Tag Archives: Screen

04May 2012

Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421

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There are a number of USB monitors now beginning to come into the market. The idea is that you plug these into your laptop, as required, to give an extended desktop. The problem with most of them, however, is that their output is usual quite poor, often with reduced angles and low levels of brightness.

The Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 is a 14″ screen with a 1366×668 pixel resolution that connects via USB. A mini USB plugs into the monitor and this runs to your PC as 2 USB cables – one is required for data and power and the other, if required, for further power. Personally, I’ve not needed to use the 2nd cable. With the cover (that you’d be mad not to use) it weighs just over 2.3 lbs and it’s just 0.35 inches at its thinnest, so it slips into a laptop bag easily.

The screen itself has no stand but comes with a hard plastic cover which, when clipped off, the monitor sites on. A “leg” with a rubber foot is then folded out from the back of the screen and this allows you to prop the monitor up at angle between 12 and 40 degrees.

Also on the back of the monitor is a control allowing to adjust the brightness up and down and a power light.

The screen surround is a very traditional Lenovo matt black plastic with the ThinkVision logo in a top corner and a silver Lenovo badge at the bottom.

Included with the monitor is the screen, cable, instruction leaflet and driver CD. The LT1421 connects via the DisplayLink technology and hence the reason for the driver. I never used the CD but, instead, downloaded the latest driver from the Lenovo website.

Once the driver is installed simply plugging the monitor into your computer’s USB port causes it to power on. Both screens will flicker as the current desktop is extended. A system tray icon allows you to specify how the 2nd monitor should work – I usually have it to the right of me and extend it that way so I can drag and drop files precisely from one screen to another. You can also rotate the screen and even just use it as a mirror of your laptop screen (potentially useful in meetings where you want to share your screen’s output but need to be able to view it yourself).

The screen is quite bright with good viewing angles. The colour is a little more yellow than my laptop screen and there’s no method of adjustment. Bear this in mind though – I have no intention of using it for photo work or the like so I’m happy that this is the case.

I struggled to find a UK distributor of this and bought mine via a German retailer on Amazon.co.uk for £145. However, you can now (at time of writing this) buy the LT1421 from the Artiss.co.uk shop for £119.81, including P&P.

Using on a Mac

Drivers are available from DisplayLink for the appropriate drivers for Mac. In use, the experience is better than that on Windows – after installation and plugging in the monitor the display powers up immediately and is automatically configured very well. There are no additional icons – you simply adjust setup via the standard “Displays’ option within Preferences.

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Summary of Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421

An excellent way to extend your laptop screen. It’s not too expensive and has a better screen than the majority of the competition. Combine that with the Lenovo quality and this is an excellent product.
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 4th May 2012.

02Jan 2012

2 in 1 Laptop Screen Protector & Mouse Mat

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This review is part of the 1 Pound Challenge - can you find a decent gadget in a pound shop?

PoundWorld are selling something that’s named (deep breath) “2 in 1 Laptop Screen Protector & Mouse Mat”. Basically, it’s a thin, black mouse mat with a rubberised back that measures 12 x 8 inches (approx.). It’s sold flat in a cardboard sleeve. It’s “2 in 1″ because it can be stores on the top of a laptop keyboard when the lid is closed. This protects the keyboard from damaging the screen (yes, this does happen – the TrackPoint on my ThinkPad Edge, for instance, leaves a mark on the screen). However, I’d only recommend doing this if you feel the hinge is strong enough and the lid doesn’t “latch” into place (i.e. if you simply fold it down then this should be fine as the mat won’t cause an undue pressure). At 12 x 8 inches it’s unlikely to be big enough to cover the keyboard, but meerly keep it seperate from the screen. Well, unless you have a Netbook or small laptop – it’s far too big for my Edge 11.

Although it’s sold primarily as a screen protector it’s greatest strength is as a mouse mat. And it works really well – as good as the gaming mouse mat I bought some time ago for a lot, lot more than £10 (and that came rolled up and took an age to get to go straight!).

Summary of 2 in 1 Laptop Screen Protector & Mouse Mat

As a mouse mat this is brilliant – well worth the money. It’s use as a screen protector, although this works, is suspect as jamming something between a closed laptop lid is only likely to cause problems in the long run. Ignore the latter, concentrate on the former and it’s great!
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 2nd January 2012.

02Aug 2011

Mobile phone screen protectors

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With many phones using Gorilla Glass you’d think they’d be no need for screen protector – thin layers of plastic that are stuck over the screen of your mobile phone. Sadly, they are as even the toughest of glass can be scratched by a rogue set of car keys in your pocket.

When I bought my Galaxy S2 I wanted to protect that screen – I’d used a screen protector on my HTC Hero and it had worked well. I’d bought the official HTC version, which cost about £5 for 2. I’d never needed the 2nd as the 1st went on so well – nearly 18 months later the original is still in place perfectly (but now has a scratch on it – that could have been the screen!).

An “official” Samsung version, though, will set you back £10 for just one. If you apply it wrong, it could be an expensive mistake. Others are available, some more expensive, but users seem to complain about “rainbow” effects across the screen.

Instead, I went to eBay and bought the cheapst I could – they cost me a couple of pounds for 6. And it was a good idea to get so many 2, as I managed to get a good fit on the 3rd attempt. However, at that price you can afford to go through all 6 in one go if you need to.

I’d done the same when I bought a Samsung Tocco Lite for my daughter – cheap eBay versions. In fact I too also go through a number before I get the fit 100% right. But the end result always seemed good and, well, they do their job. And it’s the same for my Samsung versions. They’re not as light to the touch as the original glass at first, but over time a build up of grease within the plastic improves this.

Certainly when it comes to value for money they’re worth it.

29Jul 2011

Samsung Galaxy S2

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The Samsung Galaxy S2 has been out now for a few months ago and it’s been reviewed to death. For that reason I’ll keep it short ;)

My HTC Hero (or T-Mobile G2 Touch in my case) has got to the end of its 18 month contract and has served me well. But the Android phone market has moved on considerably since and mine is looking heavy, small and, in particular, slow.

After finding an amazing deal for a Galaxy S2 on O2, I bought it a few weeks before my T-Mobile contract expired to give me plenty of time to transfer over any phone content. Not that I needed to. My S2 set me up more smoothly that I had setting up the Hero for the first time – everything copied in from Google without a hitch and the transfer of my SD card gave me all my music, photos and video.

The S2 is an absolute pleasure to use – it’s incredibly quick in use and has a beautifully bright screen. It’s a 4.3″ Super AMOLED screen with a  800×480 resolution. Most people rave about the screen in particular but I find the colours a little too, well, colourful – I really could do with some kind of contrast option. As a result I find it reveals imperfections in images more than it maybe shouldn’t.

But that, I have to say, is one of only a few minor complaints.

I’ve not used the TouchWiz front-end before but have no complaints. I particularly like the way you can group the list of applications in folders and on their own separate pages. With the HTC I ended up putting shortcuts on the front screens so that I could group them – with the Samsung I leave in the applications list but organise them there instead.

Samsung bundle a number of “Hub” applications, none of which I find useful but other people may. Their book and games apps are simply tools to get you to spend money – download Aldiko and the myriad of free or cheap games from the Marketplace

The S2 also has a number of features that, although have been available on others phones, are new to me:

First up, you can use the phone to create your own  wi-fi hotspot. So, for instance, I can switch this on when I’m in the car and my daughter can play online games on her Nintendo DSi by connecting to my phone’s wi-fi hotspot.

Quick tip here…I’ve installed and used an app named Widgetsoid2.x. This allows you create your own rows of activation buttons – give them a quick stab to cycle options or simply turn things on or off. The range of available options is huge and, amongst others, I’ve added a simple button to switch the wi-fi hotspot feature on and off.

Secondly, the S2 has USB On The Go (OTG), which means you can connect up external USB devices – memory sticks, keyboards, etc. Samsung doesn’t provide a cable to allow this but for a few pounds it’s easy to find one on eBay (search for “USB OTG Samsung Galaxy”).

I miss the lack of any kinds of lights on the S2 – no charging or indicator light. I don’t miss not having the trackball, which I hardly used on my HTC. There is only the usual array of buttons – side volume and power. On the top is a headphone socket and the bottom a micro USB. On the front is a physical home button and 2 touch sensitive buttons either side for menu and back.

2nd tip… hold down the home and power buttons simultaneously to take a screenshot! The screenshots are then saved into a folder with the same name.

Weight wise, the phone is just 116g – the much smaller HTC Hero, in comparison, is 135g. However, having said that HTC Hero is smaller, it’s not. Dimensions wide, although not as wide or tall as the S2 it’s a lot thicker. Overall the dimensions of the S2 are 23% less than the HTC.

Battery life isn’t brilliant but appears to be better than my Hero – I’m charging it every other day unlike daily with the HTC.

Wi-fi supports all bands and seems to be incredibly sensitive – just walking a metre away from G-band router can make it drop to 2-3 bars on the signal. However, even showing 0 or 1 wi-fi bars it still gets a strong and quick signal – this is because how much signal is required for each bar is down to the phone manufacturers software. As this supports N, they need to calibrate that appropriately. It’s not an issue, though, just an interesting aside.

The S2 has both a back and front camera, the front being a simple 2Mp one for video chat and the back is a mighty 8MP with its own flash. It supports auto-focus and full 1080p video. Both the pictures and videos are superb – the camera is quick and easy to use and has a huge range of useful features (e.g. the panoramic option allows you to take superb wide shots by simply moving the camera round in a slow sweeping movement!).

In the small black box that the phone came in is a set of very nice headphones, a USB cable and a separate power cable. There’s a quick start booklet and, annoyingly, no reference to the fact there’s a full manual on their website to download! Indeed, there’s even the Kies software available from there too (which is required to get firmware updates).

Kies is the latest software for Samsung phones and, unlike many others that I’ve tried, will connect via wi-fi. Indeed, there is 2 types of Kies software provided with the phone – the standard Kies (this is required to interface with the PC software) and Kies Air. The latter turns your phone into a web server – it gives you an IP that you can type into any browser on the same network and you can then view files, contacts, etc, from the phone on the browser. You can both download and upload to the phone using this and is superb to use.

Along with the phone I ordered myself a cheap desktop dock from eBay, some screen protectors and the official Samsung mesh case (all of which will be reviewed separately). I wouldn’t let the phone out of the house until the latter 2 were in place. The phone is big, expensive and could be prone to being damaged (although I’m sure the makers of the Gorilla Glass screen might say otherwise).

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Summary of Samsung Galaxy S2

It’s fast, slim and has an excellent screen. Because of its slimness it gets away with that large screen (and remains pocketable). I’d highly recommend it – particularly if you can get it for a good price!
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 29th July 2011.

25Jul 2010

One… just one

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Thrips. Harvest bugs. Thunder bugs. Whatever you want to call them, they’re small insects that come out during the warm weather, and mainly around fields. I’ve read in the past that because of their small size they’re prone to getting between the layers of LCD monitors and dying – and they’re not easily removable either (it involves taking your monitor very much apart).

Thankfully, I no longer live anywhere remotely rural so their blight no longer gives me problems. Indeed, I haven’t seen one for years.

Until today.

Crawling between the layers of my monitor.

Just that one, no more, and in my damn monitor. What are the chances?

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