Review: Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107 Laptop

Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107 laptop with its 15.6-inch display offers a good variety of mobile computing along with multitasking facilities that can help you in your study and play activities. The laptop claims to ease up your job to efficiently handle your business at home or in the field, watch movies or play online RPG games.

Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107 laptop

It is claimed to be perfect for handling computing essentials at home, school or work. The diversity provided by this laptop offers you to surf the Web and download video, manage household finances or plan and study for the finals, at your own comfort with utmost speed and simplicity. Its high-gloss Fusion Finish in Helios Black gives it a classy and elegant look.

 What does Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107 offer to give?

 1) The laptop comes with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with a 6 cell/48Wh Lithium Ion battery pack;

 2) Claimed Battery Life (measured by MobileMark 2007): 5 hours, 31 minutes

 2) 15.6" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1366 x 768 native resolution (HD) with native support for 720p content and LED backlit, Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 64MB-1696MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory

 3) 500GB (5400 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk drive with TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor), DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 11 formats

 4) Configured with 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (max 8GB)

 5) Intel Core i3-370M Processor 2.40 GHz, 3MB Cache

 What customers say about this laptop?

 Pros:

 1) The laptop is quite fast and efficient in its functions as per the claims.

 2) It is quite light in weight and compact.

 3) Price: The performance, 500GB of hard disk and 4GB of DDR3 RAM at such low price makes it one of the most wanted laptops amongst the masses.

 Cons:

 1) The glossy finish is quite prone to getting fingerprint marks and smudges.

 2) It doesn't stand right to its battery life claim of 5.5 hours at all. On an average you may get around 2.5 to 3 hours of battery life per charge that too if you only use it for web browsing and usual Microsoft applications.

 3) May not be very apt to run Linux.

 Overall rating: 4/5

 Best Price and Availability: Amazon

 Check more details about this laptop here.

 Have you tried Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107 Laptop? Share your experience and opinion with me in your comments.

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10 Essential Money Apps for the iPad

Apple's iPad has taken the tech world by storm - released in April of last year, the company shifted 3 million units in less than three months and almost instantly snatched a 95% share of the tablet market. With Christmas just past, a new wave of consumers have been getting their paws on the must-have accessory. One of the first things a new Apple-device owner will want to do is load up on apps, but with nearly quarter of a million in the official store, it's not easy knowing where to start.


We've separated the wheat from the chaff to bring you ten of the very best money apps for the iPad, forming a great mix of handy finance calculators, bill tools and money-saving utilities... if you've just paid full retail price for an iPad, chances are you could do with a money-saving app or two!


Methodology: While we've tried and tested all of the below as well as taking into account popular press reviews, each of the apps on this list have been given an average of at least 3 stars reviews by 100 (or more) customers in the UK app store. Since we recognise that no product is infallible, to keep things fair we've listed the few flaws in these otherwise great apps for your consideration.


To download any of these apps, head on over to the Apple App Store on iTunes or direct through your iPad. This step-by-step guide explains how to download apps in more detail. You may also like to check out our top financial app picks for each of the three main smart phones.




1. PocketMoney
If you want a personal financial manager which not only looks great but takes next to no effort to run, you could do much worse than PocketMoney. Amongst its neatest features is the 'budget bar' panel, which shows a customizable visualisation of your outgoing by category; at a glance, you can see exactly where your money is going each month and ultimately identify areas for savings. On that note, PocketMoney is also good at presenting the 'bigger picture' - all your savings, accounts, investments and transactions are laid out in a concise manner. With this much control, it's little wonder that the latest version has been met with entirely positive reviews in the app store (and there is a lite version to try free if you're still not convinced).


Cost: £2.99


Pros: Push notification (which is free!), information and email summaries plus good functionality make this ahead of the game. There is also a Lite version available if you prefer to keep things simpler.


Cons: Can be slow to perform on 3G connection.


2. HomeBudget (with Sync)
Don't let the dollar symbol in the icon put you off - the latest version of HomeBudget allows you to set your region which updates your currency and date settings, so for the first time ever UK users can fully enjoy this old app favourite.


The app deftly handles recurring bills and income streams, all at the tap of the screen. All that's required is to enter your incomings and outgoings, and you'll be treated to a graphical breakdown of how your money is performing, complete with predictions on how much you can expect to have in six months time. It can track multiple accounts, too, and report exactly how much you're spending on certain things (such as food shopping) in both figures and easy-to-interpret graphs. Probably the coolest feature is the ability to sync it with any other device in the house, so your partner can see all the same numbers as they get updated by either party. Highly recommended, and will no doubt be instrumental in saving you money once you start analysing things on a more cognitive level.


Cost: £2.99 (free version available)


Pros: Superbly presented and requires little effort to implement properly. Syncing gets a big thumbs-up.


Cons: We experienced no problems, but some reviewers report glitches here and there.


4. Easy Books
Keeping track of multiple accounts is a chore at best and a potential nightmare at worst, especially for the self-employed. There are quite a few bookkeeping apps doing the rounds, but many of them are so convoluted we have to wonder whether it would be easier to do it all manually. Thankfully, Easy Books hit the app store at the end of last year and even in its early incarnation, it's a very solid app which performs superbly. It's the perfect antidote for people who find Sage too unwieldy as Easy Books can look after as much, or as little, as you want it to and doesn't require hours to set up. The invoicing system is pretty much perfect - a godsend for sole traders and small limited companies.


Cost: Free


Pros: Customisable to suit any business need and will undoubtedly save hours, particularly when it comes to repeat invoicing.


Cons: We really can't fault this one, but it's worth mentioning that it isn't intended for large companies.


5. The Wall Street Journal
As one of the most respected and widely circulated international dailies in the world, it's no surprise that the Wall Street Journal's official app is of superb quality. Rather than being a quick text-to-screen hash job, a great deal of attention has clearly been put into turning it into an excellent iPad translation. There's lots of interactivity in the pages, with videos, slideshows and other media coming alive at your fingertips. If you have a lot of interest in financial goings-on across the pond, the WSJ app will help you immeasurably in keeping your finger on the pulse.


Why did we go with WSJ and not the more UK-centric Financial Times? For one thing, the FT subscription fees are through the roof in comparison (a minimum of around £5 a week for the very basic online subscription, rising toanywhere up to £20) and while the content of FT is top notch, the app does not display it quite as deftly as its competitor.


Cost: Free (with $17.29/month subscription)


Pros: Extraordinarily well presented, an excellent source of financial news.


Cons: The £10 a month subscription fee is a touch on the steep side (but is still cheap compared to similar news apps).


6. PayPal


It's not an iPad exclusive, but it is fully compatible and an absolute must-have for any eBay addict or people who regularly pay funds to overseas freelancers. Plenty of people hate the whole PayPal system, but very few would be able to argue that the official app isn't a stroke of genius - with it, it's easier than ever to get funds where they need to go. Compared to the web counterpart we'd happily use this every time to complete transactions with just a few clicks, and if there's a more secure method of paying this efficiently we're yet to come across it.


Cost: Free


Pros: Effortlessly simple to process payments


Cons: Putting funds into your account isn't quite as quick as we'd like.


7. Account Tracker


There aren't many apps in the iTunes store which have received five star reviews from every single customer, but the current version of Account Tracker is one of them. Designed by Graham Haley, the same clever developer who created Meter Readings (below), this app is a flawless budgeting tool which has a number of strings to its bow - expense management, account tracking and much more. It's very reassuring to be able to survey your entire money situation at a glance, and there's very little you can't customise. It has all the features you'd expect from a great budgeting app, but it's the neat little touches that have earned this app 100% positive reviews (things such as alerts if an account is likely to go overdrawn.)


Cost: £1.79


Pros: Support for emailing, backing up and exporting data is very handy, as are the numerous security features.


Cons: All we need now is a desktop version!


8. powerOne Finance Calculator


An algebraic and RPN calculator, powerOne is a must-have for anyone working in the finance field. We're hard pressed to name something it can't do, since it covers ROI, conversions of every kind, compound growths, auto loans, profit margins, depreciation... oh, and it's a pretty good standard calculator too! Possibly the most amazing aspect is that you can, if you can get your head around how to do it, create your own spreadsheet-style templates for your own use or to share with others.


Cost: £2.99


Pros: Cheap yet all-encompassing.


Cons: Setting up complex templates is a bit like rocket science.


9. iCurrency Pad


How do you score top marks with a currency conversion tool? Surely they're pretty one-dimensional tools, right? Not so with iCurrency Pad, an app that can simply do the sums if that's all you need but offers much more. If you regularly deal with foreign currencies, having an app which presents you with beautiful graphs full of trending data is a very useful thing indeed. All of the information is uncluttered, easy to manipulate and super accurate (all exchange rates are updated by the minute). By far the best currency app out of the myriad available in the Apple store.


Cost: £0.59


Pros: Lots of lovely graphs.


Cons: With the latest version, a glitch sometimes causes the graphs to invert themselves.


10. Meter Readings


It's great on the iPhone, and it's marvellous on the iPad. Meter Readings has earned itself scores of notable mentions from numerous large publications around the world, and we're not hesitant in paying our dues either.


Closely monitoring your energy bills can save you heaps, but doing this is a real chore. Meter Readings takes the hassle out of this - enter all the data you have from your paper bills, then forever after you can tap in your current meter reading and the app will tell you exactly how much energy you've used (and more importantly, what it will cost you). Even better, those of us in the UK can use it to compare prices with other energy suppliers in your area, thus ensuring you're not paying over the odds.


Graphs showing energy usage (for gas, water and electricity) can be generated in an instant - it's interesting to see, for instance, how much you've used over the course of any given year. While the initial set-up can take a bit of time, it's effortless from there on. The concept is great and the execution is flawless, so for only £1.19 we'd be very surprised if this didn't become one of your favourite money-saving apps.


Cost: £1.19


Pros: Massive in its scope and easy to manage.


Cons: Paper bills still necessary during the set-up phase, which can be time consuming.


This article has been a guest post by Matt from http://www.money.co.uk/. The article has been shared by the publisher here. Check the Original Source here

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Review: Nokia X5 - Buy Cheap Nokia X5 phone online

Lately, Nokia has been in the limelight because of its efforts in bringing forth the new version of Symbian operating system (Symbian 3). However, this does not stop Nokia from using its Symbian Series 60 (3rd edition) that has powered all the devices in its much famous E series and lots of non-touch smartphones in N series.

The Nokia X5 aims very well to suit the needs of people who want a smartphone without the need of using a touchscreen. Even though Nokia X series has been marketed primarily as music and messaging phone series, its X5 offers all the facilities of a full fledged smartphone - right from its packing to the operating systems that run Nokia E72 and E5.

What does Nokia say about its X5 mobile phone?

The Nokia X5-01 is a unique square designed phone that is built for music and messaging. It fills the gap between the X3 and X6 by featuring a slide-out keyboard with support for high-speed HSDPA Internet and Wi-Fi connectivity. Users can snap photos with its 5.0-megapixel camera or listen to music from Ovi Music through headphones or loud speakers. They can spin the phone to switch to a new random track or shake it to view unread messages. The X5-01 also supports all the major instant messaging clients and social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Hi5. Additional features include a microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.1, and USB 2.0.

Customers' opinion on Nokia X5:

Pros:

1) A nice pocket friendly device, with lots of goodies that include regular Symbian S60 stuffs like Ovi store, free push mail, Ovi music and even a view only version of QuickOffice.

2) It supports 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

3) It is a square shaped phone with a wide screen display of 2.36 inches, which hides a nice spacious QWERTY keypad behind it. The design might remind you of Motorola Flipout. However, X5 is quite compact comparatively.

4) The phone is quite solid and feels good to hold.

5) Quite efficient in multi-tasking. You can easily run four out of five applications at same time without experiencing any performance issues.

6) Good battery life. The battery can run comfortable for two days, after which you will have the need to recharge it.

7) The display has accelerometer that provides a lot of possibility of regular smartphone tricks. You can change tracks by simply shaking the phone, or easily find the number of messages by holding the volume key and giving it a shake, after which the X5 will give a knocking sound to show new messages. Many of you may find this "shake to discover new messages" feature quite cool.

6) Since, it is marketed as a music phone; it has awesome sound quality along with the best XpressMusic handsets.

Cons:

1) Surprisingly no GPS.

2) A bit heavy in weight despite its compact size.

Click here to know more about the phone and its excellent deals >>>

Have you used Nokia X5 or X6 phone? Share your experience in comments. Thank you!

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Review: Brite-View Wireless Stream Uncompressed Full 1080P HD Beam to HDTV In Room Transmission Kit

Brite-View HDelight (BV-1222) 1080p Wireless Streaming Between your PC (or Blu-ray Player) and HDTV: 

What company claims about the product?

It wirelessly streams any uncompressed digital entertainment, which is available on your Blu-Ray Player, PC or on the Internet, including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and MLB, from your HDMI ready PC to the HDTV.

The product features Amimon's module with the WHDI technology, which can turn any HDMI ready PC to a home theater PC so you can break free from cable companies set-top box limitations. So, no need to wait for the "Intel solution" that limits you to certain laptops, or spend $500 to buy a keyboard that is actually just another netbook.

Now, you can enjoy full uncompressed 1080p at 60Hz HD wireless Beam-to-TV streaming using the built-in omnidirectional antenna system for up to 30 feet (line-of-sight).Just imagine the HDelight kit as a invisible HDMI 1.3 compliant connection.

What customers have to say about the product?

Pros:

1) The HDelight comes in two pieces, besides all the other cables in the box. It is comprised of a small transmitter which is smaller than the palm and a slightly larger receiver with the option of it being screwed to the back of the TV. The screws are included, and the attachment depends on user’s choice.

2) It has two HDMI cables which makes the attachments quite user friendly. The shorter cable is for the transmitter and computer. The larger one is for TVand receiver.

3) Easier set up. Neither you need to install any software, nor have to configure anything. Just turn on your computer and you can start beaming your extended desktop or a copy of your main desktop view to your HDTV.

4) The audio and video quality is flawless because everything is transmitted digitally.

Cons:

1)      Price can be a possible con of the product as the HDelight provides the same solution of Asus' wicast, which is $40 lesser than HDelight.

Check more details about the product here >>>

Have you used HDelight or Asus wicast transmission kits? Share your experience in comments.

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Preview: Motorola Atrix

The Motorla's Atrix that got showcased in CES 2011, in addition to being the most powerful of the smartphones available now, has the power to replace the desktops and laptops, when accompanied with some unique accessories.

The phone has a dual core 1Ghz Tegra 2 processor and 1GB RAM which is quite to comfortably playback (or output) 1080p full HD video. Include the optional accessories like the HD Multimedia Dock and you have Atrix working as a desktop PC that can power a large monitor and work with normal USB keyboard and USB mouse.

Apart from above unique features, the thing that makes Atrix stand out in the crowd is its Laptop Dock. The Atrix can slot a laptop dock quite neatly and can function all day for basic computing that includes multimedia, email, editing documents and web browsing. It has an amazing battery life of 8 hours. The phone is expected to be launched at initial price of $700.

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