Monday, 22 May 2017
Linksys Velop review
We’ve seldom seen a new(ish) technology throw up so many new products in the space of a few short weeks, but ‘mesh networking’ has really taken off since the end of 2016.
Following on from the Netgear Orbi, Devolo Gigagate and BT’s Whole Home Wi-Fi, the latest new arrival is the oddly-named Velop from Linksys.
Like its rivals, the Velop uses multiple devices – rather than just a single router – which you can place in different rooms in order to establish a really strong and reliable Wi-Fi network throughout your entire home.
Just remember that, like most of its rivals, the Velop is only a router – it doesn’t include a modem for Internet access, so you’ll need to connect one of the Velop units to the existing modem/router that provides your broadband connection at home.
Linksys Velop: UK Price and availability
You have three options when purchasing the Velop. You can buy a single ‘node’ for £199 from Currys, which is quite pricey given that it effectively just acts as a straightforward 802.11ac router.
Of course, it is a bang-up-to-date router that provides tri-band 802.11ac on 2.4GHz and two 5GHz bands with 2×2 MIMO and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports.
A pack with two nodes costs £349 from Currys, which is a little less expensive than the two-piece Netgear Orbi (£370).
There’s also a kit with three nodes available for a hefty £499 from Currys, which seems pretty steep, given that the three-piece BT Whole Home only costs £299.
Linksys Velop: Design
The Velop devices are attractively designed, with each node being shaped like a little white ivory tower. The nodes are all identical, so they all have two Ethernet ports in the base that you can use for wired connections, along with the Wi-Fi features.
Somewhat annoyingly, the Velop app – available for iOS and Android – forces you to provide an email address and password in order to set up an account with Linksys before you can even start to set up the Velop itself.
But once that’s done, the actual set-up process is very straightforward.
The app initially uses Bluetooth to connect directly to each node and configure it for you, and the app then checks to confirm that the Velop nodes have successfully connected to the Internet before you switch all your devices over to the new network.
But, as we’ve seen with some of the Velop’s rivals, the simplicity of the app does have limitations. There’s no browser interface available so that more experienced users can configure the Velop from a PC or Mac, and apart from the ability to create a guest network, or to change the network name and password, there’s not a lot of configuration options available in the app at all.
The highlight here is the ability to prioritise up to three devices for maximum bandwidth and performance, which would be useful if you have a particular PC or tablet or laptop that needs good performance for streaming video or playing games.
There’s no equivalent feature in rival systems.
Linksys Velop: Performance
As a reference point, our BT Home Hub 5 provides a speed of 93.8Mb/s to devices located in the same room.
However, this drops to a mere 9.3Mb/s a couple of rooms away through walls and doors.
The signal can be so unreliable that we’ve resorted to powerline adaptors to provide a wired connection to PCs far away.
With one Velop node connected to the BT Home Hub it produced an average speed of 450Mb/s in the same room, which is what we’d expected from a device in this price range.
However, it’s when you add a second Velop node that the real gains are seen. In the same far-range position where the Home Hub 5 gave 9.3Mb/s, the Velop boosted speed to a steady and reliable 300Mb/s.
A powerline kit with built-in Wi-Fi is a cheaper alternative for most people, but the convenience of having a single Wi-Fi network could make the Velop (or the other mesh network systems) more attractive to you.
The post Linksys Velop review appeared first on Gigarefurb Refurbished Laptops News.
source https://news.gigarefurb.co.uk/linksys-velop-review/
HP Spectre x2
Well on a roll with its fresh-looking Spectre line of high-end laptops and tablets, HP has at last given the treatment to the HP Spectre x2 for 2017.
Not only does the tablet come in HP’s now-standard black – sorry, Ash Silver – aluminum frame with copious gold trim, but the firm has naturally upgraded the tablet’s internals. Without much room to refine its product, we see the Spectre x2 become even more like the Surface Pro line that inspired it and so many other 2-in-1 laptops.
Namely, we see the Spectre x2 screen adopt more than a few lessons taught by that of Microsoft’s leading tablet. Mind you, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
When it lands this June, HP will start the pricing at $999 (about £769, AU$1,342). Luckily, that’s just for one available model housing a 7th-generation (Kaby Lake), 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor, a 360GB M.2 solid state drive (SSD) and 8GB of RAM. All of that rests behind a 3,000 x 2,000 IPS touchscreen in a 3:2 aspect ratio – sound familiar?
Design
If you were to look at an HP Spectre x2 in silhouette, you would find that not much at all has changed. Turn on the lights, though, and you’ll know that HP has, again, brought this Spectre into HP’s new design language.
That means a more matte, Ash Silver aluminum frame is now met with golden chrome accents aplenty, namely that of the kickstand. Speaking of which, HP’s stainless steel hinge design is now improved, making it much easier to open and close through magnets.
HP has given its included keyboard cover a similar visual makeover, changing little else, which isn’t a knock in the slightest. Keyboard travel remains relatively deep and feedback satisfying, with bright backlighting too boot.
Also included is HP’s new, low-fi take on the stylus, simply known as the Active Pen, going off of Microsoft’s design spec and naturally supporting Windows Ink. The stylus is a more generic approach than previous proprietary offerings, but tracks just fine for general use.
The entire Spectre x2 package comes in a slick, 2.49-pound chassis that’s just 0.52 inches thin, making it awfully portable, which should be expected at this point. This year, HP has doubled down on USB 3.1 Type-C with two ports joined by a headphone/mic jack and microSD card slot, letting 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth fill in the rest.
Display and battery life
HP has made some significant changes regarding the Spectre x2 display, namely in massively upping its pixel count and adjusting its aspect ratio. This time around, HP has equipped the Spectre x2 with a 3,000 x 2,000 screen at a 3:2 aspect ratio, spec for spec what you’ll find in the Surface Pro 4.
The IPS panel is a delight to look at, embodying all of the benefits of the first-assumed weird aspect ratio and such a drastic increase in pixels from 1080p. HP even managed the shrink down the bezels on the tablet’s left and right side, keen to leave the infrared (IR) webcam where it belongs, above the display.
Being an IR webcam, of course, opens the Spectre x2 up to Windows Hello support.
As for how long the HP Spectre x2 will last you, its maker rates the tablet for up to 8 hours of juice during mixed use and up to 7 hours and 15 minutes during video playback. While we’ll be the final judge of battery life soon enough, HP promises that the Spectre x2 can charge from zero to 50% in just 30 minutes.
Early verdict
The refreshed HP Spectre x2 brings the 2-in-1 laptop in closer line with not only the existing offering of Spectre products, but that of the Surface devices that inspired it. While that may make the Spectre x2 a little less unique, the changes no doubt make it a better device than the previous.
That said, 8 hours of battery life is somewhat low for such a thin and light device that’s begging to be brought around all day, especially when it’s safe to expect our own test results to come in below that figure.
All told, the Spectre x2 is a gorgeous sequel that brings the device in line with both HP’s existing products and the company’s inspirations. Knowing its price, the Spectre x2 could very well be a compelling alternative to the Surface Pro devices.
The post HP Spectre x2 appeared first on Gigarefurb Refurbished Laptops News.
source https://news.gigarefurb.co.uk/hp-spectre-x2/