Duronic Mini HDMI Switcher

The Duronic HDMI Selector arrived this morning so time to give it a try...

According to the box, the HDMI switch auto switches up to 3 HDMI devices but just in case you have 2 or more HDMI devices on at the same time it comes with a handy remote control that you can use to manually select the HDMI device you want to view.  Failing that, there is a Select button on the HDMI Switch itself that cycles through the 3 different connections.

It supports full 1080p my TV is only 720p so I wont see the benefit of that.  There is a place to plug in a 5V power supply but it doesn't come with one as it's not required for it to function.

There isn't a built-in infrared port, instead you have to plug the enclosed infrared lead in to a port on the side of the HDMI switch.  This means that you can hide the HDMI Switch and the ugly looking wires behind your TV set and just have the infrared receiver on show which makes the place look a lot tidier.

I purchased this switch from Amazon and paid £9.99 + £3.73 delivery for it which is right within my budget (I didn't want to spend any more than £15).  Some people on Amazon were selling this for £19.99 and this is a Sale price as it once was £29.99!  It's a nice device but certainly not worth £19.99 let alone £29.99 - especially when you can get a gold plated version (without a remote control) for £8.99 with free delivery.

At £19.99 - £29.99 I would only give it 2-3 stars but as I only paid £13.72 for it I will give it 4 stars.

Winmau Lakeside World Championship Edition Darts Set Review

I've always wanted to learn to play Darts but I've never managed to get around to it.  Today I had an urge to give it a try so I had a quick look online to see what shops on the 'High Street' sold them so I could pick one up today (before I changed my mind) after searching around I found that Argos was pretty much the best place to shop.

After looking at all the options I narrowed it down to either the Winmau Blade 4 or the Unicorn Eclipse dart boards, but which one is best?  What a minefield that is!  After reading reviews on the internet I found that for every person saying the Blade 4 is the best there was another saying the Eclipse was the best - so at least I had picked the two most popular ones at least.

I decided to look at the different accessories that you can get with them as I wanted to hang it on the wall and as a beginner I'm more than likely to miss at some point so I need some sort of surround etc. to minimise damage to my wallpaper.  After looking at all the different options I decided that the Winmau Lakeside Word Championship Edition Darts Set was the right one for me as it includes the Winmau Blade 4 dartboard, two sets of darts and a deluxe cabinet to hang it on the wall with.

After reserving it online I popped down to my local Argos store and purchased the set and brought it home where I spent the next 20 minutes hanging drilling holes and hanging it on the wall.

I have to say though, first impressions are that the finish of both the dartboard and the so called 'luxury cabinet' are pretty poor.

Microsoft XBox 360

I've never really gotten on with games consoles, more specifically, their controllers.  That was until the Nintendo Wii came along which changed things for me and I became an avid gamer for several years until the games became tiresome and the Wii's popularity slowly dwindled.

Give me a keyboard and a mouse and I can cope - give me a controller with fewer buttons/keys and I just don't get on with them.  That was until I got hold an XBox 360 controller that I used on my laptop to play Duke Nukem Forever (yeah I know, it's not a great game but I only paid £5 for it secondhand).

I found I got on quite well with the controller so I finally bit the bullet and last month I purchased an XBox 360 console along with a couple of games - GTA IV, NCIS and Flatout Ultimate Carnage.

The NCIS game is a lot weaker than I expected and it's a bit of a 'no brainer' so I'll keep it for when I just want to play a game without having to think too much.  Flatout Ultimate Carnage is a fantastic game with lots of cars, tracks and crashing to have fun with.  GTA IV is just as good as the previous versions but I haven't done many of the actual missions as of yet as I just keep driving around trying out the different vehicles I come across.

All-in-all I'm having fun with my XBox and the next game I will be getting will be one of the Raving Rabbids games, one works on the standard console but the other requires the Kinect Sensor which I don't have yet, but looks like a great way of playing games!

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Casio LK-120 Key Lighting Keyboard

I've always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument but I've never gotten around to it, that was until today!  I am now the proud owner of a Casio LK-120 digital keyboard.

The reason I went for this keyboard is because it has full-size keys, was in my price range and has light-up keys to help you learn any of the built-in songs.

I want to learn how to play properly so I've picked up a book and found some good videos on YouTube.  I plan to do things properly so I'll be starting by learning all the scales rather than just memorising how to play certain songs.

From reading the book that I have I have already learnt about pentatonic scales and what a piano score it.  Separate from the book I have also learnt how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star using the Casio keyboards built-in teaching method with the light-up keys so you know exactly what keys you should be pressing.   This way I get the best of both worlds, I'm learning to play properly but I'm also able to play a little tune so I can feel like I've achieved something as learning the scales properly is going to take some time...

  

I gave myself a budget of £100 so the Casio LK-120 was just what I was looking for and when I saw that it had light-up keys that help you learn to memorise songs I knew it was the keyboard for me!  It even has a small display telling you what fingers on what hand you should be using to play the different notes with.

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The Inbetweeners Movie - DVD Review

Just when you thought The Inbetweeners was over this fantastic and hilarious film comes along!  If you enjoyed the TV Series then you must watch this film.

Will, Simon, Jay and Neil head off on holiday together, not a camping trip like the last episode in the TV Series, this time they venture further afield to Malia where they do everything you'd expect on a lads holiday from staying in a crap hotel to attempting to attract the ladies by wearing Pussay Patrol T-Shirts!


Full of all sorts of politically-incorrect humour you are bound to find this film absolutely hilarious.


All-in-all this is a great British Movie and if you're looking for something to make you laugh then make sure you watch this film/DVD.

The Inbetweeners Movie [DVD]

Karl Pilkington - An Idiot Abroad Review

Oh My God!  This is absolutely ridiculously funny!  I'm not quite sure if Karl Pilkington is a fantastic actor or if this really is what he's like travelling around the world visiting some of the many different wonders of the world.

He seems to be a bit of a stick in the mud, set in his ways and I get the impression that his preferred holiday would be two weeks at Bogna and if he did have to go abroad he'd go to Spain and eat steak and chips each day!

I don't know where he felt more uncomfortable, going for a walk along the gay beach or relaxing on what turned out to be a nudist beach.

When he was asked about his visit to Brazil where he went to see the magnificent Christ The Redeemer he simply said "I enjoyed the helicopter and the Jesus thing was alright as well".  Trust me, you need to watch this show!  It's like talking to a 5 year old and asking them what they did at school, they've done absolutely loads but when you ask them all they say is that they did some painting.

When he was asked "have you ever been to the jungle before?" he simply replied "No, why would I have?"

One highlight for me was when he was in the Amazon Jungle he was offered a delicacy from the tribe he was staying with, in the form of a baby crocodiles head and he tried to wiggle out of eating it by trying to say he's not a meat eater but his translator wouldn't translate that for him!

Ricky Gervais sums this series up as "the funniest, most expensive practical joke" that he has ever done!

I'm really not doing this show the justice it deserves, just watch it and you'll see what I mean!

The Social Network DVD Review

Wow! So much better than I had been led to believe.  Mind you the people I'd been listening to about this film were people who haven't actually seen it yet!

With a lot of films there's a bit of a build up before it gets going, not this one as it gets going straight away so make sure you're settled down with everything you need (popcorn and a drink etc) before pressing play.

The first thing I noticed was that the actor playing Mark Zuckerberg speaks faster than a speeding bullet and as the film starts off in some sort of club you really need to be paying attention!

I was hooked from the start and ended up watching the whole DVD without having a 'comfort break'.  The film depicts the journey Mark Zuckerberg goes on to creating one of the most popular websites of all time.

He kind of reminds me of Sheldon from The Big Band Theory, clearly very academic but not very socially aware, which is ironic really considering what www.facebook.com is all about!

You don't need to be a geek or a nerd to enjoy this film so if you haven't seen it yet then go and rent it now!

Paul - Cinema Film Review

Well I've just gotten back from an evening at the cinema watching Simon Peggs new film, Paul.

Two English Sci-Fi Nerds decide to go on a road trip on the USA in the search for Aliens - and they find one, called Paul!

The jokes get thicker and faster as the film goes on and you can't help but laugh as loud as you can. About halfway through the film I rated it around six out of ten but as it got funnier and funnier I ended up giving it an eight out of ten!

There was even a round of applause when the film ended and even more laughter during the credits so don't leave you seat as soon as you think it has ended as there are more laughs to come!

Fazza's Film Rating: 8/10 "A Must See Film" :)