the device.  Now you might ordinarily expect a “factory reset” to restore a computer to the point it was at when it left the factory, yes?  On any other device, for example my TouchPad or an iPad, an iPhone, my Windows Phone or any Android tablet a reset would set the machine up for you as you would see it when it was first unboxed, complete with apps for the camera, mapping, photos, music, videos, possibly file management, a few games and of course a web browser.

All I can say is that when I had finished the reset and had created a new Blackberry ID for myself the web browser was there.  I was very alarmed at this point to discover that everything else had been deleted, including all of the apps that you might consider “default” and a part of the operating system.  You can see this in the screenshot above (which I was fortunately able to take despite the camera app being absent).

After a mild panic I hit the Blackberry forums to search for an answer.  Here I discovered a great many people having problems at the same time with, usually new, Playbooks.  A phone call to the support department (at least Blackberry have actual Human beings answering a phone which is an absolute blessing) confirmed my fears, that the company was having yet another server outage, this time to the update servers, following a botched maintenance operation.

The support person informed me that the default apps weren’t on the flash memory in the device, but were instead loaded upon a reset from the Blackberry OS and software update server, which was down, and that as a result I’d been given a corrupt version of the operating system and would have to wait until the servers were repaired and try the whole operation again.

Currently the Playbook is sitting on my desk, switched off as it’s not quite heavy enough to be used as a doorstop.  These server outages at RIM are regularly reported and the achilles heel of the company’s desire to direct all traffic through it’s own closed and secure servers.  The last time there was a Blackberry outage it lasted for several days and affected every country worldwide.  On my very first day with any Blackberry device, here was the evil gremlin laughing back at me.

I’m not saying this isn’t a reason to jump back to my TouchPad, I’ve not turned it on today.  This is a major problem affecting RIM however and its one that is causing them significant problems with lost market share as the 21st century progresses.  I can live without my Playbook for a few more days, frustrating as it might be, but for RIM to survive in the long-term, server outages such as this one simply must be the exception instead of the rule.

Kinect For Windows Coming In February, Preorders Available

Microsoft yesterday at their keynote revealed that the company sold more than 18 million Kinect units for the Xbox 360 gaming console. Kinect, for those unfamiliar with, is a motion sensing input device that allows Xbox 360 gamers to interact with the system through body movement and their voice.

Kinect for the Windows operating system has been officially announced during that keynote, which will be available from February 1 on. Retail sites like Amazon are already accepting preorders, with the price tag set to $249.99, which is about $100 more than Xbox 360 users have to pay. A recent blog post on the Kinect for Windows blog reveals details about the difference in pricing.

The ability to sell Kinect for Xbox 360 at its current price point is in large part subsidized by consumers buying a number of Kinect games, subscribing to Xbox LIVE, and making other transactions associated with the Xbox 360 ecosystem. In addition, the Kinect for Xbox 360 was built for and tested with the Xbox 360 console only, which is why it is not licensed for general commercial use, supported or under warranty when used on any other platform.

No subsidizing, no license for commercial use and no support or warranty are the core reasons for the price difference between Kinect for Windows and Microsoft’s Xbox. Microsoft will offer “special academic pricing” later this year.

Kinect for Windows will only run on computers running the Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating systems, and on Windows embedded-based devices. Microsoft will not charge license fees for the SDK or runtime, which will be available for free (and likely included with the Kinect for Windows hardware).

Developers who are currently using the beta SDK with the Xbox Kinect unit may continue to do so until June 16, 2016. New projects, non-commercial and commercial alike, are not permitted to use the unit. They “require the fully tested and supported Kinect for Windows hardware and software platform”.

Kinect for Windows ships with a small USB cable to connect the device to PCs and supported devices. A new firmware for the Windows unit enables the so called near mode which allows the sensors to pick up movement as near as 50 centimeters in front of the device.

Verdict

If you are asking me, I’d say that Kinect for Windows will take a backseat in the beginning. The product certainly has its appeal for developers. End users on the other hand cannot really do a lot with the unit straight from the start. The product seems to ship without games or applications, and if you add the price tag and need for installation of the SDK software to it you end up with an unattractive bundle for now. This may change in the future when apps or conversions becomes available.

What’s your take on Kinect for Windows?

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2012. | Permalink |
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Is the Blackberry Playbook Fire Sale Beginning?

Of the biggest tech stories in 2011 it was difficult to beat the news of the HP TouchPad fire sale where silly prices resulted in queues outside stores and websites crashing around the world.  I was lucky enough to get a 32Gb TouchPad myself for a price so low I can barely remember paying for it at all.

Now after much speculation the prices of RIM’s Playbook 7 inch tablet are also beginning to crash with the 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb versions all for sale on the RIM website in the US for an equal $299.  It’s not clear why all models have been pitched at the same price but this presents a $400 discount on the most expensive model and is almost 50% off the cheapest.

I have spoken to several people who were either given or bought themselves a Playbook for Christmas simply because of the price, and all of them told me the same story as was heard when the TouchPad fire sale was on.  This being that the tablet is an excellent device for both home and work but that the price was simply too high before.

This is where Android tablets have a slight advantage, with the core operating system being free, but it’s a common trend because a tablet is seen much more as a consumer electronics device than a computer and, thus, people simply don’t want to spend PC money on something that will only be for light usage.  This makes complete sense when compared to the pricing of other “dedicated” devices such as the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

So what does this mean for the tablet market going forward, and what might it mean for Windows 8 where Microsoft will levy a charge for the core OS on each tablet sold.  Clearly consumers are speaking loudly with their wallets and saying that, overall, tablets are far too expensive.  There’s still a good market for tablets but at $400 each they’re too expensive for most.  While many people are anticipating Windows 8 tablets it’s very likely that overall sales will be sluggish, pushed downwards by tight profit margins and the high cost of hardware.  Apple too could see sales figures drop and the iPad become a high-end product, unless they choose to release a 7 inch version sometime soon that is.

It’s also a pity that two really great tablet operating systems now look set to be lost forever as the TouchPad and Playbook disappear.  Both operating systems, and some of the associated hardware such as the Playbook’s touch-sensitive bezel, were highly innovative.  Having lived through the all-exciting home-computing revolution of the 1980′s I can say that it was inevitable that the number of tablet operating systems on the market would dwindle, but competition breeds innovation and, as such, it’s always sad to see something go.

If you’re in the market for a tablet then it might be a good time to buy a Playbook.  In the UK the 16Gb and 32Gb versions can currently be bought from the Carphone Warehouse for just £169 and £199 respectively and it’s entirely possible that these prices might fall further and extend to other suppliers.  Keep an eye on these prices because if the TouchPad fire sale taught us anything, it’s that the final few days could come and go very quickly indeed, and once they’re gone… they’re gone.

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© Mike Halsey MVP for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2012. | Permalink |
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Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone Review

In the first year since Microsoft’s Windows Phone smartphones first launched I’ve tested and reviewed a fair few handsets and I’ve been able to get a good insight into how the operating system translates onto different hardware types.  Of the current crop of phones none have been more hotly anticipated than Nokia’s first outing with Windows Phone, the Lumia 800.

The handset that Nokia sent me was the black model that’s the first time come to market.  The Lumia 800 will soon be available in several colours including a very fetching pale blue.  It’s almost identical in the hardware to their recent MeeGo handset, the N9 and is very fetching too.  The glass expanse on the front that covers almost the entire front of the handset is extremely attractive and the build quality overall is of an extremely high quality.

Internally it’s a little better than other Windows Phones with a 1,400MHz processor, the usual 512Mb of RAM but a healthy 16Gb of storage.  There are also all the features you’d expect in a modern smartphone.  Externally the handsets sports a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen and an 8 MP camera with a Carl Zeiss Lens, usually the preserve of companies such as Sony, a a dual LED flash.

There is little doubt in my mind that the Lumia 800 is a thing of beauty and every bit as desirable as the Apple alternative, if not even more so.  When you actually live with the handsets though is the experience always as pleasurable?  I set about finding out.

The Lumia 800 has had a difficult birth.  When Microsoft and Nokia first announced their strategic partnership early this year there was a great deal of pressure already on the Finnish phone maker.  Their ageing Symbian operating system was failing in the market, their MeeGo platform with Intel was going nowhere and the company was admitting it was in trouble.  Nokia needed Microsoft as much as Microsoft needed Nokia.  This wasn’t a love-in, it was more like a desperate marriage to keep both parties afloat.

Despite a huge marketing campaign surrounding the Lumia 800 rumours have abounded of sluggish sales.  The company has also had to rush out a patch to fix an issue with poor battery life.

I was definitely looking forward to trying the Lumia 800 and have been looking forward to it for ages now, right from when I saw the first leaked images.

It’s a little heavier than some other Windows Phones, at 142g, and there’s not really any indication as to why as there’s not much more here than you’d find anywhere else.  Some people do like a slightly weighty phone though so they can feel it on their person.  It’s far from heavy though and will fit in a shirt pocket without sagging.

The screen is slightly disappointing.  It actually looks small under such a huge expanse of glass.  It’s lacking contrast too with whites looking a bit creamy on medium brightness.  Finally it suffers from the curse of all AMOLED screens with the live tiles in Windows Phone looking a little fuzzy around the edges if you get close.  The camera is a little disappointing too with images looking a bit washed out.  The camera with the Xenon flash on my Own HTC Mozart is far better and even the camera with an LED flash on the new HTC Titan is a big improvement over the Lumia.

I also have concerns about the USB socket.  This sits behind a plastic pop up flap on the top of the handset, next to the headphone jack.  The effect makes for a very clean outer but I can’t escape the nagging feeling that this flap will probably break over time, especially as you need to charge modern smartphones every day.The battery, like the iPhone, is non-removable but this shouldn’t be a problem for most.

It’s in the software though where this handset shines.  The Nokia Drive satnav app is by far the best addition with downloadable maps for most countries in the world available for free.  This enables you to use your phone as an in car or walking satnav without having to worry about maintaining a data connection.  This single app makes the Lumia 800 worth having on its own.  Elsewhere the custom Nokia software is less inspiring and mostly duplicates, though happily doesn’t replace, the in built Windows Phone apps for music and mapping.

So what do I think of the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone overall and am I disappointed?  In short I’m certainly not disappointed and I’m looking forward to using the phone in anger over Christmas and New Year.  It’s s perfect fit in the hand and very comfortable to hold when making calls, something not every Windows Phone is.  The software and hardware package overall is quite simply superb and the inclusion of a protectivive silicon rubber case and a low-profile charger means that for a first Windows Phone from Nokia I believe we can expect some very exciting things from the company going forward.

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© Mike Halsey (MVP) for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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