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TrustedReviews Christmas List 2008

Author	TrustedReviews Team
Published	27th Nov 2008

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Intel SSD

It's a well known fact that the world likes nothing more than building something up only to knock it down and there have been few technologies less abused under this notion than Solid State Drives.

Heralded for much of 2007 as the end of our HDD woes, 2008 has seen their performance improve exponentially and their price decline with similar velocity. That said, 2008 is also probably the year some of the gloss started to come off as talk of data corruption, limited write cycles and poor real world speeds (particularly in Vista) began to make us think HDDs were not quite on the brink of extinction just yet.

Then came the Intel X25-M, a firecracker of a drive with vital screaming 250MB/s read times and a more than acceptable 70MB/s writes. We swooned, we drooled, I made my Christmas list early this year...

Of course - price drops or not - the X25-M remains horrendously expensive at circa £350 for just 80GB, so Santa will need to be kind (I've been a good boy this year - mostly). Still, this is my ideal Christmas and I'll happily take quality over quantity any day of the week. So that's one Intel X25-M please Mr Claus and you won't even have to worry about it getting rattles and bumps in your sleigh.

Apple 24in LED Cinema Display

Now when I said "I'll take quality over quantity any day of the week" for my Christmas wish that wasn't entirely true. With a 24in Apple LED Cinema Display propping up my Christmas tree I'll also accept both...

Now funnily enough I'm not the greatest fan of Apple computers (restrictions, restrictions, restrictions) but in the case of the 24in LED Cinema Display... well, just look at it. Dropping down from 30in means a monitor which won't bash hell out of my graphics card and while HDMI should've been on the menu DisplayPort is up to the job via an adaptor.

Then there's that screen and my baubles are twinkling: 'LED' is in the title for a reason. Instant on/off, power savings, wonderfully even backlighting, razor sharp colours and contrast ratios which bring the screen to life. Santa, LEDs are even mercury free so I'm even saving your reindeers.

Not being a Mac fan however means I'll miss out on the ingenious MagSafe connector which allows MacBooks to be powered and charged while sitting near or hooked up, though the trio of USB 2.0 ports will do me along with the integrated webcam, mic and speakers.

At £649 the Apple 24in LED Cinema Display is horrendously expensive, but hey Santa must next wish is free. Best of all, it's "coming soon" but with the annual sleigh delivery departing in little more than a month will it come soon enough?

Fix Software Flaws in iPhone OS

When asked for a 'Wild Card' entry I really wanted to dream up something suitably, well wild and non-technical and though a shiny new billionaire owner for my eternally-embarrassing-but-beloved Newcastle United would be nice I've gone for something even more ambitious.

You see I've already chosen one present from Apple, but in return I want it to do me a Festive Favour: fix all those irritating and blindingly obvious software flaws that hinder what still remains the best mobile operating system around.

You all know what I'm talking about. I want cut and paste and not just with reference to present wrapping, I want MMS - not because I use it, but because it will shut up the moaners, I want those darned Push Notifications already and video recording - if apps on jailbroken handsets can do it, why not the might of Cupertino? In fact, while I'm at it I don't think proper multitasking is too much to ask with my birthday only 12 days before Christmas - I'll take this as gift enough for both.

Lastly, the option of home screen 3G and WiFi on/off icons would lend my battery some Festive cheer.

So please Santa Apple listen to my final wish. I've not demanded more megapixels, video calling or even a humble microSD slot or FM tuner - just fixable stuff you should've done eons ago and you know it. Yep, I could've asked for Bill Gates to fill in his leisure time making Newcastle United his football dominating plaything, but somehow I get the feeling this is a bigger ask...

Latest 4 of 28 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

Ardjuna said on 2nd December 2008

@Xiphias: Yes, I was thinking of the DreamColour model... but then I'd have to buy an advanced security system to protect it against theft, and I'd never want anyone else... more

Wackywavinginflateablearmflailingtubeman said on 5th December 2008

"For a start, it looks stunning, as our recent Awards attested (though many of you disagree). Indeed, I will take this opportunity to challenge anyone to name a better looking... more

Ardjuna said on 15th December 2008

@Wackywavingetc.etc.: You ARE cruel, Sir :) But I can take it. I've seen worse.

Ohmz said on 30th December 2008

Whoa name change, but I'm back!

I wanted to do an update since I got two things on my list. :D

First off the Zune 120. Amazing piece of kit (OMG, is that a British term?) First impressions were very good, not as nice looking as an iPod, but still good nonetheless.

Build quality is excellent and it feels really nice in the hand. Solid, the glass and aluminum are really nice. Only problem is the glossy black!!!!

The Zune pad is much better to use than the click wheel. It's super intuitive and very responsive. Navgation through the device though is a bit of a pain as it takes too many steps just to play a song. When you start the player you have to select music, than the song and then for some reason you have to press play??? I have no idea why you have to press play after selecting a track, one would think it would just start playing automatically. Kind of annoying. At least the menus are big and bold, really easy to see, and the screen lock feature is a nice addon.

The Wi-Fi is a complete GIMMICK. I have never used it and find it of no interest, Microsoft should have put in stereo bluetooth instead, and noise cancelling.

The screen is big, bright, and beautiful. A joy to use for browsing my music and watching videos; although the only videos I watch are podcasts, don't care much for having my DVDs on there. I'm a little disappointed that the resolution isn't higher. I guess I shouldn't have looked at that iPod Touch before I bought eh!? I was actually contemplating the Touch. but I only had about $300 to spend, so it was a 120GB player versus a 16GB player, hmm....

Don't regret my choice though, although there is one downside to the Zune and that is the sound quality. Now I am not an audiophile my any means and I don't pretend to be, but I can definitly tell the difference between my old Walkman (see: http://tinyurl.com/582p7f) and the Zune. The sound is a bit flat compared to the Walkman. But it will suffice. I'll trade some sound for the massive screen, storage capacity and some other features my old player didn't have.

But one thing about file format suport, turns out the Zune doesn't support Microsofts' own WMA Lossless! Amazing, all my music was ripped to that and then upon syncing, it converted to WMA. Well done Microsoft, well done, *rolls eyes*.

The FM tuner, I'm glad to have you back! Sometimes I just want to listen to the radio for varieties' sake.

Podcast integration is really great as it seperates between video and audio; although I wish I could see them all at a glance.

Now to the software, it's slow at times and buggy at times (maybe time to but a new PC?) But I find it excellent. It's simple to use and keeps everything nice and organized. I haven't checked out the social much because the Marketplace is not here in Canada still!!!!! Wtf Microsoft? Release the player but not the store for it? But it's coming soon, they promise, *rolls eyes again*.

All in all a great player, if not this, almost certainly this http://tinyurl.com/8zy2el. I miss the exceptional sound quality, I really do, but the features make up for it. A good buy for $250.

I hope you guys get it soon over there, it really is nice and a great competitor to the iPod. I am hoping for a TR review sometime next year okay?

P.S. Ardjuna, I'm sure you've seen worse, I've seen Tony Blair in action! ;)

P.S.S. Got faster Internet too!!! Dad finally realised it was cheaper to pay for a faster speed with a 60GB cap than a 2MB plan with a 20GB cap, go figure! Damn caps!

Whoa name change, but I'm back!

I wanted to do an update since I got two things on my list. :D

First off the Zune 120. Amazing piece of kit (OMG... more

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