Review: Diskeeper 2011 Home with Hyperfast

There's not much 'fit and forget' software around, but Diskeeper 2012 Home (made by the company that created the Windows XP defragmenter) is one such product. It runs in the background to prevent files becoming fragmented, and it works exceptionally well although it's a little expensive. The Hyperfast moniker refers to the optional SSD defragmentation tool. Computeractive has just published my full review of this software.

The menus are mainly for show, as Diskeeper runs silently in the background with little need for configuration

TP-Link TL-MR3020 3G hotspot

If you need a very configurable portable 3G hotspot, the TP-Link TL-MR3020 could be worth a look. It only costs £39.99 and takes a 3G USB dongle. The connection is then shared via either Wifi or Ethernet. Read more about it in my First Take product news piece for ZDNet UK. or read my full review over at IT Reviews.

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Review: One For All URC-7962 Smart Control Motion universal remote control

The Smart Control Motion URC-7962 is an updated and improved version of One For All's URC-7960 Smart Control, which I reviewed In 2010 for Computeractive. I was very impressed with the original (and I still use it as my main remote), so was interested to see whether this revamped model could improve on features without compromising the excellent usability of the original.

The URC-7962 uses the same physical design and key layout as its predecessor

It still supports up to six devices, chosen via a selector button near the top.  It includes one TV by default, although it can be configured to operate more than one of each device by reprogramming these keys (how to do this is not explained in the manual, but in an ‘Extra Features’ leaflet at http://www.oneforall.com/uploads/support/94895ef5c3b567e510cedc42ab0233e9.pdf)

At first glance, the Smart Control Motion looks very similar to its predecessor, and the button layout is identical, although one or two have new labels, such as 'media' instead of 'game' for one of the device buttons, and 'www' instead of  'pop-up X'. But there are subtle differences. Instead of a black fascia, it's dark metallic grey and all-glossy instead of the half glossy/half soft-touch paint finish of the original - this new colour scheme certainly seems to hide fingerprints much better than the original.

The rear of the remote uses the same grippy soft-touch black paint. The keys are still hard rubber, but have a much more positive ‘click’ action than the URC-7960. The layout is superbly designed and the balance and weighting are just right, so you can operate any key without having to resort to using two hands (yes, Logitech, I’m looking at you). There are 41 keys in all, with transport controls and standard STB controls grouped together around the central 5-way navigation paddle.

One of my big gripes about the URC-7960 was the lack of backlighting for the keys - that’s now been fixed, with a subtle white backlight (is the blue LED craze finally over? I certainly hope so). This turns on for a few seconds when the remote is moved, or it can be toggled on and off by pressing the Magic key briefly. It can’t be left on permanently, though. The numbers and letters on the keys have been made larger to make the lighting more effective.

The backlight is a welcome new feature. And it's white, despite it looking blue here!

The URC-7962 uses One For All’s clever Simple Set procedure for setting up devices. This is a brilliant idea - press the Magic button for three seconds, choose the device type with the selector key, hold the number key corresponding to the device type and brand (from the table in the instructions) until the device turns off, and that’s it.

In most cases all the major controls should then be assigned correctly. If not, they can be tweaked by learning individual keys from the original remote. If the device doesn’t work at all, tedious manual code entry needs to be used. One For All also has a free Key Magic service where they will give you codes to program special keys that aren’t on the Smart Control. This service can also be used to program the URS-7962 to replicate a lost or broken remote, as long as you have the model details available.

Once done, the Smart Control buttons are available for controlling multiple devices. For example, setup the Watch TV button for TV and STB and it intelligently divides the controls between them - the volume works on the TV, channels on the STB. Additionally, another handy new feature lets you turn off all devices associated with that particular Smart Control by pressing the power button for three seconds. Of course, if they have stateless power toggles (like most devices these days) doing this can also turn them on.

There are 10 possible preset combinations spread over the three Smart Control buttons, but any unused Smart Control buttons can be programmed with macros - a feature that I belatedly discovered is also available on the URC-7960 (the details are in an addendum to the manual that’s only available on the website). Any sequence of key presses can be recorded (I programmed one key to turn off four devices) but frustratingly here's no indication in the manual how many individual macro steps are supported. 

The final headline-grabbing new feature is the motion control. Six gestures are supported that have different effects for different devices. The video below shows it in action, and although it works well enough it’s still a bit of a gimmick. The two features I found myself using most were the ‘flip’ that turns off all devices when you flip the remote face-down, and the double-tap on the side of the remote to mute a device. Motion control can be deactivated if needed.

This new model is a welcome improvement over the URC-7960, retaining its ease of setup, great design and quality feel, but adding enough useful new features to make it worth an upgrade. In terms of both features and ergonomics it outperforms many similar models costing two or three times as much (it's certainly much more ergonomic than the pricier One For All Xsight Light 6-device model, for example, and it's much better value than the similarly-priced but peculiarly-designed Logitech Harmony 300i 4-device remote). If six devices is enough for you, it’s one of the best value universal remotes out there.

Details

Model: One For All Smart Control Motion URC-7962

Price: £34.99 inc VAT

Manufacturer's website: One For All

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Review: Belkin Play N750 DB router

Here's the final instalment of my Belkin router marathon. The Play N750 DB is the top-of-the-range model, and the only one with Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports. It's a dual-band, dual-radio model with a 3x3 MIMO antenna array for the 5GHz radio, giving 450Mbps capability. The 2.4GHZ radio is a standard 2x3 300Mbps array. It's a rather odd mixed of advanced and basic features, and I had some problems with my VoIP system, as I mention in the review. This had all the hallmarks of a SIP ALG (application level gateway) incompatibility, but in the current firmware this feature can't be disabled. Belkin is looking into it.

To read my full review, including performance tests, head over to IT Reviews.

The N750 DB gets a glossy finish and a wobbly stand

Belkin users will immediately recognise the interface. This is the dual-band/dual-radio config page

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Review: Belkin Play N450 DB router

I'm working my way through reviewing three models from Belkin's latest range of consumer routers (the cable broadband versions, not the ADSL ones, which are a little more expensive), and the Play N450 sits right in the middle of this range (the Surf N150 which I reviewed earlier is the entry-level model). For my full opinion and performance results, hop over to Computeractive. Watch out for an upcoming review of the top-of-the-range Play N750 DB model.

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Review: QNAP Turbo NAS TS-419P-II

QNAP's TS-419P II is effectively an update to the existing TS-419P+ NAS enclosure, with a faster processor and a few other minor tweaks. As with most crossover consumer/SOHO NAS boxes these days, it offers a huge array of application servers and useful services that make it much more than just a file storage box. I've reviewed it for ZDNet UK, so pop over there if you want to see my full verdict.

The TS-419P II has four hot-swap drive bays

It supports dual Gigabit LAN for redundancy and fault tolerance

The QNAP Finder app lets you configure some basic settings

The web admin interface is not too bad, although there's a lot of jargon

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