Posts Tagged ‘electrical items’

Points To Consider When Choosing An Electronic Book Reader

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

It’s now been three years since Amazon launched the original Kindle reader. Despite the enormous influence of the Kindle, it’s worth bearing in mind that it was not the first ebook reader on the market. However, the public are quickly becoming accustomed to ebooks – chiefly due to the Kindle’s influence. Whether traditional printed books could eventually become obsolete or not is open to debate – but it looks as if ebooks are here to stay.

However, ebook readers seem to have been adopted by the public and many people are buying them. Recent price cuts by Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Sony means that ebook readers are now a much more affordable option for many customers. Whilst the Kindle is the clear market leader, it’s far from the only option available. So, if you’re looking for your first ebook reader, what are the main factors to take into consideration?

One of the most important factors that you need to consider is the quality of the display. Special e-ink technology displays are used in most ebook readers. This gives a reading experience that is surprisingly similar to reading text printed on paper. It’s considerably easier on your eyes than reading on a back-lit computer screen. It is also easy to read in direct sunlight or even glare from fluorescent lighting. A further advantage of e-ink technology displays is that they use power only when “turning the page” – so battery life is extended.

It’s tempting to go for the largest display possible. Obviously readers with larger screens have a higher ticket price than those with smaller displays. They are also physically larger of course – and they weigh more. This will impact upon the portability of the device. That may not represent a problem for you if it’s your intent to read mainly at home. However, a larger reader will be harder to operate with one hand – something which many users like to do.

One of the major factors in the success of Amazon’s Kindle was its ability to browse and download books in under a minute from virtually anywhere. However, Amazon and Barnes and Noble now have Wi-Fi only versions of their readers available. These cost a little less than the 3G readers and could be a good option for anyone who doesn’t foresee the need to download books without using a computer or connecting via a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Obviously there’s little point in owning an ebook reader unless there’s a wide selection of books available to download for it. At the moment, no standard format for ebooks has been agreed. The ePub format is used by Google – but Kindle books are in a format which is proprietary to the Kindle. However, Amazon has released a number of free apps that lets users read Kindle books on a wide variety of different devices – without the need for a Kindle reader.

Ebook prices can be very different on different readers. If you read a book a week, then choosing the right reader could save you enough money on ebooks to make the reader self financing in a matter of months. Before you decide which reader to go for, it’s well worth checking.

Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

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Kindle Users Will Be Able To Lend Kindle Books In The Near Future

Friday, November 5th, 2010

A key factor in the success of the Amazon Kindle reader has undoubtedly been the number of Kindle books available for consumers to choose from. Currently, Kindle owners can choose from over 725,000 Kindle books – and that’s just the paid titles. Amazon also offer 1.8 million out of copyright books which can be downloaded to the Kindle free of charge.

In addition to making so much reading material available for Kindle users, Amazon has certainly bent over backwards to allow readers to enjoy Kindle books without a Kindle reader. This has been achieved by releasing a number of free Kindle apps which permit Kindle books to be read on a variety of different electronic devices.

At this time, there are free Kindle apps for the Windows PC, the Apple Mac, any device which runs the Android Operating System, the iPad, the iPhone and Blackberry’s smart phone. At first glance, it almost looks as if Amazon is its own worst enemy but, in reality, the fact of the matter is that each of these apps acts as a very efficient retail outlet for Kindle books.

Amazon has just announced that, in the near future, Kindle owners will be able to “lend” each other Kindle books. Amazon has not yet confirmed the exact date – but it should start prior to the year end.

Kindle owners will have the option of lending Kindle books to their family and friends for a fortnight. The “borrower” will be able to read the book on their Kindle reader – just as if they had bought it themselves. Whilst the book is lent out, the original purchaser won’t be able to access it. Precisely the same as normal book in point of fact.

Not all books will be able to be lent to friends and family. The final say as to whether or not a particular Kindle book may be lent out rest with the book’s publisher. It will be interesting to discover how different publishing houses react to this.

Amazon has also confirmed that its currently existing free Kindle apps will be extended to include magazines and newspapers in addition to Kindle books. The Apple devices will be activated first, followed by desktop applications and Android devices.

Over the last eighteen months or so, ebook readers and ebooks have really taken off. They are still at a relatively early stage in their market development – but the public seem to have become accustomed to them. Amazon’s latest development brings ebooks ever closer to the full functionality of traditional, printed books. Ebooks can now be considered to be pretty much interchangeable with traditional books – apart from the fact that you can’t mark your place with a dog-ear. It’s another significant step forward for ebooks and ebook readers and will help them to become even more widely accepted by the reading public.

Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

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Is The Effectiveness Of Your Domestic Appliances Influenced By A Hard Water Supply?

Monday, July 26th, 2010

The large majority of households will be fed with a domestic water supply which is defined as “hard water”. This is just a definition which is applied to signify water which has a fairly high concentration of minerals in it. Magnesium and calcium are the two most important minerals. According to the World Health Organisation, there are no health problems associated with hard water supplies – but it can affect the effective operation and lifespan of a variety of different domestic appliances.

Mineral deposits can build up in water pipes, heating systems and in domestic appliances. Appliances which use hot water – kettles, steam irons, dishwashers and washing machines are especially susceptible to this. This is due to the fact that heating the water liberates many of the minerals which then reform as “scale”. As well as domestic appliances, the central heating system may be affected.

There are a number of different variables which influence how much scale is generated. The temperature of the water is one of the strongest influencing factors on this process. More scale is produced at higher temperatures. Running dishwashers and washing machines at a lower temperature setting will reduce the amount of scale produced and help to ensure that these appliances continue to operate efficiently and have an extended working life. Using soaps and detergents which have an anti-scaling agent included will also help.

Of course, some appliances such as kettles and irons need to be used at high temperature. Some kettles are available with filters these days, which can prevent some of the minerals getting into the sensitive heating elements. Many irons now come with special anti-scaling traps which collect the scale deposits and allow it to be cleaned by simply flushing it under running water. Other alternatives include cleaning or flushing through using special anti-scale chemicals.

There may be no health problems as a result of a hard water supply, but some people will dislike the flavour of hot drinks and food prepared using this. In this case, a water filter could be used. Various types exist, ranging from simple jug type filters to on tap, under sink and even whole house filters. They are all effective, cheaper than you might imagine and relatively quick to install.

It may seem like an inconvenience, but it’s well worth the effort to counter the effects of a hard water supply. In addition to the improved operational efficiency of your domestic appliances, use of the correct detergents and the selection of a lower operating temperature, combined with scale removal from time to time, will save you money by extending the life of your appliances.

Check out our Tefal steam generator iron buyer’s guide and learn how you can snap up a bargain and reduce the amount of time you spend ironing.

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Are E-Book Sales More Important To Amazon Than Kindle Sales?

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Amazon has been an important, quite possibly the most important, player in the development of digital publishing using both their Kindle reader family and their huge library of Kindle books as development and marketing tools. November 2007 saw the launch of the original Kindle. Amazon followed up with the upgraded Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009, and the large display Kindle DX model launched in the summer of 2009.

With a market share of 60% of all e-book readers sold in the USA, the Kindle readers dominated the market. Sony trailed in second place with a still respectable 35% share. Needless to say, other electronics manufacturers quickly saw the potential in the nascent e-book reader market and either developed or updated their own readers.

Competitors like Plastic Logic, Sony, Bookeen, iRex and Barnes and Noble fought for their share of the rapidly growing market, but Amazon’s lead position seemed to be almost impregnable. It was only with the launch of the Apple iPad that any credible competition emerged – slightly surprising since the two devices are very different and are, you would suppose, aimed at different market segments.

Differences in the devices and their intended applications notwithstanding, e-book reader prices have tumbled since the launch of the iPad. You can now pick up the Kindle 2.0 for just $ 189 – a huge reduction over the launch price of $ 359 – and a significant drop from the pre-iPad price of $ 259. The newly upgraded Kindle DX can be yours for just $ 379, down from $ 489. Barnes and Noble’s Nook reader is now on sale at just $ 199.

Whilst the price of e-book readers may be falling, the same cannot be said about the price of the e-books which these devices are used to read. Again, Apple had a hand in this. Apple had, in advance of the launch of the iPad, set up their own book store and negotiated a pricing deal with the major publishing houses which basically allowed them to fix the price of their e-book editions at whatever level they wished. The only rider being that they could not offer the same e-book version at a lower price on any other platform. This effectively put paid to Amazon’s policy of pricing e-books at $ 9.99 or lower and was very popular amongst the publishing companies.

Amazon had to back down from this – but it’s not necessarily a bad thing for them, or Barnes and Noble for that matter. Amazon has always appeared to be more interested in selling books – and e-books – rather than hardware. That’s the only possible explanation for the fact that they have made it possible to read Kindle books on so many different devices. At the moment, you can read Kindle books on the PC, the Mac, your Blackberry, the iPod Touch, the iPad and any mobile device running Android. So companies like Barnes and Noble, Amazon and now Apple, who have a stake in the future sale of e-books over the life of a reader, can afford to sell the hardware cheaper and profit over the life of the device.

It may be that the future pricing of e-book readers and e-books will tend to favor such companies over manufacturers who are involved only in hardware production. Looking at the number of different devices which Kindle books can be read on, you would have to suspect that, whether or not the iPad becomes the reader of choice for many users, Amazon will continue to have a huge say in the future of books and e-books for the foreseeable future.

Discover the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you customise your reader.

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How To Choose A Steam Generator Iron

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Steam generator irons and conventional steam irons look quite similar at first glance – especially the iron part itself. However, steam generator irons are constructed quite differently and have a different mode of operation. They employ a separate base unit which acts as both boiler and water tank. The body of the iron contains no water. Steam is passed from the base unit into the iron using a flexible connecting tube.

As a rule, steam generator irons cost a little bit more than conventional steam irons – but they offer the user a number of advantages. It’s worth taking a few moments to review the important points before you decide which iron is right for you. The main items to consider when making a comparison of different steam generator irons are the steam pressure, the water reservoir capacity, the soleplate, ease of cleaning and overall usability.

PRESSURE OF STEAM: The steam drives moisture and heat into the fabric of the garment being ironed. This makes it easier to remove wrinkles and creases as it causes the fabric to become more flexible. The higher the steam pressure is, the deeper it is driven into the fabric and the better the finished results are.

Steam generator irons typically have their output stated in terms of grams of steam per minute. The greater the number, the greater the amount of steam that is produced and the easier it will be to glide the iron over the fabric. Typical values will vary from 70 to 140 grams per minutes (g/min).

Sometimes you may see the steam pressure expressed in bar. Once again, the higher the number is, the more steam that will be produced, the deeper it will penetrate the fabric and the better the results will be.

WATER RESERVOIR SIZE: Steam generator irons normally have a generously sized water tank. This means that you will be able to do a fair bit of ironing before you need to top up the water. The exact duration will vary based upon the type of fabric being ironed – but you should get a couple of hours of ironing out of a 1.4 litre tank.

If you do a lot of ironing then you might like to consider getting one of the bigger tanks available. If your ironing board is one of the smaller ones, then you may wish to ensure that the connecting tube between the iron and the reservoir is of a length which allows the base unit to be located on the floor instead of at the end of the ironing board.

It’s also worth considering how easy it is to fill the reservoir. Many of the better steam generator irons have removable reservoirs to make filling easier. It’s a lot better than messing around with jugs of water. Some also have the facility to top up the reservoir even when the iron is in use – which avoids you having to disconnect it and then wait for it to heat up again after filling.

THE SOLEPLATE: The soleplate of the iron should glide smoothly over the surface of a range of different fabrics – whilst still generating enough friction to remove any wrinkles and creases. It should be durable, tough, scratch resistant and easy to clean. Soleplates with ceramic coatings are widely used these days and are a good option.

EASE OF CLEANING: The vast majority of modern irons, whether stem generators or conventional steam irons, use normal tap water. This will usually contain a number of different minerals – including both magnesium and calcium. These can cause deposits of scale which will reduce the working efficiency of your iron unless they are cleaned and removed.

If your house is in a hard water area, then you will definitely want to go for an iron which has some type of anti-scale system. Some iron use a special detachable anti-scale cartridge – others use water to loosen the scale and then flush it out.

EASE OF USE: As previously discussed, you may find it best if your steam generator iron has a long enough hose connection so that you can position this on the floor rather than at the end of the board.

Most people will find a removable water tank to be a convenient feature.

Other features, which may be appealing, include fast heat up systems, easy clean soleplates, auto-rewind power cords etc.

SUMMARY: Be certain to pick an iron with a high enough steam pressure for your needs. Choose a water tank that is big enough for you to complete your ironing without having to stop to top it up. Make sure that the soleplate is well designed and uses a suitable material in its construction. Make sure that some form of anti-scale system is included.

Check out our Tefal steam generator iron buyer’s guide and learn how you can find a bargain and cut the amount of time you spend ironing.

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