smart gadget

Posted: 15 May 2011 02:19 PM PDT

That's not how I like a phone. As more and more handsets make their way into my palms, in all shapes and sizes, I've found that there are better and worse designs, that it isn't all personal preference. With the Thunderbolt, that's a 4.3" screen with 6.2 oz. to boot. Let's just say it's a big phone.

One thing about HTC is that they build thick phones. This is a purely aesthetic deduction. Some people want a heavy handset while others always want smaller, thinner and lighter. Yet with the Thunderbolt, thickness doesn't only come in its girth and weight. It's heavy on features, like being the first 4G handset for Verizon, and all these things add on the pounds. Maybe that's how you like it.

Running on Android 2.2, the Thunderbolt gives off an air of vanity and pride. Boot the handset to see the same thunderbolt in the commercials, along with roaring thunder booming from the stand-hidden speaker. Verizon isn't kidding around with the Thunderbolt, and if HTC's handset is any indication, this heavyweight is meant to show aggression. That it certainly does, with its large screen, 8MP still and 720p video capture and a 1.3MP front-facing camera, 8GB of built-in memory, 768MB of RAM and even an FM radio tuner. Add onto all of those top-of-the-line features 4G connectivity, on Verizon's claim of the fastest nationwide 4G network, and guess who the 800 pound gorilla in the room is.

Daunting as the phone is, the design is simple to a fault. An elegant receiver sits atop the front of the Thunderbolt, and beside it is the tacky front-facing camera. The 4.3" screen attracts fingerprints all too well, and as I noted in my first impressions, it's hard to see the screen in bright conditions even though it is an LCD display. The power/standby button falls prey to the same problem as HTC's HD7 by being too mushy and too difficult to press. On the back is the camera and dual LED flash, and further down the pull-out stand that reveals the speakerphone. I don't know what HTC was thinking with the charging port. It's on the wrong side and blocks users from charging the phone while using the stand. If your battery runs low and you're watching a movie or just letting the poor thing sit quietly, sorry, no juicing it up for the night. This horse only sleeps lying down.

This wouldn't be a big deal if the battery lasted a long time, but as I've noted in past handsets, 4G devices are notorious for having poor battery life. This is for two reasons: first, if there is no 4G connection nearby, the radio will search for one. It's like roaming. Second, if 4G is being used, it accosts the phone heavily. More data going through requires more power. Past phones like the Epic 4G and Evo 4G have managed because users either accept that faster phone speeds cost battery life, or know that they can't get 4G connectivity and turn the feature off entirely. For my testing I left 4G on at all times, because of Verizon's claim and because that's what most users would realistically do.

And, as expected, battery life on the Thunderbolt zaps away all too quickly. On 4G, the device can stay idle for about a day. That is to say, under minimal use. Off of 4G that time increases, but if you're traveling a lot or go between areas with poor coverage, battery life will barely hit a full day. Even with just checking email and the occasional web page, I charge the Thunderbolt nightly. Heavy features like GPS are certainly faster over 4G, and in the Los Angeles area finding places with 4G wasn't difficult, but the cost in battery life almost isn't worth it. Half of my days testing the Thunderbolt required a mid-day charge. That is to say, if you rely heavily on downloading lots of data and making a ton of phone calls, or if you travel constantly (or both), then the Thunderbolt practically requires a spare battery and charger.

Considering 4G is the big deal feature on the Thunderbolt, just how fast is 4G on Verizon? Stunningly fast and slow, at least on this phone. Using Ookla's Speedtest.net app, I took tests of download and upload rates around the greater Los Angeles Area, including downtown, Westlake, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and in between. All of these tests were done specifically with a 4G connection. The results are interesting, to say the least.

Upload rates varied from 700-34,000kbps. You read that right. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise since upload rates really don't matter and with bandwidth freely available on the new 4G network, having such high numbers doesn't mean all that much. What it does mean is that if you want to upload HD video over 4G, they can upload just as fast as if you were on Wi-Fi. Download speeds are a bit more troubling, ranging from 0-19,000kbps. It's troubling for two main reasons: first, these rates may seem high, but actually getting and maintaining a strong connection was next to impossible. Note that most of these tests were performed while standing in place, not while in the car driving. Out of ten speed tests, only two hit 10+mbps, and only one was over 1mbps. What this indicates is that even though download speeds can be very, very fast, the 4G network isn't really in place as well as it can be. Connectivity is still an issue, which may be due to the phone or to the current network. The score of 19mbps took two tries at UCLA's campus, where I expected a fast transfer rate. The first test only had 108kbps down. Upload rates, however, tended to stay over 20mbps, even with limited to no download speed.

As a comparison, I ran the same speedtest over my home network, and managed 17mbps down and 10mbps up. The fastest over 4G I've had was 19mbps down and 34mbps up. Running an identical test on my desktop – a wired connection – I had 31mbps down and 25.5mbps up. As a final note, all of these scores only indicate network speeds, not actual transfer rates on the phone. Even considering that, these are by far the fastest speeds of any 4G network I've yet to test. Update: up speeds, after further investigation, were inaccurate and displayed incorrectly. In various secondary tests (original tests could not be recreated exactly), I averaged 1.5-3.5mbps up speeds, which is much more consistent with actual data transfers. Once again, that is available network bandwidth, not actual user bandwidth.

The 8MP is mediocre, and I think gunning up to 8MP instead of 5MP or even 3MP was a mistake. Images are noisy at full-size, and Images are noisy at full-size, and shots tend to be very vibrant, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the types of stills you want. As expected the dual LED flash is blindingly bright and washes out colors tremendously. Video quality is fine, though considering how much has gone into the Thunderbolt and the 8MP lens, there really is no reason for 1080p to be left out. That said, if the video quality would have suffered, then it is better that full-HD was left out of the mix.

With lightning fast download and upload speeds, assuming a good and stable connection is available, the Thunderbolt is a very quick phone. Running the latest hardware and software available for Android devices and a ton of RAM, it'll zip through anything you need it to do. The big dealbreaker is battery life, which suffers tremendously because the phone under heavy use cannot last a full day. If you enjoy the hefty, solid feel of a smartphone and can survive the onslaught of power-draining speed, HTC's Thunderbolt is a solid handset that will serve its users well. Just make sure to put down extra for a car charger and spare battery.

2.1 system delivers powerful audio with significant bass "Altec Lansing Octiv 650"

Posted: 14 May 2011 09:26 AM PDT

Despite some minor distortion at high volumes, the Altec Lansing Octiv 650 is a solid iPod dock with a built-in subwoofer and a great remote

So far, Altec Lansing’s Octiv line has included relatively inexpensive Apple iPod and iPhone speaker dock options, spare in features, but enhanced by free apps that help you play DJ. That trend continues with the Altec Lansing Octiv 650, but the $199.95 (direct) price is higher than previous options like the Altec Lansing Octiv Duo M202 ($99.95, 3.5 stars). Still, inclusions like a built-in subwoofer, component video output, and a useful remote help make the price seem reasonable. The Octiv 650 offers commendable audio performance at moderate levels, but can’t handle deep bass at high volumes without distorting. In this price range, however, it’s one of the best options you’ll find, so it’s our Editors’ Choice for under-$200 iPod docks.

Design
Its triangular wedge shape allows the black matte plastic Octiv 650 to sit easily in a corner. Measuring approximately 7.7 by 12.5 by by 5.2-inches (HWD), the front face of the dock is covered in a black cloth speaker grille emblazoned with the Altec Lansing logo. Behind the cloth there are two 3-inch full-range speaker drivers. Below the logo, the dock arm extends out just far enough for docked iPods and iPhones to rest against a small rubberized back support that extends from the middle of the front panel. Power, Volume, Bass, Treble controls, along with a Video button (for sending video to your television) are lined along the upper left-hand corner of the top panel. The back panel is cut flat so that the triangle point that fits into a corner still has enough room for protruding connected cables. Connections for the power adapter, a component video output (cable not included), and a 3.5-mm aux input are situated on the back panel. The uncovered, 4-inch down-firing subwoofer is hidden from view on the bottom panel.

One note about connectivity: HDMI output would have been better, but because HDMI also carries audio, so I can see Altec Lansing’s reasoning for not going that route. One thing I understand less is: why are so many docks focused only on the iPod or iPhone’s video output? Why not include an audio input (that is higher quality than the 3.5-mm aux input) so that watching your television and using the Octiv 650 as your speaker system is a more desirable option? If this is intended as a dock for your living room, as it is marketed, better connectivity would have made a stronger product.

Included with the Octiv 650 is a very useful, simple remote control. The black plastic remote features controls for Power, Mute, Bass, Treble, Volume, Play/Pause, Skip Forward/Backward, as well as full iPod menu navigation and buttons for preset and custom EQ settings.

Altec Lansing’s Music Mood app (free in the Apple App store) for the Octiv 650 lets you customize your speaker output using a 7-band graphic EQ, as well as show some interesting visuals on your TV—more on that in a second. The app is a hint that, while you can use this dock with older iPods, it is definitely best suited for the touch-screen-and-apps-based iPod touch and iPhone.

The Music Mood app is a lot of fun. There are some nicely implemented video themes to choose from in the Visualizer section—Fireplace, MountainClouds, RiverStream, SunsetWaves. These are all accompanied by soothing sounds to match them, but you can also listen to your own music while watching them—or listen to the soothing sounds without watching any accompanying video. These all work even when the iPod is not even docked, but a customizable Equalizer (with several different types of EQ to choose from, including a 7-band option) appears as an option when the iPod is docked. The free app is just icing on the cake here.

Performance
The first thing you notice when you fire up the Octiv 650: It has some serious bass for its modest size. The low end and treble can be adjusted using the Bass and Treble buttons on the dock or the remote, as well as messing with the EQ, but even when the settings are flat, you notice thumping bass. At moderate and low levels, it brings out lower frequencies that you might expect a dock this size to ignore, and it does so without overpowering the rest of the frequency range. This is great for classical music tracks, like John Adams’s “The Chairman Dances,”—percussion and lower strings have a beautiful resonance, and the orchestra never sounds muddy. Rock, hip hop, and just about every other genre sound wonderful at moderate volumes as well.

It’s when things get really loud that the Octiv 650 runs into trouble. The deep bass of The Knife’s “Silent Shout” proved too much for the dock’s subwoofer at max volume—even with the bass setting not boosted. The distortion was present only at high volumes, and was not overwhelming, however. Plenty of selections, like Bill Callahan’s new record, Apocalypse, never distorted, even at maximum volume.

There are plenty of sub-$200 iPod speaker docks out there, like the JBL OnBeat ($149.95, 3.5 stars), that suffer from some minor distortion issues—and most of them don’t sound nearly as good as the Octiv 650 at moderate levels. To find great-sounding docks that don’t distort at all, you need to spend a bit more money—the Harman Kardon Go + Play Micro ($299, 4 stars) is a nice example of a clean, powerful iPod dock. And plain-old PC speakers in the same price range, like the Harman Kardon SoundSticks III ($169.95, 4.5 stars) tend to sound much better and don’t suffer from distortion—so perhaps the cost of including an iPod dock (and getting Apple certification) means that the amps and drivers on these speaker docks need to be of lower quality in order to keep prices reasonable. Despite the distortion issues on some songs, the Octiv 650 definitely gets loud enough for a party.

Watching video on your television from your iPod via the connected dock is a generally rewarding experience, but because it isn’t in HD, it’s probably not the crystal-clear image you might be used to with your HDTV. Regardless, set-up is easy, and with the tap of a button, you can be watching video or scanning album artwork. It’s too bad a component cable is not included in the box.

If you truly need a great sounding dock—and a dock that won’t have issues at very high volumes—you need to go outside the $200-and-lower price range. For the volume levels most use for music—and movies—at on a regular basis, however, the Octiv 650 does a fine job. Its audio output is customizable enough with the free app to get pretty granular and nail down the specific EQ curve you want. Despite the occasional distortion, the Octiv 650 is a top choice in this price range, which has few serious audio contenders.