Pretty but not perfect

You might think twice about buying the metallic pink Sony Vaio netbook, especially if you prefer regular (non-girly) gadgets. The very feminine Vaio W Series is Sony’s attempt at breaking into the netbook market. Thankfully, the netbook is also available in brown and white.

Carrying the device around is no hassle, as it’s lightweight at 1.19kg. With dimensions of 179.6mm x 32.4mm x 267.8mm, it could easily fit into a big handbag. The netbook has a smooth finish, with rounded edges, giving it a stylish look.

It comes standard with Windows XP, wireless, webcam and microphone and VGA Out. What we really liked about it is the crisp 10.1-inch LED-backlit screen with a 1 366 x 768 resolution. This netbook, unfortunately, does not support high definition playback. We were disappointed by the quality of the sound from the built-in speakers, located beneath the keypad. A set of portable speakers or earphones on hand will make listening to audio more bearable. Read more…

Tags: digitallife, netbook, review, sony, sony vaio

Wii Sports Resort

Wii Sports Resort is the sequel to Wii Sports, Nintendo’s launch title, which came bundled with all Wii consoles in South Africa.

The game takes place on Wuhu Island, with 12 activities available for play: archery, frisbee, basketball, cycling, canoeing, power cruising, table tennis, air sports, bowling, swordplay, golf and wakeboarding.

Each game has its own variation and multiple levels of difficulty, which are unlockable. One remote can be used for up to four players in all games except canoeing, where a remote is required for each player.

For the Wii Motion Plus, an expansion to the Wii remote is provided, for more accurate gameplay. The sensor on the Motion Plus enhances the accelerometer and sensor bar on the Wii remote, which depicts identical movements on-screen and in real-time. Movements during swordplay may cause the Wii remote to lose synchronisation with the Wii Motion Plus.

The most enjoyable and truly challenging game is undoubtedly archery, which provides hours of fun. The Wii remote is used as a bow while the Nunchuck is used for drawing. Starting at beginner mode, gamers will end up playing until they reach expert level, it’s that addictive! Read more…

Tags: digitallife, gaming, review, wii, wii sports resort

eGo on the go

It’s not easy finding portable storage solutions catering to your specific needs when the market is flooded with them. A quick search on kalahari.net alone gives you over 25 results. Which do you go for? To help narrow down your search, we review Iomega’s eGo Helium 320GB portable hard drive.
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Tags: eGo, helium, iomega, review

A weighty matter

The Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 is somewhat chunky for a small, entry-level small business notebook. It’s an effort to lug around, weighing in at 2.1kg. The screen is 13.3-inches, which is a decent enough size to watch movies or for some casual gaming. It handles high-definition movies beautifully in full screen mode. Unfortunately, this particular model does not come with an anti-glare screen.

The one thing we couldn’t get around to was adjusting to the keyboard layout. It took us a while to figure out the ‘@’ sign was actually above the key as the number 2, although indicated with a “. The keys are fairly large and the user might end up hitting the wrong key every now and then.

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Tags: digitallife, lenovo, notebook, review

Wii Review: Deadly Creatures

Unless you’ve run out of Wii games to play, you won’t be rushing out to buy this title. I found this game such a chore to play. Perhaps it was the freaky-looking creepy crawlies that were off-putting or maybe it had something to do with me being female. Whatever the reason, I didn’t enjoy it.

To start playing Deadly Creatures, you have to select what you want to start off play as, a scorpion or a tarantula. Each of these creatures has different fighting styles. The tarantula is quick but vulnerable and cannot block attacks while the scorpion is slower, packs more punch and has an advantage of brutal finishing moves but isn’t as agile as the tarantula. Once you’re done with your selection, all you have to do now is start fighting insects, spiders and reptiles. And they’re not pretty looking, so consider yourself warned.

Gameplay requires the use of both the Wii remote and the Nunchuck. The Wii remote is used to attack and the Nunchuck is used for movement. The game has ten stages which alternate between the tarantula and the scorpion. In other words, there are five scorpion stages and five tarantula stages. Each stage has multiple goals, like getting to a specific location or exploring a certain area. Every time you complete a goal, the next one pops up. You are tasked with completing goals by using the character’s abilities. The scorpion, for example, is able to cut through grass and reach new areas, while the tarantula is able to jump through webs, something the scorpion can’t do.

There is a story to the game, but it seems a bit pointless as the main focus of Deadly Creatures is engaging in brutal combat. If you think you can play a game like this for hours on end, then by all means go out and get it. But, it’s not a fun, family-oriented game that everyone can participate in and certainly cannot be played over and over.

Written for: Digital Life

Tags: digitallife, gaming, review, wii