Rolson Battery Operated Precision Screwdriver

I've been looking for an electric screwdriver for a while now as although a lot of desktop/tower computers these days come without any screws that need undoing to get inside, all laptops are still held together with screws so I was looking for something to get things done a bit quicker.

The only problem with an electric screwdriver is you've got to make sure it's charged up and if you're out in the field you need to make sure you have your charger with you (and not left it back at base) in case it runs out of power.

The other day I was browsing around my local Maplin Electronics store and found a battery operated screwdriver!

OK, it's more correctly called a precision screwdriver as the 'bits' are smaller than those you would find on a 'normal' sized screwdriver, but as I was after one for working on laptops with this was a perfect choice.

It takes three AAA batteries which means I can carry some spares with me should I go off-site to and run out of power.  It comes with eight double-ended bits including, slot, cross and torx heads.

There is a switch that you slide to make it rotate in which direction you require and you operate the screwdriver by holding down the power button on the bottom black part of the screwdriver.

The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that the spare screwdriver bits are not stored on or inside the screwdriver itself so there is a risk (certainly for me) that the tube containing the bits may get lost or left behind by mistake.

I paid around £15 in Maplin for this screwdriver which was a bit more than I was originally intending to pay, but after a quick search online I found this exact same screwdriver on sale with a starting price of £20 going on up to just over £32.

If it was £20 in Maplin then I don't think I would have purchased it and I certainly wouldn't pay £32 for it, it's good, but not that good.

Overall I would give it 3 stars out of 5, if only the screwdriver bits were stored in or on the screwdriver then it probably would have scored a 4.

Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Review

Wow!  I've only had this device for an hour or so now and it's absolutely brilliant.  As you'll have read from my previous posts, I am the proud owner of a Raspberry Pi that I am using as a Media Centre.  Up until today I was using a full-size USB keyboard to navigate the software as I couldn't find the Remote Control that came with my legacy Dell XPS 420 desktop that I have.

As I have not managed to locate where my remote control is (I have the USB receiver but it's not much use on its own) I decided to buy a compact keyboard and mouse and after several hours of looking at the different options I found the RiiTek RT-MWK01 and promptly ordered it from Amazon as the price was right at just £14.20 compared to over £20 for a lot of the other ones I could see.

It's not the latest model from RiiTek but it certainly does the job and the bonus is that not only is it the size of a typical remote control, it works really, really well and has a backlit keyboard so if you're watching TV with just a table lamp on you wont struggle to see what you're doing with it.

The trackpad is small (and not as useable as one you'd find on a laptop) but is adequate enough for using to operate a media centre on a computer.

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.