Mac Mini (2014)

My trusty old 2010 Mac Mini is still going strong as the backbone of my network, however a few OS upgrades, a few more services for it to host, and it’s starting to creek under the pressure. I decided that as the current model was four years old, and was only the mid range version, it was time to upgrade. I decided this time to go with the top of the range, not the upgraded top version, the simple off the shelf top of the range. This meant that not only couple I walk into an Apple store and pick one … Continue reading Mac Mini (2014)

Sony PlayStation TV

Ever since the announcement of this little device last year, I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on one. For those of you thinking ‘what the hell is it’, I’ll tell you. Basically, this is a screenless, controllerless Playstation Vita. It’s a device that you plug into your TV via HDMI and when paired with either a Dualshock 3 or Dualshock 4 controller, will allow you to not only play your favourite Vita games on the big screen, but will also allow you to steam the contents of your Playstation 4 via the remote play function. The device itself is pretty small, … Continue reading Sony PlayStation TV

Three Home Signal

After being a Vodafone customer for many many years, I made the switch to Three early last year as they had a very attractive ‘All you can eat data’ sim-only contract. As it cost about the same as my 500MB package on Vodaphone, I decided made the switch. As I don’t use the phone as a phone that often, the poor signal at home didn’t really bother me as I could simply use the WiFi at home for my data needs, and could benefit from the unlimited data and faster speeds elsewhere. Apple then release iOS 8.1 with SMS relay and the ability to … Continue reading Three Home Signal

Official Xbox One Digital TV Tuner

As I was an early adopter of the HD TV, I currently have a huge 52″ 60Hz TV sat in the corner of my room, with a Standard Definition built in digital tuner. As I rarely watch live TV (as I tend to mostly steaming content), I’ve never been able to justify the upgrade to a TV with Freeview HD built in. I’ve looked at various PVR solutions, but again for the few occasions I want to watch a live channel in HD, it was hard to justify the price tag. Then Microsoft announced the HD Freeview digital tuner at just … Continue reading Official Xbox One Digital TV Tuner

Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter

  Being a fan of being able to plug in a pair of headphones into the bottom of my Dualshock 4 controller on the PS4, buying the Stereo Headset Adapter for the Xbox One controller was a no brainer. As I tend to need use my Tritton headset for late night gaming, I’ve had to turn down the TV when it started to get late and using the provided Xbox chat mic for my online gaming. This device allows me to plug any head/earphones into the 3.5mm jack on the bottom and direct all sound and chat via them. The controls … Continue reading Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter

Xbox One Wireless Controller – Titanfall Limited Edition

  It’s no secret that I love new shiny things, I love gaming and I love limited edition gaming shiny things. Over the last couple of years I’ve picked up the limited edition Halo 360 console, the Gears or War 3 360 console and have shelves of limited edition gaming ‘stuff’ all around my house. Last month when the limited edition Xbox One controller was announced, I instantly ordered having fallen in love with Titanfall at Eurogamer last year. As you can see from the below images, it’s simply an Xbox One controller inspired by C-101 Carbine assault rifle, which … Continue reading Xbox One Wireless Controller – Titanfall Limited Edition

Tritton Universal Kunai Wireless Headset

  With all the hype about the Sony wireless headphones for the PS4, and Microsoft’s headphones for the Xbox One, I decided to see if I could find something a little more universal. I had originally pre ordered the Sony PlayStation Wireless Stereo Headset 2.0 which provides 7.1 virtual surround sound, and also the Official Xbox One Stereo Headset, however, after a little research and cancelled them both. The cancelation was nothing to do with the products themselves, I just realised once the ‘new shiny’ hype had died down , I only occasionally needed to use headphone. This is normally … Continue reading Tritton Universal Kunai Wireless Headset

Belkin WeMo Home Automation Switch

Ok, I’m a geek, and the more things I can control from my phone the better. Well, that’s one reason I bought the Wemo switch, the other, when I sit down to watch a film, I tend to pour a glass of wine, recline in my chair, then realise I forgot to kill the lamp so I can get engrossed in the movie, with this device I simply pick up my phone, the kill the lights and enjoy the film…..ok, I’m a lazy geek. The WeMo has a very simple setup process, simply plug it into the wall, install the … Continue reading Belkin WeMo Home Automation Switch

Elgato Game Capture HD

  Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve become quite addicted to watching and capturing videos using the features on the PS4 and the Xbox One. There is something strangely voyeuristic about being able to sit and watch somebody play through a game, and I’ve found myself spending many evenings doing so. Last year, I picked up a AverMedia Game Capture HD C281 for recording my Xbox and PS3 footage and have had mixed results with it. When it works, it’s great, simply record footage to the internal hard drive, then either pop out the drive or copy to a USB … Continue reading Elgato Game Capture HD

Sony PS4

As I’ve spent the best part of the week playing on my new shiny Xbox One, I now have certain expectations for what a ‘next gen’ console should offer. There are obvious things like graphic and audio improvement over the previous generation, as well as an improved user experience.  There is also the social side of things I’m interested in, as It’s only been a week, and I’ve already got sucked into the social side of the Xbox One and found myself in the habit of flicking through the smart glass app on a daily basis and catching up on … Continue reading Sony PS4