Tablet PC Comparison – What Is the Best Tablet PC to Buy?
January 26, 2012 | 
Author Tablet PC Comparison: Apple iOS vs Google Android
Although there are a number of different companies, utilising different operating systems (OS for short), now creating brilliant options for tablet computers, the chief tablet PC comparison for almost all consumers still boils down to the Apple iPad’s iOS and different Google Android tablets. So which choice of these two systems (or any other) is the correct one for your needs?
Look and feel: Most industry experts largely agree that Apple’s iOS works extremely well both as a smartphone and a tablet PC operating system. The system works very intuitively on the iPad – particularly if you’ve used an iPhone or iPod Touch before. The interface can be said to be iOS’s best benefit, which no other tablet currently on the market can match.
Apps: In addition to the look and feel seniority, Apple also have a major marketing point with their App Store. There are currently over 350,000 apps available to download for free or buy for a small price from the Apple Store. It’s a certainty that when a new app is created by a company or developer, the first version is for the App Store and after that it is ported to other platforms. However, Apple’s store is not the sole player in the arena – the Android Market is rapidly growing, passing the 100,000 apps mark in early 2011.
Android has one major advantage on the competition when it comes to apps: it’s far more open and has more of a laissez-faire policy to the Market, whereas the App Store exercises very tight controls on every application, particularly in regard to adult content. The Android market allows developers much more creativity and flexibility.
There have also been complaints from some developers about Apple’s rigid marketeering, with Apple requiring developers to remove any links from inside apps to the developers own websites. (The benefit to Apple is that they keep 30% commission from every app sale, whereas previously customers may have upgraded from free to paid version from within the developer’s own site.)
Hardware: One major difference between iOS and Android is that iOS is exclusive to the iPad, while Android is open source and is being used by a number of different companies. This effectively means that the iPad and iOS are joined at the hip – you can’t run the iPad without iOS. The iPad therefore has much more restriction of choice than other tablets, and much tighter pricing. However, those choices that are on the market are all good quality, and the hardware and software do work together harmoniously – crashes are very rare on the iPad.
Android, by contrast, is used in many different tablets from a large number of makers. From Blackberry to Samsung, you have a much wider choice of tablet PC to suit your budget and particular needs. However, you do need to do your homework. Some companies have customised Android and improved it, but some may not work as well and might still be based on older Android releases.
Conclusion
Right now, the iPad is still the most well-known and iconic tablet PC on the market. However, popularity is growing with a number of other tablet PCs. The choice is certainly good news for customers, who now have much more availability to get their exact requirements from a tablet computer. A lot of people still favour the Apple iOS, particularly if they have used other Apple products, but in the end it comes down to doing a tablet PC comparison yourself, by researching, checking them out, testing some in store, and selecting the one that feels like a good match for you.
The Advantages of Mobile Phones
There are lots of communications devices in the market and one needs to buy such a device, which has most of the essential functions in it. In order to buy such a communication device one should be aware of its advantages as well.
There are many websites, which provide accurate and up-to-date information about most of the latest mobile phones. If you have sufficient amount of money then you can buy some of the efficient communication gadgets. However, one should always buy handsets that have been made by reputed companies like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and many more.
Today, with the arrival of internet facilities, it has become quite easy to get information about various mobile phones. There are many websites, which belong to mobile phone retailers apart from the ones which are maintained by the mobile phone manufacturers. One can visit these websites to read the details about some of the latest communication devices. In addition, these websites also publish many reviews on good handsets. You should read the good reviews and enrich your knowledge on the latest mobile communication technologies like Bluetooth, GPRS and Wi-Fi.
Today, most of the mobile users like to have mobile communication phones, which are slim and sleek. If a handset is slim and sleek then the user can hold it in his hand quite comfortably. He can,therefore, keep on talking for a long duration. So when you buy such a handset then make sure that it is slim and sleek at the same time.
Those human beings who like listening to music can go for communication devices, which are specifically designed for enjoying music. Most of the latest music-centric mobile phones have got digital speakers, which let music lovers enjoy various kinds of music in an extraordinary way.
Such good communication devices should also have good memory power so that the users get store enough information in their day-to-day lives. Apart from this, one can buy mobile phones, which have good camera features. Most of the latest mobile phones are mostly multi-purpose gadgets, and are used for taking excellent pictures and video recordings.
The other advantage of buying fantastic handsets is that these, normally have an outstanding email system. And, indeed one should make sure that the kind of mobile phones being bought has an efficient email system. If you have got this feature on your mobile phone then you would hardly feel the need of using your personal computer.
It is not that one can buy a good mobile phone only if one pays a huge amount of money. If you are looking for buying a good quality gadget at a cheap price then you should try your best to make use of numerous offers on expensive communication gadgets. These offers or rather discounts reduce the cost of these expensive communication devices and thus, they save you lots of ‘priceless’ money.
Download Free Movie For Iphone – It’s Pretty Easy
Download free movie for Iphone has become the goal of many new Iphone owners. A lot for people feel that the fees by services such as Itunes etc are a little too high, so they would much prefer to download free movies for their Iphone. Here’s how it’s done.
You’ll find that there are thousands of websites offering to let you download free movies for Iphone, the only problem is that most of them really are not to be trusted. We’ve put together a little guide so that you know what to look out for:
Avoid any spyware/adware. A good way to do this is just to avoid any sites with annoying popups etc. These are the kinds of sites where any spyware will usually crop up, so while on your quest to download free movies for Iphone, avoid sites like that!
Find a site that does what it says. Trying to download free movies for Iphone can be trial and error at first, and you’ll find lots of sites that promise the earth and deliver zip. Easy ways to spot sites that don’t to what they say is to see whether they are upfront about things. If they tell you it’s free but then they try and charge you each month or something, it’s best to get out while you can.
Avoid P2P/Torrent sites when trying to download free movies for Iphone. Sites like these are really popular, but A- they are illegal, and B- they are hugely popular with hackers too, and are the main spreading grounds for viruses etc. If they can give you a virus that kills your computer, imagine what it will do too your Iphone!
Be prepared to pay-Paying doesn’t seem like the best way to download “free” movies for Iphone, but there are a few pretty smart companies emerging these days, and they really are your best bet. The way it works is that you would pay a one off fee to join the site, and once joined you have unlimited access to their whole database of stuff-this is often millions of files, not just movies but music and games too. The memberships are a reasonable price, usually something like $25 to $40, and for that you never have to pay for a movie or music again. Do you see now why they say that this is the best way to download free Iphone movies?
The Iphone is truly a great piece of technology, and what could make it better than downloading free movies for it? Happy downloading!
Free Reverse Cell Phone Lookup Websites – Do They Exist?
Is it really possible to run a free reverse cell phone lookup on the internet? Many of us have become disillusioned and frustrated in the past with websites which appear to offer free products or services online but in fact do not. Is this the case with cell phone lookups?
Firstly let us examine exactly what we mean by a phone number lookup. If you have in your possession a residential phone number but no idea who the number belongs to or what address it relates to you can use a “reverse lookup” service to find out those details. This can obviously be very useful in situations where you have lost contact with someone but still have a record of their phone number, or simply wish to verify who owns the number before mistakenly phoning the wrong number. There are many places you can perform such residential and business phone lookups online for free, including toll-free numbers.
However a problem arises when you need to run a reverse lookup on a cellular phone as the free directories do not contain any such numbers. Similarly they do not contain fax numbers as this information is only held by the carriers and telecommunications companies. Do these records exist, and are they free?
The good news is there are websites which claim to offer large numbers of cell phone numbers, but they are not free. These websites naturally have to pay for access to some of this information, and go to the considerable trouble of pulling all the various resources together in one place, and as a result you will be charged a small fee before you can access the lookup databases. However the fee is a one-off payment and with some websites you can run as many searches as you like once you have access, with others they offer a single lookup for a lower fee. The records they claim to offer include cell owner details, address history, carrier details, and the phone connection status. It is also worth noting that the databases offered by each company differ to some degree, but most include cell phones and often residential, business, toll-free, even pagers, and these websites say your searches are guaranteed legal and confidential.
In addition to reverse lookups there are also similar websites which offer access to information such as background checks and background reports, people finder databases, bankruptcies, liens, public records databases including births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoptions, sex offender records, police records, and much more. These sites operate in the same way, offering access to specific types of information for a set fee, however it should be noted that you will not receive access to such information as part of your cell phone lookup site membership.
I have seen websites claiming to offer free cell lookups, but they always lead eventually to the paid sites in the end, even allowing people to search for free and then charging to view the results. It is the sad truth that the only place where you are likely to find detailed reverse cell records is within the legitimate paid directories. In conclusion, the answer is no, free cell phone lookups do not currently exist. However if you really want to access such records then I believe paying a small fee is a price worth paying.
Reverse Mobile Look Up – Useful For Both Parents and Businesses
For parents, the uses of reverse mobile look up extend as far as verifying they are going where they claim, and talking to who the parent approves of. There are a growing number of instances where parents have been able to use reverse lookup for cell phone numbers to prevent wayward children from falling into serious trouble, and list is only going to get longer as time goes on.
The same tool that parents use to make sure their children are staying safe is used by businesses for a number of purposes. A bounty hunter might use a reverse mobile look up to help track down and apprehend a criminal suspect, and an employer might use it as part of a routine background check. Attorneys use them to contact witnesses, and estate lawyers use them to finalize a deceased person final will and testament. Reverse lookups can save a lot of time and effort to locate someone using other search methods.
Debt collectors, too, often make use of reverse lookup websites, where they can verify a person’s address before making preliminary contact via the telephone. In fact, all types of legal and financial institutions may have use for reverse lookups on a regular basis.
Whether you are a concerned parent, or a dedicated employee, the odds are very good that you will have need for reverse mobile look up soon. These conglomerate databases are pulled from all major telephone service providers, and made easy to search and retrieve the information you need using little more than someone’s cell phone number.
Depreciation – Useful Life, Or Economic Life
Depreciation is the definition in accounting for a reasonable estimate, in monetary terms for the devaluation of an asset over a period in time. Since most assets are capitalized on the balance sheet, in financial statements, the “cost of depreciation”, is provided as an expense on the income statement.
Many debates on depreciation are continuing in accounting circles, since it is difficult to establish what would constitute a “reasonable estimate”. It was furthermore accepted, until recently, that land and buildings cannot depreciate, but appreciates. Recent developments, however, have now proposed depreciation on buildings.
Tax “write-offs”, on assets complicates matters further, since prescribed statutory rates for tax deductions are higher than depreciation rates, thus creating variances between tax values and book values of assets.
It is my contention that asset accounting can only be performed thoroughly, with the assistance of an astute accountant. The accountants expertise, on fixed asset registers, accounting standards and firm grasp of tax legislation is vital.
Whereas tax writes offs on assets are higher, the trend in accounting is to depreciate assets in terms of its useful life, and not its economic life. The prescribed rate for a computer in tax would be three years or 33, 3%. (depending on the tax regime of the country).But a business could only use it for 6months and sell it as a scrap. This 100% provision for depreciation, as useful life, should be factored in. Office furniture could be utilized for 5 years, and then scrapped, but tax rates could prescribe four years, for a tax write off!
The rate that businesses would depreciate their assets at coincides with the economic life of an asset. So accepted economic life is useful life for business assets.
In not-for-profit organizations and other community establishments, such as churches etc. the picture becomes very confusing. Churches will retain assets such as furniture for up to 40 years. Even computers that businesses normally upgrade from 6 to 12 months are used for 3 to 4 years!
So if the useful life method is applied, in not-for-profits ,assets could have a depreciation rate as low as 2%. Accounting standards expect fair presentation. Depreciation rates, for not-for-profits and other community organizations,should be carefully applied.
No one expects a business owner or director, of a Not-for- Profit Organization to understand these concepts, just to ensure that at the very least, a proper asset accounting system is in place.
Acer Aspire 5542g Review
The Acer 5542G is the company’s replacement model for it’s very popular 5536/5536G series. The new model comes with an improved processor and a whole new Tigris platform. It was after more than a week’s wait and phone calls that I got hold of one Acer Aspire 5542G. From the moment I read the specification sheet, I have been very thrilled to get the machine in my hands. The specs boasts about a AMD Turion II 2.2 Ghz, 3GB DDR2 Memory, ATI 4570 Dedicated graphics card with a 512MB DDR3 memory and a quite generous 320GB Hard disk drive for a price tag of less than RS 34000, which is quite a tempting deal.
In this detailed review we will see how these specs meet the real performance needs.
Key features:
In this section, we will look in detail at the key components that makes up this laptop. I will also try to include as much specifications and details as available from the manufacturer’s source.
Processor:
Acer Aspire 5542G comes with the second generation AMD Turion Processor (AMD Turion II M500) clocked at 2.2Ghz which houses a 1MB L2 Cache. The Turion II M500 is fabricated using the 45nm technology. It belongs to the Caspian generation of processors and supports HyperTransport 3.0 and hardware virtualization.
The Turion is AMDs answer to mobile processors, which provides excellent performance while keeping the power consumption at the minimum. The Turion processors generates less heat compared to AMD’s desktop work horses that have a bad reputation in heat emission department. The Turion II being the next version of the decent performer Turion, it sets high expectations in terms of competing with the Core 2 Duos in the market. We will see how it scores in real performance when we benchmark it down the road.
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 512MB DDR3
One of the main attractions of this laptop is the graphics engine that lies beneath the hood. The Acer 5542G comes with a dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512 MB of DDR3 memory.
For those of you who are not clear about the difference between an integrated and a dedicated graphics solution, I’m adding a few words. An Integrated graphics solution (eg: the Intel’s X4500) doesn’t come with dedicated video memory; it eats up your system memory for graphics processing and thus the slower path between the system memory and the graphics engine causes the biggest bottle-neck when it comes to performance. Also the integrated graphics processor would be less powerful than a mainstream dedicated one in raw processing power. On the other hand, a dedicated graphics card will usually have a high speed dedicated video memory (eg: DDR3) which is coupled to the graphics processor. This removes the bottle neck and gives the card superior performance. The graphics processor on a dedicated card would usually support high-end effects provided by the latest DirectX and OpenGL APIs which gives the realism and visual-candy in the latest games.
The HD 4570 is a faster clocked version of the Mobility Radeon 4530/4330. It has a 64 Bit memory bus and comes with a 512MB DDR3 VRAM. The 512MB should be adequate for most gaming and graphics needs, unless you play in the craziest resolutions. (As rendering resolution increases, the more memory it needs). The DDR3 memory will meet the needs for the fastest and huge volume texture processing that modern games demand. However the 64 bit bus stands inferior to the 128 bit bus that most mainstream cards offer.
The ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 is based on the RV710 chip and it provides 80 stream processors. The Mobility Radeon also provides the video technology called Avivo HD that provides an on board 7.1 sound chip. The graphics solution also features a 2nd generation Unified Video Decoder that supports full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 streams. The 4570 graphics unit is capable of handling all video tasks including HD video decoding.
Display:
The Acer 5542G comes with a 15.6″ High Definition LED backlit TFT LCD display that provides 220-nit high brightness and Acer’s Cinecrystal display technology. The pure widescreen (16:9) display supports a maximum resolution of 1366X768 and provides a 60% color gamut. It has a high-def response time of 8ms.
Memory: There is nothing much to boast about a 3GB DDR2 800Mhz memory that comes with the Acer Aspire 5542G when compared to the current line of laptops many of which sports a 4GB under the hood. The 3GB is sufficient for most of the computing needs which can later be upgraded to 4GB. However the 3GB deal would appear reasonable when we keep the price tag of the Acer 5542G in mind.
Hard Disk Drive: Again there’s nothing jaw dropping in this department. But I would say that the 320GB that comes with the Acer 5542G is generous for most of your storage needs.
Processor performance and benchmark:
I was initially reluctant to switch from the Intel’s proven workhorse Core 2 Duo to the AMD’s Turion family of processors. It is a widely accepted fact that the Intel’s processor outperforms the AMD counter part, provided that both runs on the same clock speed; the main culprit being the lower L2 cache in AMDs. But my reluctance to move on to the AMD Turion II was swept away by the performance benchmarks. The AMD Turion II M500 2.2 Ghz outperforms the Intel Core 2 Duo 6670 2.2 Ghz. When AMD Turion II M500 scores a decent score of 1426, the Intel Core2 Duo 6670 managed to get only 1379, though the margin is not huge.
The Turion II M500 also scored higher in the Windows 7 performance rating with a score of 5.7 against the score of 5.5 of the Intel’s Core 2 Duo 6600.
The Turion II without doubt has improved it’s architecture dramatically compared to the previous generation Turion, which helps it to achieve a higher performance benchmark, while competing head-on with the Intel’s counterpart, even though AMD Turion II M500 houses only 1MB L2 cache compared to the 2MB offered by the Intel’s variants.
The AMD Turion II M500 is doubtlessly an excellent performer and is commendable for being the first AMD processor model overtaking the Intel Core 2 Duo along the performance lines, both of which are clocked at the same speed. Though the Turion II has only 1MB L2 Cache it brings excellent performance and computing power on a budget. The Turion II M500 processor gives the Acer 5542G with great number crunching efficiency, that was much noticeable when we ran tests involving compressing/extracting, Gaming and Video rendering using 3D graphics tools. The Acer 5542G showed brisk performance during daily computing, and the Windows responsiveness and multi-tasking were significantly quick.
Graphics card performance:
The Acer 5542G with the ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 with 512MB Dedicated DDR3 VRAM is not an exceptional performer in terms of the latest gaming standards. But very few laptops comes with a high end graphics card that meets the high-end gamer’s needs and those machines will burn a hole in your wallet for sure. The HD 4570 in the Acer 5542G is a decent graphics card to play a little older game titles in full detail whereas when it comes to the most recent games, you might have to tweak the detail level to a medium to get reasonable frame rates.
The Acer 5542G is an excellent choice for gamer’s on a budget as well as 3D Graphics designers and Animators.
I found the Acer 5542G delivering very smooth frame rates on Test Drive Unlimited even at the highest settings, though a video review of the Dell Studio 15 housing the same graphics card showed significantly lower frame rates in YouTube. May be the performance boost is due to the DDR3 Video Memory as well as the better number-crunching done by the AMD Turion II M500. The card fared really well in older titles like Need For Speed Most Wanted, Need For Speed UnderCover, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Crysis Warhead even at the highest detail settings with 1024X768 resolution and FSAA turned on. The Acer 5542G also delivered consistently playable frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator which is a quite resource hungry game, due to the presence of huge textures and extensive terrain.
Display performance:
The 220-nit high brightness display of the Acer 5542G, gives excellent display quality with good sharpness and contrast. It also delivers very good and accurate color reproduction (60% gamut). The viewability from sides is not exceptional, but is adequate. The only major disadvantage of the display is that it’s high glossy finish attracts glare. Hence it is not suitable while viewing against any direct light source.
Audio Performance:
The Acer 5542G sports a Dolby certified audio system. The Realtek chip provides 32bit audio decoding and provides SP-DIF and Dolby Digital output. It also supports Dolby Headphone and Dolby Virtual Surround modes. It means you will be in audio bliss, if you connect the Acer 5542G to a nice home theatre or high-end headphones.
The built-in speakers of the Acer 5542G clearly lacks the bass and was a disappointment during our tests. The sound clearly lacks the thump element in it. It doesn’t mean that the speakers are worthless. The speakers give you very nice high and medium range frequencies quite well. The audio volume levels were loud enough and will be adequate if you are not in the middle of a very noisy environment.
Battery:
The Acer 5542G comes with a 6-cell battery pack. It would probably disappoint you, if you are looking for a laptop with 3+ hours battery backup. The lower battery backup can be attributed to the modestly big 15.6″ display paired with the dedicated graphics card that can drain out quite a lot of battery power. With the screen brightness at low, I was able to obtain a 2 hours 50 minutes backup with no audio, video or games turned on. At highest performance setting, you can expect roughly two hours of battery backup.
Heating:
Being an AMD based laptop most of us who have used an AMD based sytem would have concerns about over-heating. Stay cool. The Acer 5542G handles heat well. When you use it for extended hours for your daily computing needs, it doesn’t generate any significant heat. I found the heat near the palm rest regions less compared to some other Intel based competing laptop models. The Acer 5542G has adequate ventilation at the bottom and has a vent at the back, that blows the hot air out. The fan steps into high speed the instant things start getting hot.
It doesn’t mean that the Acer 5542G won’t generate heat at all. The moment you start playing games, the rosy picture changes. Though the Acer 5542G’s body remained just warm, the vent at the rear end was blowing out really hot air, which obviously means heavy heat generation, though it gets displaced well. Though the Acer 5542G gets away with the heat quite well, it would be a good choice to get an efficient laptop cooling pad if you are into serious gaming.
Other components:
The Acer 5542G comes with a good DVD Writer, Bluetooth, Wireless LAN etc. These devices performs quite well and doesn’t seem to have any specific points worth mentioning.
Accessories:
The laptop comes with a nice backpack from Targus with Acer logo on it. The backpack has adequate space to carry some extra stuff in it while you are on the move. It’s build quality is good and provides adequate cushioning for the laptop compartment.
Conclusion:
Acer 5542G is a laptop that brings great value to those on a budget, who need excellent processing and graphics performance. I highly recommend it for all gaming enthusiasts and graphics designers, owing to the excellent performance of the processor and the graphics solution built-in. It’s powerful processor can meet most of the extreme computing needs unless your needs target the ultra-high-end like an i7. The Acer 5542G equipped with it’s Turion II processor competes really well with the Core2 Duos out there; no need for the ‘Will AMD perform equally well?’ question anymore. It delivers brutal processing power.
If you are an audiophile who would play music through the laptop’s built-in speakers round the clock, Acer 5542G may not be the best suit for you. If that is not a top-priority for you or if you have a nice home theatre/headphone, then the Acer 5542G gives you great joy in the audio department too, through it’s Dolby processing and digital outputs. It all depends on your needs.
The battery suits the home computing / gaming / designing needs. It’s 2+ hours backup can handle your presentation, on-the-go needs too, though a 3+ hours backup would have been more recommendable.
The laptop model I purchased comes loaded with Linpus linux operating system (command prompt only) and eliminates the Windows dependency, which helps the Acer 5542G keep its price down. You might also get a version with Windows pre-loaded but for a higher price tag.
Pros:
Excellent processor
Excellent graphics for designers and budget gamers
Good Looks
Quite sturdy design
Good Audio processing and digital out
HDMI
Cons:
Built-in speakers do not match the good audio processing and lacks bass completely
Glossy screen difficult to work with in direct light
Volume control keys could have been softer to touch
Arrow keys needs refinement
Pricing and final words:
This laptop is available in India in many online shopping websites at a sub RS 35k price tag. I got hold of one for RS 33700/- (approximately 717 USD) through a local dealer. With such reasonable price tag and compelling set of features, I strongly recommend the Acer 5542G.
The Pulsar Digisight N550 – Digital Night Vision Riflescope
The Pulsar Digisight N550 is unlike any other NV rifle sight on the market, as it relies on digital technology and infra red illumination to enhance the image instead of traditional NV Gen 1 or Gen 2 image intensifier tubes.
The green image normally associated with NV devices is not present in digital units as the N550 does not use a green phosphor screen, the image instead appearing on a sharp black and white LCD screen. Green was commonly thought as the most effective colour for the human eye to view at night, so it would be interesting to find out how the N550 image compared.
Scott Country first saw the N550 in the “flesh” at the Tackle and Guns Trade show in Stoneleigh and we were lucky enough to be one of the first in the UK to put it through its paces..
N550 LIGHT-FREE TUNNEL TRIAL
We had heard great things about the N550, and we were excited to see if it lived up to our expectations and couldn’t wait to try it out. UK Distributors Thomas Jacks had access to a custom built light free tunnel for the afternoon, so we put the N550 through its paces.
The dark tunnel consisted of a long blacked out tunnel with a range of targets to acquire at the far end of the range, this was ideal for testing a Night vision device.
To get a comparison we tried a Gen 1 + Riflescope to see how it performed, and using the Built In IR I could easily make out the rabbit shaped targets and it performed as expected.
Eagerly we mounted the N550 to the plastic dummy stock, and I raised the eye piece to my eye and what I saw was a revelation. The image was sharp and defined with a depth of clarity that far exceeded my expectations.
The best way to describe the image is that it is like a crisp clear CCTV camera image, but in black and white.
The N550′s built in reticle can be cycled through various profiles, and I chose a traditional cross hair, and practised lining up for shots against the rabbit targets. With the built in IR turned on, the N550 could easily pick out targets in the light free tunnel, giving virtually daylight quality images.
N550 SET-UP
Setting up the N550 on a firearm couldn’t be easier, with the adjustable dovetail fitting most rifles from 11mm dovetail to weaver. As part of the ongoing product development for the N550, Pulsar will shortly be releasing their own reticle design software, which is currently in its BETA stages.
This will allow the user at home, to create their own bespoke reticles for their requirements. You can then have a reticle for a 25yard range onboard an air rifle, or a mildot reticle for 200m lamping foxes at night. We at Scott Country have been testing the new Pulsar software and are offering a free of charge reticle design service when you buy a Digisight from us.
Zeroing is simplified using Pulsar’s one shot zero system which allows you to adjust the reticle position using a single live shot. I found this very easy to use, and although I needed two or three shots to convince myself it was zeroed correctly, it’s certainly a way of saving ammo.
Most people find gauging distance at night is particularly difficult and this poses a problem when zeroing conventional NV riflescopes.
I have found this a problem in the past using a Gen 1 device at night, but with the Pulsar N550 the one shot system makes this easier, although with the N550 being resistant to bright light exposure, you can use it in the daylight also. This is great news for zeroing during the day before you go out lamping at night.
THE N550 IN THE FIELD
Taking the N550 out in the field for the first time was an exciting prospect but there was little in the way of quarry about, primarily due to the awful weather.
It was a very dark and gloomy night with almost 100% cloud cover so no hope of starlight to assist the unit, I wondered how it would fare. As there wasn’t a rabbit to be seen I set up a target at 100m and turned on the optional IR flashlight (or so I thought) and looked through the eye piece.
I could easily see every detail and blades of grass and twigs were clearly visible.
I reached to turn off the optional IR Flashlight to see how the built in IR compared, to find that in fact it was turned off!!!
The unit was performing this well already without the IR flashlight!!
With the optional IR flashlight on I actually found it overpowering at air rifle ranges, the image was so bright I had to look away for a moment. Looking at trees with nesting crows over 200meters away with the IR flashlight on this time, I was stunned at how clear the image was, and it blew a Gen One riflescope out of the water.
I have only ever used one Gen 2 riflescope before, and the N550 was easily comparable at less than half the cost of the Gen 2 unit. I spent a bit of time with the N550 handheld as a viewing monocular, and my Yukon MPR capturing footage at various distances and throughout an evening to see how it performed.
Watching pigeons flighting to roost was fantastic, and as I lay still and motionless a badger cub ran past me and I managed to catch sight of it as it went through a hedgerow.
I was most impressed as the clock got close to 11pm and I sat and watched some rooks nesting in trees, which were easily 250 metres away. I could see them clearly and watched them getting ready to bed down for the night, just as they were spooked by a rifle shot in the distance and flew off again.
N550 FUNCTIONS
The functions of the N550 were all very easy to operate at night and I could change the reticle, adjust the brightness, focus and zero with the touch of a button.
The SumLight function of the N550 is operated by push button and switches the N550 into enhanced sensitivity mode, this was particularly useful with the mist closing in.
Some time ago I tested a riflescope that could take pictures of what you were shooting at when you pulled the trigger, well the N550 goes one step further.
Being a digital night vision device the N550 can output a video stream to a mobile personal recording device such as the Yukon MPR, allowing you to record your night’s hunting.
THE RESULT
The Pulsar N550 Digisight offers a true night vision riflescope with the capability of day light use which is ideal for those of us who dont have two rifles. No need to switch between day and night scopes, or having to add on a bulky NV add on scope device.
Offering clear and precise viewing out to 250meters with the IR flashlight, the N550 is ideal for vermin control on centrefire rifles, as well as for hunting small ground and roosting vermin with air rifles.
The Best and Easiest Way to Fix a Blown Out Speaker
Stereo speakers are built to last. Every time you turn them on they are submitted to abuse and punishment, even more so depending on the type of music you listen to. For example, music with heavy bass shakes everything in your home. Imagine what is going on in the speaker cone.
Even the best, quality stereo speakers are bound to crackle from all of this abuse over time. When that happens, you may have the chance to save yourself some money by repairing those broken speakers instead of buying new ones.
It all starts with finding the problem causing the sound problems. It can be an enclosure damaged or maybe it blew out from an electrical or thermal fuse. Problems with the voice coil are a common problem, sometimes the crossover network is faulty and even problems as easy as a solder connection can be the cause of your problems. Whatever your speaker issue maybe, it can be fixed. Here is a breakdown of how you can repair a speaker that is blown out.
The first thing you need to do is figure out which speaker is giving you problems. You can easily do this by playing around with the stereo’s equalizer. Alter the balance and the fader to isolate the speaker causing the distortion in sound or if there is no sound at all. Be sure not to have the volume blasting or you run the risk of blowing out a good speaker.
Once you’ve figured out which speaker is the bad one, you now need to take it apart. Try to do this step carefully because you don’t want to cause further damage to a part which is working fine. Remove the faceplate of the speaker and then gently loosen the seams of the speaker’s fabric without tearing it.
Now that the speaker cone is visible, you can begin repairing it. Have some tape or glue handy since this is what you will primarily be using if the cone of the speaker is punctured or torn. You’ll want to make sure the hole or tear is completely covered before moving on to the next step.
Test the voice coil to see if it is damaged in any way such as if it melted at some point for example. If there is even the tiniest of gaps in the coil, no sound will flow from the speaker or it will sound extremely distorted, depending on the size. If you see that the voice coil is indeed melted, then just replace the speaker entirely.
If you’re going to need any replacement parts, now is the time to order them. They can either be found directly from the manufacturer but they can be expensive or from stereo specialties shops. An often overlooked fact is to know the part number or numbers of the pieces you are looking for. They are normally located on the inside of the speaker or backside of the cone. Doing so will make your life an awful lot easier.
Now that you have all parts you need to properly fix the speaker, take a look at how the damaged part is attached to the speaker. Once you remove the broken piece, you are going to need to install the new one the same way.
Now that you are all completed putting the speaker back to together, the only thing left to do is test to see if all your hard work paid off. Hook it back up to the stereo and test it at a low volume slowly turning the volume up to see if it can handle. If the speaker is still not working and you feel like did everything correctly, take it to a professional and let them fix it from there.
How Do I Connect My Bluetooth Phone To My Computer
Your first question might actually be, why would I want to connect my bluetooth phone to my computer? It is a great way to transfer photos, mp3′s and other files from your mobile phone to your computer without the purchase of cables that only work with one phone or expensive software for a specific phone.
How do I connect my bluetooth phone with my computer? First you need to turn your phones visibility on. Most phones you do this by going into the menu, settings and they should be an option for “connections.” Bluetooth will or should be under your connects, like I said this is for most phones. You need to first make sure your bluetooth is turned on. Next you need to turn on your bluetooth’s visability.
As far as your computer goes. You either need a laptop/tower with bluetooth build in or a bluetooth USB adapter. You can generally get a bluetooth USB adapter for less than $30, and these are very useful and can be used with multiple phones, which is great about bluetooth.
After you have your bluetooth USB installed on your computer, then you need to sync them together. The easiest way that I have found to do this is to do it from the phone. Under your bluetooth settings under your phone, they should be an option to search for new devices or to pair it. Once your perform the search it should find your computer. Select to pair it with your computer. It will ask you for the passcode on the phone it should be “0000″ that is four zeros. You should get a pop up from the system tray on a windows machine asking if you want to pair your bluetooth with this device. You need to tell it yes and it will ass for the passcode, which again is four zeros “0000.” You should then be ready to use your bluetooth enabled phone with your computer.