Traps Drums - Big Sound… Small Package
Friday, June 22, 2007
When I was given the task of finding an alternative product to interest our valued readers, one that would take them outside the norm, that would ease the RSI, and offer some fun and exercise at the same time… I must admit that I was stumped. It is a foregone conclusion that a lot of the population surf the net, and when they are not surfing they are watching TV. On top of this, for maybe eight hours of the day they are staring at a computer screen.
Then I stumbled upon a website by Traps Drums, offering a portable drum kit, with a full-size sound. I am not sure why, but it caught my attention, probably because I had always wanted a drum kit as a kid, but never got one. So, a few phone calls later and the kind guys at Alchemy Engineering (the manufacturers) sent me an A400 kit to play with.The whole kit was delivered in one compact box, and my initial reaction was that there was no way this was going to deliver on its promises. The A400 kit consists of tubular frames, that fit together with plastic sleeve clamps. Everything looks a bit confusing, as there are so many parts, and the instructions are a bit hard to see, due to having black and white illustrations. This is something that Traps are working on, so new kits should come with clearer instructions from mid-July.
That said, putting the kit together is pretty straightforward, if you take things one step at a time, there is only a certain way that the parts can fit together.Once the frame is up and the kick bass drum in place, the remaining toms and cymbals all clamp firmly in place. As standard the kit comes with a 12-inch snare drum, 10, 12 & 14-inch Toms, a 20-inch kick (bass) drum, 13-inch hi hat cymbals, 14-inch crash cymbal, 18-inch crash ride cymbal, two pedals, a stool and drum sticks. It is pretty conclusive that you do not need anything else to get started.
Before I move onto the performance, I must emphasize that the A400 kit is of a very high build quality. Everything fits together perfectly and oozes a perfect finish. The stool is a little flimsy, with the mount nut needing to be tightened every now and again, but apart from that you couldn't ask for much more. You also get Remo heads on this kit, with the traditional multi screw tuning system, just like on full size kits. This is superb, as it allows you to individually tune each drum for that perfect sound. It also allows for new heads should you need to replace them in the future.
Now, I have played around on a Yamaha HipGig kit (around £700) before and I thought that there was no way that the A400 Traps would sound anything like them, after all, they take up half the space and cost almost half the price. To say I was astounded is really an understatement, the sound was full, accurate, and the responsiveness of the heads was great. Close your eyes and listen to the Traps and you really could not tell the difference… well maybe a little, but it is certainly not a worse or better sound in comparison to a full size kit.
Traps also supply bags for the A400, allowing you to easily transport the A400 to a gig, which is really useful. No need for a small transit with this kit ! You can also customise and add to the A400 with an extra 8-inch Tom, and move things around on the rack to get everything perfectly positioned for your individual style.
My suggestion to you all… get away from that screen for a while and use your creativity to learn to play the drums, you will love it. To all you budding musicians, the A400 kit is very compact and sounds great, so put it at the top of your list. Finally, to any readers who currently play the drums… if you need something compact, that still sounds great, either for gigging or for practicing at home, then the A400 will deliver all you could want, plus much more. The attention to detail, the build quality and sound, not to mention to superb aftersales support, all adds up to a stunningly good package.Product: Traps A400 Drum Kit
Price: £299-£325
Supplied by: Alchemy Engineering Design Ltd
Contact: +44 (0)1202 476027
Email: support@trapsdrums.com
Keep your kit Crisp n Dry with Overboard
A little bit late for Glastonbury this year, but what the heck, the great British summertime is upon us, so we are bound to get wet one way or another. If you take part in any type of water sport, or just fancy walking around the rainy UK, then the products sent to me by OverBoard may well be of interest to you.
OverBoard make a range of waterproof technology cases for a whole range of items. Varying in size and shape for mobile phones, cameras, iPod, handheld games consoles and the like. They use what is referred to as a Slide Seal System™ which really does seal the item in the bag, so it is nice and safe. The small waterproof phone case that I tested with my beloved K800i is a perfect fit. 
The phone pops into the case, then the top closes together over two sliders, which you push towards the centre of the case to seal your prized possession. Once inside, I bravely put my K800i into a bowl of water, dunked it about a bit, pulled it out and dried the case off. I can honestly say, that no water entered into the case at all… very impressive. According to the specification, you can get away with up to 6m of water, so if you did accidentally drop your kit into the swimming pool, it should remain nice and dry. Apart from water, the case also protects against dirt, sand and dust. It is also supplied with a neck lanyard, which securely clips onto the case.
I also had a 15 litre Dry Flat Bag to test, which measures 35cm by 37cm and holds a lot more kit. It has an adjustable shoulder strap for comfortably carrying around, and when not in use it packs down to a nice compact size. The Dry Flat Bag is a different prospect, and is not a submersible bag. Instead, if it is dropped into water it floats. Again, out came some of my trusty gadgets, a camera, iPod, mobile phone and a rain jacket. All fitted in with no problem, and ten minutes later I had a bath full of water to drop the bag into. Sure enough it floated, and when I checked the contents all was fine and dandy.
The OverBoard range has highly impressed me. The design is nice and clean, with a modern touch. Most importantly, the product works, doing exactly what the manufacturer claims. Another massive plus point is the price, which has been kept very low, so the whole range certainly offers excellent value for money. If you want to protect your kit, then I urge you to check out the range at www.over-board.co.uk and get yourself protected !
Product: OverBoard Small Waterproof Phone Case
Price: £14.99
Product: OverBoard 15 ltr Dry Flat Bag
Price: £17.49
Supplied by: OverBoard Accessories Ltd
Contact: +44 (0)1932 232126
Labels: Apple iPod, Digital Photography, Gadgets, Reviews
Uniden UBC3500XLT Review
Thursday, March 29, 2007
We are complete gadget heads at Geekanoids, with around 95% of our time spent in front of some sort of screen, so getting away from all that LCD brightness is a good thing, if somewhat scary. However, it is important to still bring you something that fits it with the geek flavour and the guys at Radioscan kindly agreed to lend us a Uniden radio scanner.The Uniden UBC3500XLT conjured up thoughts of listening in to robberies in progress, that boeing 747 having to make a landing at an alternative airport, and maybe even the odd ship having to avoid an iceberg (or two). So with great excitement we cracked open the box, plugged in to start charging the unit and turned it on.
Before we share what came next, a little bit about the UBC3500XLT. This is one of Uniden's latest scanners, with its full title being the Uniden Bearcat UBC3500XLT, from herein we will call it the 3500 for ease. It covers a very wide range of frequencies from 25MHz all the way up to 1.3GHz. This promises to cover the citizen band (CB's, breaker breaker, that's a big 10-4), air band (for listening to aircraft), land mobile, analogue phone, and other amateur bands. This should give you the scope to pick up the various local emergency services, for some interesting listening. The 3500 also features Unidens Close Call RF capture technology, which listens for nearby transmissions, and depending on your settings, switches to the signal and lets you listen in. This should be great for airshows, racing events, and perhaps local security transmissions. Supplied in the package is the radio unit itself, some rechargeable batteries, a mains adapter, wrist strap, belt clip, BNC/SMA adaptor (for attaching bigger and more powerful antenna) and the all important owners manual.
The 3500 handset feels very well built and it has a nice size screen, keypad and speaker, all well proportioned on the front. On the left side are some rubberized buttons for the menu and functions of the scanner. The top has a headphone socket and a three-way control that has you pushing for selecting something, and turning for volume and squelch. The back of the handset has meaty connection for the supplied belt clip, but this also puts the unit at a nice angle if you sit it on the table in front of you. The 3500 will work of rechargeable or normal AA batteries, of the mains power (adapter supplied), and can also charge the batts whilst inside the unit.
Being used to the Mac, we were surprised at how complicated the menu system was. It was very difficult to get from one feature to the next and you will find that a lot of button presses are needed to achieve anything. That said, the 3500 has so many features, it would be a mammoth task to do things any different way. Once we had found our way around the menus we could pick up some of the local services, and a lot of aircraft. Sometimes you only get one side of the conversation, other times you can hear the whole thing. We then headed outside and on top of some local hills, which proved to be a good move. The reception was much better and with great excitement we listened in to a coast guard announcement of an unexploded mine along the Dover to Calais Straight. This was fantastic, within hours of cracking the box open, we were enjoying the experience.
We think that this is a great way to get out of the house and away from your computer. It is a quick fix and if you pick up something interesting, it is really exciting. There are a lot of accessories available for these units, and the first purchase should really be a larger antenna. This will allow you to pick up a lot more and enhance your listening experience no end. The UBC3500XLT is very well built, can be used out and about, and just as effectively as a base scanner when attached to a meaty antenna. If you fancy giving radio scanning a try, head on over to the Radioscan website and check out the vast range of units. If you want to be sure you buy the best, then plump up the cash for the 3500, you will not be disappointed.
Product: Uniden Bearcat UBC3500XLT
Price: £144.99
Supplied by: Radioscan
Contact: contact@radioscan.co.uk
Best Geek Hotels in the World
Thursday, March 15, 2007
We've been to plenty of hotels where the TV hardly worked and the Internet connection was spotty. But some properties are on the other end of the spectrum: true Geek Hotels. What does it take to be a Geeky Hotel? Way more than just free WiFi, that's for sure. Being geek is a cultural endeavour, so after searching every henhouse, ..."via Hotelchatter read more | digg story
Labels: Gadgets
Sennheiser CX300 Earphones - wise upgrade !
Friday, March 09, 2007
Listening to music… a great British pastime, and something I enjoy every day. It comes as no surprise, mainly because it has been said many times before, that the earphones bundled with the iPod, or any MP3 player, are not brilliant. The iPod earphones are better then most, but for a small investment you can get a lot more music for your money.Sennheiser are well known for their high quality offerings, but this needn't break the bank. Their CX300 earphones weigh in at under £20 and are available in either black, white or silver. They come supplied nicely packaged with small, medium and large ring adaptors for a comfortable fit. Of the three colours I really like the black, which are accented with silver rings. To see the other colours there is a link at the end of this review to the Sennheiser website.
Being the in-ear type of headphone, comfort is very important. Out of all the earphones I have tried, these win on the comfort stakes. The material used is very soft, with a matt finish and the medium size for me was just right. They don't fit too deep inside the ear canal, just a little way in. Once fitted they really block out a a lot of outside noise, so are perfect if you listen in a noisy environment.
Of course, I used the CX300's with my trusty iPod (what else) and the clarity of sound delivered was superb. Bass was nice and deep, the mid-range was rich and the treble end was very good too. In comparison to others, it was only the higher end that was not as refined, nothing to worry about, but worth mentioning. Even at high volume they behaved impeccably, keeping things clean all the way.
So when you buy an iPod, yes the supplied earphones are OK, but invest a little and you will enjoy your music a whole lot more. The paltry asking price for a pair of CX300 earphones really do make this a no brainer… it is definitely money well spent.
Product: Sennheiser CX300 earphones
Price: £39.99
Amazon: £16.24
Supplied by: Sennheiser UK
Contact: info@sennheiser.co.uk
*Please be aware, there are a lot of cheap copies of headphones on ebay. Please ensure you are buying genuine products when making a purchase.
Labels: Apple iPod, Gadgets, Reviews
Samsung Q2 Ultra Mobile PC Revealed
Thursday, March 08, 2007
At last - a UMPC that looks like it isn't going to suck. The new Samsung UMPC, labelled the Q2 sports a nice high resolution 1024x600 display, plenty of RAM and an Intel processor. It's also got WiBro and a QWERTY keyboard. Pictures included!via engadget read more | digg story
Labels: Gadgets, PC Hardware
Top 10 Funniest Gadgets
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Here you’ll find an amusing list of gadgets. They are pretty useless, but if you to have a smile and brighten up your day, take a look.via techeblog read more | digg story
Labels: Gadgets
Celrun Freesat handles GPS / DMB / PMP
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
While the PMP / GPS market continues to converge and pop out more and more jack-of-all-trades devices, Celrun is looking to join the ever-growing fray by dishing out an (admittedly impressive) all-in-one unit of its own. Starting with the sleek black / silver design scheme and ultrathin frame, this Windows CE-powered conglomerate does a fine job...via Engadget read more | digg story
Labels: Gadgets
Recharge4 Review - Extend Gadget Battery Life
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The ReCharge4 from Exspect promises to deliver a smart battery that recharges a lot of different devices. Ranging from mobile phones to MP3 players, claiming to extend battery life up to four times. Read our review below to find out if it really does deliver on its' promises.The ReCharge4 might be mistaken for something that has been done by so many other manufacturers, but even within the first few hours of use, I was convinced that this little device had been really well thought out. The package consists of the ReCharge4 battery unit, which has a power input on the base for recharging its internal 4800mAh lithium-ion battery. On the top right of the unit is another socket, where you plug an extension cable, it is this cable that you then attach the various tips that in turn plug into the device you want to charge or use.
On the front of the unit is a small button and a line of green LEDs. If you press the button it shows you how much juice is left in the Recharge4. It takes around six hours to initially charge it to full power. In my test it was showing a full charge after three hours, but I left it plugged in for the full six hours to be on the safe side.
To finish the package off, you get a mains adapter for recharging the internal battery and a small cloth pouch for carrying everything around…
So, I had a fully charged ReCharge4, now for the test. I had a Motorola L7, Nokia 6280 and a Samsung D600, both with completely flat batteries. The Motorola went first and after connecting the charging lead, I plugged in the supplied Motorola tip and then put this into the phone. You are supposed to press the button on the front of the ReCharge4 to initiate charging, but I found that this was not necessary as the L7 started charging straight away. After three hours the L7 was fully charged and only two out of the eight LEDs on the ReCharge4 had gone out. Because I am clever at maths, I guess that means a quarter of the capacity had been used. The Nokia 6280 also fully charged in around 3.5 hours and the Samsung charged to almost full capacity before the Recharge4 unit ran out. This was pretty impressive, to be able to fully charge two mobile phones and almost a third from such a small device.
There are three versions available for mobile phones, MP3 players, or portable gaming devices. The main unit remains the same, it is just the tips that are supplied that changes. For example, the mobile phone version comes with tips for almost every Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung offering. The MP3 version comes supplied with tips suitable for the Apple iPod, Creative, iRiver and MP3 players that charge via USB. These small tips are available separately, so you can buy the most suitable main package and then add a few individual tips for specific devices.
In summary the Recharge4 is a very well designed, compact, and useful device. The asking price represents pretty good value for money. Combine this with the fact that you can add new tips for your new devices and you have a useful device that will help power your gadgets for many years to come.
Product: ReCharge4
Price: £39.99
Supplied by: Exspect UK
Contact: info@exspect.co.uk
Labels: Gadgets
Biohazard Watch is Uber Cool
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
A bargain to be had with the Biohazard watch over at Tokyoflash for just over £60, if you want a watch with a difference check it out. The case and strap is made of solid stainless steel, but it is the display that will catch your eye. It uses different coloured sections the light up for hours, minutes and seconds. The good news is that they ship to the UK, so you can get to those important meetings in style.Labels: Gadgets
Transcend Speedy Secure Digital Memory
Monday, February 12, 2007
When choosing digital memory nowadays we are spoilt for choice, so to make your decision easier I took a look at two offerings from Transcend. I chose to look at this particular brand on four counts, performance, reliability, price and the warranty.Both the items tested here are Secure Digital memory cards. An 80x speed 1GB card and a faster 150x 2GB card. I don't believe in quoting transfer rates and getting all technical, because in real world situations they really mean nothing. If you want the transfer rate specifications then they are available on the Transcend website. I tested both cards in a Nokia 800 internet tablet, and a JVC Everio hard drive camcorder. In the Nokia 800 the 80x speed card performed very well. It seems that the Nokia 800 sometimes suffers from slight jumps in video playback, which I really put down to the bitrate of the file you are playing back. In comparison the 150x speed card did improve things, and it was noticeable. I put this down to the read rate being better on the faster of the two cards…
Testing the cards in the JVC Everio was a different matter. I used them for the still capture feature of the Everio. Both cards really performed almost identically, with differences in write speed being less apparent, really down to a split second.
Transcend have a good track record for the reliability of their cards. In my short term test I experienced no write or read errors at all, I am hoping that I can hang onto these cards a little longer and report back on how things are going three months down the line. Pricing is also very competitive, if you jump down to the end of this review you will see just how keenly priced they are. The lifetime warranty is also difficult to better, rest assured that if you treat your memory card well and it develops a fault, Transcend will swap it out.Now there is a difference in pricing between the 80x and 150x speed, so where should your money go. Well, my advice would be that if you are buying for a consumer level digital camera, the 80x speed is sufficient and will save you a little money. If performance is paramount, for a pro camera or video playback, then it is definitely worth spending that little extra on the 150x speed version.
Product: Transcend 150x 2GB Secure Digital Card
Price: £21.15 (average)
Supplied by: Transcend UK
Contact: sales@transcend-uk.com
Product: Transcend 80x 1GB Secure Digital Card
Price: £12.93 (average)
Supplied by: Transcend UK
Contact: sales@transcend-uk.com
Labels: Gadgets, Mac Peripherals, PC Peripherals
The Authors
Dave Cryer
Dave has been in the graphic design industry for 14 years. Long time reviewer of technology related products, he is Owner/Editor of Geekanoids.
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