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Senin, 16 Februari 2015

KitSound Swing Alarm Clock FM Radio Review and video.

KitSound Swing Alarm Clock FM Radio

 I couldnt wait to show this to you guys, as I know so many of you love the retro 60's & 70's home-style products that are making a huge come back right now. We had an old record player in exactly the same colours as this adorable KitSound radio...infact I think my parents still have it.

But whatever reason you love this design, its simple clean lines and variety of colours means this adorable Swing radio will fit right into any home!

I have reviewed quite a few items from KitSound over the last year and I know I always get excellent quality sound and build. (See above) So I just couldn't wait to get my hands on this adorable radio.

At KitSound they believe your music deserves to be listened to on great quality products that doesn't cost the earth. That's why they are constantly fine-tuning their headphones, speakers etc so you can showcase your music at its best.
Click after the break for my full photo and video review of this gorgeous radio.





You have the choice of 4 colours, blue (which is more of a minty green), cream, black and red my favorite out of these four great colours.



Packaging
As usual KitSound have made the effort to produce bright, stylish, packaging so it can easily be used as a gift. They have the knack for showing a great product image and then a snippet image of how good it will look in a home.

In the box you get;
  •  KitSound Swing Radio.
  • Mains adapter in matching white.
  • Detailed user manual.



1960's called to say they want their radio back!

Description
As soon as you set eyes on this radio you are transported back to the swinging sixties, of mini skirts and rock and roll. I really appreciate and love this retro feel.
The red leatherette casing and off-white plastic front brings timeless charm combined with its back-lit blue modern LCD screen which is elegant, bright and fun. Along with KitSound's excellent electronics and design you have a beautiful radio for any part of your home or to keep with you at all times.

At 179mm long, 72mm in depth and 115mm height the Swing is a perfect size for anyone's home. Its isn't too much in your face and isn't too small to lose sound quality. This radio is small enough to be unobtrusive yet bright enough to add a classic addition to your home. Perfect for dorms, students bedrooms, kitchens, garages infact absolutely anywhere. Bung in some batteries and take it to the park for a picnic as its both mains and battery powered....its such a clever little thing!

Main features
  • Alarm Clock.
  • FM Radio.
  • Multifunction control panel.
  • Easy to read digital display with back-light.
  • Mains and Battery powered (4 x AA batteries not supplied).
  • Carry handle.
Specifications
  •  Frequency Response: 60Hz -18KHz
  • Drivers: 65mm
  • Output power: 2W
  • Weight: 630g
  • Size: 179mm long, 72mm in depth and 115mm height.



The front of the radio is elegant, uncluttered and framed by the most gorgeous bright red leatherette. 

This follows through onto the 2cm thick handle with neat contrasting white stitching as it would have been done all those years ago; finished off with a white plastic hinge. This swings neatly backwards when not needed so not in the way. 


The front has an easy to read 5cm x 5cm square LCD screen which when turned on has a lovely bright blue back light. Kitsound headphones not included but dont they look fab.

It has a large 1 inch long silver power-on button which has a responsive touch too; perfect for those with dexterity problems or us girls with long nails.

 Matching chrome/silver KitSound logo badge.

 Chrome Swing logo etched onto the front this gives a lovely quality feel.


The six 6.8cm chrome speaker strips gives the speaker its elegant retro design. I absolutely love this.

 Just to remind you that you also get a clock, alarm clock, date and room temperature in either Fahrenheit or Celsius.
Turn on the power button and you turn on your radio with the right-hand image, click again and you will get the stand-by mode on the left showing your date time and temperature.
The lovely bright blue backlight stays on for approximately 8 seconds perfect for night time music playing.


The top of the radio is where all the action is, with an off-white plastic circle of buttons set into a square that frames them.
Here you can set the time, date and the alarm where you even get to have a snooze! When on your radio screen simply click scan and it will automatically scroll through all your local radio stations, when its found one you like; simply click the preset number then set and your ready to rock! Plus you have up and down volume buttons; back, forward and skip tracks arrows when you are using your phone or MP3 player.

 The back of the Swing radio is also in the off white cream plastic and has your battery compartment, aerial and clip to keep it out the way also the speaker hole allowing the air pressure to equalize on both sides of the speaker.

 The back shows your Auxillary in port and mains 6V DC port.


Using the Auxillary-in cable (not included) you can also plug in your phone, Ipod or MP3 player and use the Swing as an external speaker. It was great to be able to listen to my own music when I didn't want to listen to the radio.


The chrome aerial adds a great finishing touch to this radio, it extends smoothly out to 14 inches high as you can see from the images above and then folds back and out the way when not in use.


Its even finished off underneath too right down to the 4 white rubber feet that are then set into white plastic feet.


Please take a few minutes to see my video mini sound clip to see just how good the sound quality is..see this baby in action.


Opinion
From getting this baby out of the box it has that excellent quality feel to it with the bright red well stitched leatherette covering the sides. This adorable radio isn't just a pretty face...its easy to set up and I didn't even need to look at the manual; the scan button does all the work for you in finding your FM channels and you only have to press the set button to save them...simples..! Each channel had perfectly crisp and clear reception with no crackles whatsoever.
The sound quality is just amazing and you can crank-up the volume to almost full; but the Swing is more comfortable if you can stay just below 27/30...anything more you can get a bit of distortion. But this can also depend on the volume of your device when listening to your phone or ipod etc.
The sound is warm and rich with crisp trebles and fab bass which I certainly wasn't expecting...so I'm a happy bunny! I also loved the extra bonus of seeing the temperature of the room its a nice added extra to the screen.

I have been enjoying just relaxing listening to the radio while surfing my favorite sites snuggled up with a hot chocolate; doesn't it make you feel homely and cosy.

I can honestly say this is one of THE best radios Ive ever owned and Ive had alot in 30 years. Im so impressed with the sound quality, I love the retro design and it looks amazing wherever I put it; either in the kitchen, bedroom, lounge, dining room, Ive even taken it outside for sounds while feeding and watching the birds it fits absolutely anywhere. Personally I feel this would make a personal statement in any home but in particular the kitchen it just seems to want to live there.

I would 100% recommend this adorable radio as everyone has loved it from kids to teens, even my parents who are in their 80's loved it. I know what my Dad wants for his birthday this year. 
This gorgeous affordable radio will make the perfect gift for anyone of any age and fit seamlessly into the design of any home. It has character and fun all of its very own.





Pro's
  • Alarm Clock.
  • FM Radio.
  • Multifunction control panel.
  • Easy to read digital display with back-light.
  • Mains and Battery powered (4 x AA batteries not supplied).
  • Portable and convenient.
  • Practical carry handle.

Con's
  • None - Except everyone wants to borrow it.


You can buy your
 from Amazon UK and many larger superstores
For £35


All my thanks goes to the lovely girls at KitSound Uk for sending me the Swing free of charge for an honest unbiased review. This page and my video is not sponsored and all my views and opinions are my own.


I have reviewed quite a few items from KitSound and KitVision over the last year; see HERE for my summarized gadget page from my Valentines special which has links to each of these reviews or simple scroll through my full gadget page HERE.




Minggu, 15 Februari 2015

My Valentines Day Pandora Charms #1

 My Valentines Day pressies.

I don't usually show you guys what I get for Valentines Day as its very personal to me; but I'm so excited as I know many of you collect the Pandora silver charms; so I wanted to share my new charms with you all.


 I got up yesterday to find these 2 gorgeous Pandora bags wrapped in a pink ribbon from the best guy in the world who knows exactly what I like.
I love my gadgety things but I also love a bit of girly bling too. 


 
At Christmas he bought me my very first Pandora Charm bracelet and charms (above) but I hadn't got around to showing you yet.


Here are my silver bracelet and charms I got for Christmas. The 4 silver Pandora are charms on the top row. 

The last charm is one of my favorites; a rare discontinued Pandora dinosaur and I just had to have him...well just look at that face!


The Reindeer, crystal bee and flower & trowel are from Soufeel in Hong Kong. It was the very first time I bought from out of the UK and was worried about customs. Everything arrived within 10 days well packaged in gorgeous bags, jewellery box and pouch.


 I got these 2 gorgeous pressies today for Valentines day.

 The adorable Home Sweet Home charm and the Hearts safety chain; 2 really special charms for me as I'm a sentimental old fool lol!

  My collection.

My Pandora and Soufeel charms so far.
Today is part one of my silver charm collection as I will be doing regular posts with closeups and details of every charm I have so you will get to see them in gorgeous technicolor closeup.

Do you collect Pandora or any other silver charms; which are your favorites and why, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for popping by.


Sabtu, 14 Februari 2015

Project PI part #2 Choosing the case.


This is part #2 of my new Raspberry PI 2 Build.
 
I wanted to choose a case for my new Raspberry PI 2 but wanted something different rather than just a standard shop bought PI case...although...thats perfectly ok too! There are so many gorgeous cases out there but they can be a bit plain and I wanted something more unique after-all it is Gadget Girl.

My other half has a wonderful collection of Sinclair micro computers a gorgeous museum to how computing all began....yes we can remember these and its so nice to see a full collection and growth of the computer industry.


Here is the wall of just some of his computers; so its now seeing if there are any spares he wont mind me cutting up...destroying...er...I mean gently modding!
It would be fantastic to combine both modern and vintage technology!

Although I don't think he'd let me sacrifice his ZX80 as his owned it for 35 years it would be the end of Gadget Girl....steps slowly away from the ZX80... ;-)
As its Valentines Day I need some serious grovelling so off to bake him an Apple Pie; a pie for a PI.


He also has this gorgeous mini ZX Spectrum phone case; wouldn't this be the most perfect PI size case for it...ok...I know...apart from all the static and fabric fibers so no, I cant use this unless I put it into a small plastic PI case first; but this would be just tooooo simple.


 If you missed my introduction post of Project PI #1 see here. I will be adding regular updates on this new Project PI series from start to finish! I want to bring you all with me.

Project PI #1 Introduction.
Project PI #2 Choosing the case.
Project PI #3 Introducing the new ZX 3.14.
 Project PI #4 The Build
Project PI #5 Finished Build
If you building or have built a Raspberry PI 1 or 2 Id love to hear from you.
Bye for now






Rabu, 11 Februari 2015

Project Pi my NEW Raspberry Pi 2 #1


I simply couldn't wait to share my new Project Pi with you all...Im buzzin...!

My fully water-cooled PC.
Ive been interested in computer technology for over 30 years and helped my other half to put together my water cooled PC I'm using right now..images above. But Ive always wanted to build one completely by myself. So when I saw that the Raspberry Pi 2 had been released I just couldn't resist.


The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is the new version and literally only came out this month and Im so excited to be one of the first to have the Model B revision.
The original version went on sale in February 2012 and sold over 3 million to the home and education markets.
The original Pi concept was a computing board which could provide internet access with HD graphics and input output at very low cost for hobbyist of all ages. 

The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is 6 times faster than the original; as well as a new quad core Cortex-A7 processor and now features 1GB RAM memory. Plus its now available with the new 1.4 NOOBS software (New Out Of the Box Software) which was still being re-written only last week.

This will be the first of many posts of my new Raspberry Pi 2 Mod and I think Im going to be addicted to these dinky PC's so it maybe the first of many projects as I have so many ideas of what I want to build this into.


The Raspberry Pi 2 arrived from RS Components in this fab packaging with their own logo. 
They offer the most affordable prices of the Pi 2 at this time...would you believe it is ONLY approx £22.85 Plus VAT. Which is incredible for the opportunity to learn modding with such a fun piece of kit! 
You can also get lots of cases and addons for it too...which is my next step!



 The Pi arrived in this gorgeous green and raspberry coloured (of course) cardboard box.

 The power supply comes with 4 different plug attachments for different countries so it can go traveling with me...if I ever wanted to take it.

There is something special about seeing the words Pi 2 Model B that is so exciting and I cant wait to start my new build...sorry "mod"...gotta get the right lingo!
You will have to wait and see what Im planning to build this baby into for my next post. I love retro versus modern tech and this will certainly be that!

So here she is in all her gorgeous naked electro-circuitboardness...isn't she beautiful!

I will be adding a series of Raspberry Pi 2 posts to show you what I'm doing; this post is #1 a quick introduction to the Raspberry Pi 2

Let me know if you like the idea of modding your own Pi 2 and what you would build it into. Do you have the Pi 1 already if so will you be upgrading to this Model B? 
Love to hear from you.

Project PI #1 Introduction.
Project PI #2 Choosing the case.
Project PI #3 Introducing the new ZX 3.14.
 Project PI #4 The Build
Project PI #5 Finished Build