So I bought  a new printer yesterday (actually it was a printer scanner and photocopier all in one). I don’t usually write hardware reviews here. I think I have done about 3 in the 3 years I have been blogging, this however has impressed me so much that it warrants one. I had been looking to get a new printer for a few months now and the final straw came when my current printer (an HP PSC 2175) failed miserably at being able to print borderless photo prints under Vista. So I decided to investigate my options. I was not looking for an expensive printer specifically in fact I was looking for a relatively cheap one but would be prepared to spend to get good quality prints. 

I initially looked at the Stylus DX8400 which is the predecessor to the SX400 and had received very good reviews.

When I went to the shop however I saw the SX400 on the shelf and pulled up a review of the item on www.trustedreviews.com via my phone, it sounded good and was in essence an improved version of the DX8400. The only thing they had a problem with was the price, that however had dropped a lot since the review (nearly 50% in total). 

I have been an HP man all my life and so for me to go to Epson was a big move but I had heard good things so I took a leap of faith (after 2 hours in the shop pacing around) and went for it, and boy I am glad I did. I got it home and set it up (which was really easy by the way) and decided to try printing a photo and just like that I had a superb A4 glossy print of one of my pictures. My old printer was good in terms of quality, well at least I thought it was until I saw the prints the Epson produced. It puts a 6 year old printer in the shadows a bit really.

It has a moveable colour LCD screen as well so you can easily see what it’s doing from almost any angle. The review did say however, that it was pretty noisy when it came to feeding the paper through, yes it is a little noisy but it is quieter than my last printer so that was good for me. Also it is stored in a wardrobe so that blocks a lot of sound out.  It has a multi card reader and USB slot so you can print direct from a card or camera (providing the camera is pictbridge compatible). It’s rated speeds are 34ppm for colour and black but those estimates are for A4 sheets in draft mode and even then I think it would be hard pressed to achieve that. 

The scanner is also very good, I placed a DVD case on the flatbed and scanned it at 1200dpi to really stress the system. It took about 7 mins but I ended with a 10MB jpg file at 10200 x 14040 pixels which is outstanding. It can go to 9600 dpi for scanning but to be honest I am not sure when or why you would want too?

All in all it is an outstanding item of hardware that prints excellent photos and scans just as well. If you are looking for a good quality yet affordable option the look no further than the SX400!

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Well I got the game I had been waiting for today. I pre ordered this game 98 days ago and finally it arrived. So far have not been disappointed. 9th in the series, Tomb Raider Underworld is a continuation of the 7th game (just to be really confusing) as the 8th was a special 10 year Anniversary game (hence the name Tomb Raider Anniversary).

As with all the games Eidos has taken the winning Tomb Raider format and improved features from all sides.

Differences from previous iterations in the series are that Lara’s environment will be an "interactive world that reacts and remembers", such that footprints left in the mud or mud transferred to Lara’s knee from kneeling on the ground will be washed away by rain, the bodies of the foes she encounters will remain where she killed them, and any destruction to the environment she causes will be permanent. According to creative director Eric Lindstrom, this is "to not only reward the player for the effect they’re having on the world, but to give them navigational aids.” The game uses an animation blending system that allows Lara to interact dynamically with her environment, such as pushing foliage aside with one or two hands, depending on if she is carrying a weapon. It also features a "hybrid lighting model that combines dynamic lights with carefully created light maps" and a weather system that changes the environment, for example, "If Lara’s negotiating a wet ledge she’s more apt to slip or lose grip," which makes "the environment … her adversary" for a large part of the game.

Wikipedia

These new features are all very apparent straight from the beginning of the game. I won’t go into too much detail as I am going to do a video (or written, depending on time constraints) review pretty soon.

It is a great edition of a series I love.

More soon!

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Information flowing from sources at the Redmond Campus have said that Live search will re-launch under a totally new brand early next year.

What we don’t know is what that new brand will be, although a few names have been thrown around. According to our source, a “final” decision has been made, but very few people inside of Microsoft are aware of it, and it could change.

Mike Arrington Techcrunch

However there is evidence that a site recently purchased by Microsoft, kumo.com is to be the name of choice. The word Kumo means “cloud” or “spider” which seems to me, that if it means cloud then it might be a better name for Microsoft Azure which is there new “cloud computing” initiative :-s .

Rebranding is a risk for an already poorly used search service in comparison to Google and even Yahoo!. However we have over time heard that Live.com will become purely a social network and personal productivity portal. So the rebrand and detachment of the search side could be the beginning of that.

No one will comment officially on the rebrand or even confirm if one is planned but sources connected both to Techcrunch and Liveside.net seem to say that it’s on the cards.

All this news comes on the back of Google releasing some new features  which will make it’s results much more wiki like. You can now promote results higher in the list or remove items completely. These of course are all specific to you and whatever you do will not be seen by others. See this screen shot to show the new features —–>

So we wait with semi baited breath to see what Microsoft comes up with!

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Today has been useful, I have managed to “bling” my blog with a Christmas look (if you are reading this in a RSS reader then go have a peek!!) as well as adjusting some of the coding behind the scenes and sped it up yet more!

However this work did not occur till later on in the day. The morning can be classified as MIA, it was very erm… relaxed.

I also have been looking at my blogging pattern and frequency and have decided that I am not happy with either. I had an aim to try to post an entry everyday  and that really hasn’t happened. Also my blog has been to random posts come through in fits and starts, this is not really due to lack of time (I like to think it is but it’s really not) and so I am going to look to address this issue, I will attempt to blog every 2 days initially  and then as I get into a rhythm I will look to increase that pattern so as I hit the new year I am at full speed.

Let the revolution begin (well something like that )

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I have been working on my blog today in terms of trying to cut down the load time of the site. I have done a lot to minimize it but I am hoping to cut it down some more if I can. During this work due to a few technical hitches, there was a little bit of downtime on the site or parts of the site. If you experienced any of these then I apologise. I have finished the work now until at least Thursday so things will be stable for now.

I am doing quite a bit of travelling next week so will be writing posts on the move!

I am just watching the space shuttle feed a the moment on www.nasa.gov they are pretty close to opening the hatches!!!

Have a good evening

A

Space shuttle Endeavour is fast approaching the ISS and is due to dock just after 5pm EST (10pm GMT).

Endeavour’s approach to the station includes a photo session. When the spacecraft is about 600 feet below the station, Chris Ferguson will fly the spacecraft through the rendezvous pitch maneuver. That nine-minute backflip lets the station crew take high resolution photos of the shuttle’s thermal protection system. 

After that he moves to 400ft in front of the space station and begin’s the final approach. Moving at a tenth of a foot per second towards the docking point. There is only a 3 inch tolerance for making the two parts of the docking mechanism meet during the proceedure so the slow approach is essential.

Once the docking is complete they will begin the two or so hour process to make sure the seal is flush and then they can open the door and greet each other.

Tune into NASA TV to watch the event unfold live.

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For years, STS-126 has been planned as the mission that will give the International Space Station the ability to support twice the crew currently living there. But since the most recent inspection of the station’s solar alpha rotary joint, it’s also become the mission that will ensure the station can generate the power those extra crew members will require.

Space shuttle Endeavour will launch in 2 days and 11 hours from now (7.55pm EST (12.55am GMT)) to carry out a 15 day mission in which they will service the joints that turn the stations solar arrays, as well as installing new equipment and delivering a new crew member. The Launch has been given a 60% chance of meeting “go” requirements on Friday, that falls to 40% on Saturday but then increases to 70% on Sunday.

A weather front that could produce thick clouds is expected to enter the region on Friday or Saturday, Winters said. Under certain conditions, the clouds can be thick enough to prompt lightning concerns.

A multi-purpose logistics module will be onboard Endeavour loaded with 32,000 lbs of equipment.

“It’s the most jam-packed logistics module we have ever carried up there,” STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson said. “We’re taking a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house and turning it into a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a gym.”

There are 4 planned spacewalks on the 15 day trip all of which will work on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) which, it has been discovered has a lack of lubrication so when the arrays turn it is causing damage. Metal shavings are being produced as the parts grind together which could lead to more damage being caused.

This takeoff is a little late for me to be up as I am working Saturday morning. A night launch is something special though so if you can stay up then do!

For more info on the shuttle mission head to www.nasa.gov