These cheap tablets range from under a £100 to around £170 but be careful.

• Smaller 7-8″ screens will require lots of scrolling around when viewing some web sites, a 10″ screen is the smallest sized display you should go for if you want to see web sites as they were meant to be viewed.
• Tablets sporting anything less than Android 2.2 can be severely limited in functionality – for example you can’t install apps on a memory card you have to use the meagre amount of built-in memory, the memory card is for data, photos and media only. Not all apps will run on versions of Android earlier that 2.1 either.
• Many of the cheaper tablets will feature resistive screens – these don’t support the two-finger zoom movement that has become synonymous with handheld devices and means you’ll have to resort to pressing keys on the device somewhere to zoom in and out.

At around £200, the 8Gb Archos 101 Internet Tablet is not cheap as chips, but it’s still around £150 cheaper than the cheapest iPad or Android 3 tablet so this places it firmly in the middle priced market sector. The build quality is good with brushed aluminium abounding and a good sized 16:9 ratio wide screen – this tablet is obviously biased towards media and, to be honest, this is Archos’ heritage.

Features abound

The 8Gb of memory is split into memory to run the tablet and a good sized pseudo-SD memory card for the installation of apps. This saves you having to purchase and additional memory card – it runs and works straight out of the box. There’s a built in adjustable stand too so that you can place the item at the right angle on any level surface. The HDMI socket enables you to connect the unit to your TV/monitor, whilst the USB hub allows you to connect a mouse and keyboard – we’ve got ourselves a netbook replacement that’s ultra-portable.

The forward facing camera serves as a decent quality web cam for over the Internet communications and the storage capacity can be further expanded with a memory slot. The sound quality from the well-spaced stereo speakers is pretty decent too.

Built-in Wi-Fi enables the tablet to connect to most G or N wireless home and business networks with strong WPA2, or the lesser WEP, security at upto 150 mbps. Range on the device seems pretty good too, connecting at good speed to my router two floors above me.

The Lithium Polymer battery seems to perform well, delivering plenty of usable time between charges with the wireless network adaptor continuously switched on.

I’ve never used it, but a Bluetooth connection facility is also available.

Internet browsing

My tablet’s primary function is as a test-bed for the web sites I build. The included Android browser is OK, but I’d highly recommend the Opera browser app. This is an excellent browser that can speed up your network browsing considerably over the built-in browser and provides lots of features that are commonly only available in desktop browsers. Furthermore, if you use Opera on your desktop then you can synchronise the two together and share your favourites and a whole lot more.

No Android Market

Strangely, there was no Android Market installed on the unit out of the box – the supplied AppsLib severely limiting the number of apps that can be installed. Why? Haven’t the foggiest idea. Anyway, to the rescue is ArcTools, a great utility that installs Google’s own Market application and a host of other standard Android apps that aren’t shipped with the Archos tablet. It’s highly recommended.

Once installed I found very few apps from Google Market that would not work on the Archos and all the apps upgrade as normal.

Quibbles?

Well…

• The screen doesn’t appear to be running at it’s native resolution for a start – the web site states that the screen’s resolution is 1,024 x 600 but there are artefacts on the characters suggesting that this isn’t the screen’s real resolution.
• The unit doesn’t always wake up from sleep mode properly – it’ll wake up but the screen doesn’t always illuminate. A couple of presses of the power button gets everything working properly again.
• Despite the 1GHz processor the performance can be a little tardy at times.
• A problem with a lot of these devices, not just the Archos, is that if you’re a fast typist the keyboard will not keep up with you. I’ve heard this compliant of the iPad II too, so I wouldn’t worry too much about this.

Conclusion

A little frustrating some times, it’s not as polished as an iPad for sure. However, having used one of the cheaper tablets and returned it to the retailer for not being fit for purpose, the Archos 101 is a decent tablet. My HTC Desire S mobile phone is altogether smoother to operate with fewer foibles, but the screen size is limited if beautifully crisp. If Archos solved the screen resolution problem and the device awoke from sleep properly I’d love it. As it is, it’s a great device for using whilst watching the TV, or in bed, and is a credible alternative to my netbook a lot of the time.

I’ve had lots of  companies that I regularly purchase services from sending me best wishes too – but they’re only reminding me that they’re there and trying to illicit an order some time soon.

Granted, one (Ebuyer) has given me free delivery with my next order which is very welcome – but that will still require me to purchase something in the next week to cash in. However, it’s the thought that counts and I am grateful.

However, star of the birthday presents from my suppliers must be BE broadband who has given me today’s broadband usage free of charge. Now it doesn’t amount to much financially because their monthly fee for unlimited broadband is amongst the cheapest (and most reliable) I can find, but it’s unconditional – they haven’t asked me to purchase anything, it’s a genuinely free gift from a supplier.

It’s little touches like that that make you want to stay with a supplier.

Well done BE.

Now, where is BT’s present. I’ve been asking them to cancel my 1571 answering service for months now so that I can use my own answering machine but no joy yet. You listening BT?

Join BE – I recommend it

If anyone’s interested in joining BE email me and I’ll send you an invitation. Once connected you’ll get a £15.32 credit on your account.

Load Google Maps, select Get Directions and plot a route from Lanzhou to Tokyo. There at instruction 29 are those fantastic words…

Jet Ski across the Pacific Ocean

Don’t believe me, here’s a screen shot from my computer…

Google Maps recommends you jet ski across the Pacific Ocean

“While the application you have inquired about is hosted on LinkedIn’s platform, the details you have inquired about were designed by our partner, WordPress. Based on our review of your inquiry, we expect you will receive the most accurate and up-to-date assistance from our partner. Please contact them directly.”

Right, so the creator of the WordPress plugin is going to know what my LinkedIn ID is and LinkedIn isn’t. As it happens, the creator of the WordPress plugin did know what my LinkedIn user ID was, it was my screen name – not the code embedded in the URL as I’d read elsewhere on the Internet.

Thanks LinkedIn; in my many years in the computer industry I’ve come across countless situations where one company has blamed another for a problem and vice-versa, but never seen a company tell me that another company could advise me better on their own product before – it’s a new one on me.

Back in 1982 I arrived in Porthcurno, Cornwall, fresh out of college and wet behind the ears. The attraction of Porthcurno? Apart from the fantastic beach, gorgeous blue water and weather, it was a remote Cable & Wireless out-station were people from all around the world came to learn about all sorts of communication equipment.

Well Porthcurno has just been awarded a great accolade – it’s one of Britain’s top ten beaches. But there’s more to Porthcurno than that.

Cliff-side theatre

Aside from the fantastic beach, there is the intriguing Minack Theatre which was built in to the cliffs by Rowena Cade in the 1930s. Whilst not being a mainstream theatre-goer, I recommend everyone attends at least one play there for the atmosphere. There’s nothing like watching HMS Pinafore with the wind in your hair and the Atlantic Ocean for a backdrop – no other theatre comes close.

Communications galore

The Cable & Wireless training college is now long gone, but before it was established as a place of learning it was one of the most important places in the world – so important that it was heavily defended during World War II.

Porthcurno, or PK as it was more commonly known in the communications world, was were many of Britain’s communications cables slipped down the beach, in to the ocean, and off to all corners of the world. Porthcurno was the centre of the Victorian Internet.

The sands shift nightly on the beach and often reveal their secret, armour plated submarine cables that will, at one time, have linked Britain with every continent on the planet. But it doesn’t stop there, about a quarter of a mile north of the beach is the Porthcurno Telegraph museum.

The museum traces the history of communications in this remote part of the United Kingdom and is a fascinating visit for the whole family.

Porthcurno – one of my top locations in England

Cornwall holds a special place in my memories. It is a special place and I suggest you book your trip now.

The WX-831 is actually a Ventus W831 and is shipped with Weather Capture v1.0 software. This software is fine for downloading the data from the station controller and displaying and graphing it on the PC, but it has no facility to upload this data to a web site. My old W2300 device had a crude web site interface, but any serious weather reporting needed additional software. I chose Weather Display and Weather Display Live to give a professional looking ‘live’ weather report from my location on my web site. This proved to be successful, but for the W2300 eating batteries like they were going out of fashion causing the ‘live’ reporting to be dead for many days at a time until the batteries could be replaced.

I was unable to confirm that the Weather Display software would work with my new W831 before purchasing it since it was an impulse buy whilst in their showroom, some 250 miles from my home, purchasing a transceiver for my new car so I had to research what web software would work with it when I got home. Searching for Ventus W831 weather software yeiled few useful results, but after much digging I was able to ascertain that my weather station was actually a Honeywell TE821W/831W and that it behaved, control-wise, in the same way as a Honeywell TE923W. Bingo, the Weather Display software supports this unit. I was also able to download manuals for the Weather Capture software from the Honeywell site, together with an upgrade to version 1.1. Furthermore, the Honeywell site confirms that the following third-party weather station software is also compatible with their units:

• WeatherView 32
• Weather Station Operating- and Data Acquisition Software

So, I now have a new weather station ready to be installed – all I need now is some free time? Wonder where you buy that from?

When I was a kid in the late sixties, the articles on the 6 O’clock news may have been days old – it took that long for film footage to get from the far flung corners of the globe to the BBC News studio. Now, I can be filming the news and transmitting it around the world with just a three second delay (providing I can get a phone signal, or course).

Qik is an online communications device that takes live feeds from mobile phones and makes them visible to the world. The application downloaded to my Nokia E71 phone in minutes, installed in a snap and was ready for streaming in no time – the most drawn out part of the process was waiting for the validation email.

Video quality can vary between low, medium and high (varying the images size between 128×96, 176×144 and 320×240 pixels respectively). The video can also be optimised for minimum dealy in the streaming and maximum quality, but this latter setting can result in viewers having the video pause every minute, or so, as the stream is buffered.

The E71 hasn’t got the greatest camera on a phone, quite poor to be honest, but I have to say that I was quite impressed with the result. I’ve only messed around with it at the moment, but I will be doing some more meaningful tests with it over the coming weeks.

The videos that are producted can be named, described and saved for viewers to watch ‘after the event’. This is great as it enables you to build up your own personal video archive. I’m not sure how much space you’re allocated for you archive storage, but will no doubt discover this soon. There’s also a facility to advertise forthcoming events that you plan to stream and to transmit your location with the stream so viewers can see where you are. If that’s not enough, you can post your streaming to your friends live using Twitter, facebook and a host of other social applications.

This is an application I can make use of and hope to do so during the summer. In the mean time, you can view my videos at http://ww.qik.com/g7lfc.

At home I’ve networked the family computers using a spare XP machine, dabbled with linux and tinkered with an old NT 4 server. However, I got a whopping surprise today – I setup a Windows Home Server which will not only allow my family to save their data on a central server, but which will also wake their computer up at midnight, back it up and then put it back to sleep again, enable shared media (video, TV, photos and audio) to played across the network by computers and media devices and allow them to access their data across the Internet from anywhere in the world. What’s more, they can take control of their computer and run applications from any worldwide location.

The thing is, it was all so easy to set up. It starts as a traditional Windows install, but once up and running it becomes a cut-down version of Windows 2003 Server SBE with a simplified user interface that either be controlled from the server’s screen, or over the network from any connected computer. Connection software has to be installed on client computers and user accounts setup on the server that match the username and passwords used by the family on their computers. A few simple tweeks of the shared folder access rights (nice and graphic, not like tradional confusing servers) and the jobs done. I’ve set my access rights up so that they can access their shared folders, read the contents of the media folders, I can see everyone’s personal folders and my wife can access the kids’.

Setting up remote access was a doddle. Choose a unique domain name (anything.homeserver.com), set up port forwarding for three ports on the router to direct access to the server, and that was it. How easy. Further more, I’ve set up user accounts for a few people outside the family so that they can store their important data on my server as a backup should their computer die and I have a really good functioning server.

Sure, I could have done this using Linux, but I’m not into Linux and can’t be bothered in learning how to use it. This just works and works well.

So, how do you get Windows Home Server? Well you can get ready-made home servers from the likes of Acer off the shelf, or you can buy the software and build your own server. My server’s a plain old 2GHz Celeron with 1Gb of RAM, a 160Gb and 250Gb hard disk (which the system automatically merges into one small partition for the system software and one large partition across both drives for the data – no need to DIY) and a case – that’s it, nothing special and the file serving performance ain’t that bad.

The backup facility is worthy of special note. I backed a client computer’s hard disk, about 5.5Gb worth, fairly quickly- considering it was going across a wire. Furthermore, it’s a full backup, operating system and all, complete with recovery software. It does daily backups (retained for three days), weekly backups (retained for three weeks) and monthly backups (retained for three months) of all the computers registered. This is a professional backup schedule – most home users are lucky if their data is backed up once a year. By the way, those retention periods can be adjusted.

What I can’t get over is how easy it was to set up. I’m converted, this is a great system and one that deserves much praise and publicity. Microsoft has really pulled something out of the hat here – why aren’t they shouting it from the roof tops?

You can obtain a 120-day evaluation copy free of charge from the Microsoft web site, or you can purchase the software (in OEM form – no support, with 10 client access licenses) for about £65 – £75 (inc. VAT) from the likes of Novatech, Aria, Amazon and other good computer retailers.

“We’re looking for more pure innovation than just incrementally getting better. It’s nice to try stuff where we don’t know if it’s going to work.”

I’d rather that future versions of Firefox did work please – I’m fed up of browsers that don’t work according to the W3C standards.

Today we looked at 4 of our sites which totalled over 2,000 visits between them since the 23rd October.

Search engine popularity

Interestingly, more visitors to two of our sites arrived there direct (by entering the web address in to their browser) than by using a web browser. However, by far the most popular search engine is Google with between 30% and 40% of users using it to arrive at our our sites. The nearest competitor is Yahoo with no more than 5% of visitors using it. Google rocks as a search engine.

Browser war

There’s no let up in the browser war and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still claims the lion’s share of the market – polling over 85% for three of our sites and 60% in the fourth. Of Internet Explorer users, it appears that the majority use Internet Explorer 7, only one site polled less than 72%. FireFox is the best of the rest with between 6.25% and 13% of the user base.

Has Vista woken up yet?

Erm, no.  Microsoft Windows failed to poll less than 91% of user base and of the Microsoft Windows users at least 91% used Windows XP.

Worryingly, several visitors accessed these web sites from their Windows 2003 server – a server should never be used to access public web sites. It’s mission critical network component and might crash, taking down the whole network, if the browser were to fail.

Despite the claims of Apple, the Macintosh doesn’t seem to have make much impact on the market place and, once again, this has failed to prove to be the year of Linux (every year we’re told that this is the year of Linux – maybe next year).

Screen sizes

800 x 600 pixel screens belong to the dark days of 14/15″ monitors and we had expected the number of visitors with these screens to be very small – however two sites polled over 30% of visitors with this size of screen and this highlights the importance of making sure our sites continue to be compatible with them.

We had expected wide screen LCD panels to figure quite highly since you can’t buy an old tube monitor now and we see loads of them waiting to be disposed of at the tip every time we visit. They feature quite highly, but the different resolutions available means it’s difficult to ascertain how many users there are – we would take an educated guess that around 40% of visitors to our sites use wide screen LCD monitors, or laptops.

Despite being old hat, there are plenty of 17″ tube monitors out there together with a sizable number of 14/15″ laptops. This showed through in our poll with about 30% of all visitors using 1024 x 768 resolution screens.

Test results

This is not a scientific study, but we believe our figures to be in line with those obtained by other studies.

Site 1 – www.beaufort.uk.com
Site 2 – www.sosradioweek.org.uk
Site 3 – www.blukangaroo.co.uk
Site 4 – www.sadarc.org.uk

Test result Copyright © 2008 – dynanti LLP. All rights reserved.