When you talk of e-readers most people think of those from Amazon.  What many folks don’t realise is that there are other players on the market that offer impressive digital reading solutions.  Kobo is one of them and have been my favourite for a long time.

This year Kobo released updated e-readers to the world, with coloured e-ink displays making an appearance.  Kobo sent us the new Libra Colour and the Clara Colour to check out and we were suitably impressed with them, but be warned, don’t expect the display to look as good as your Android or iPad display.  Read on to hear more.

Display + hardware

The Libra Colour has the bigger of the two displays at 7-inches while the Clara Colour is a 6-inch display.  Both are E Ink Kaleido 3 displays with a 150ppi resolution.  While not great, these are designed for reading, not for watching high resolution movies and they accomplish that well.

The Libra Colour display is compatible with the Kobo Stylus 2 but the smaller Clara Colour display is not.  I’m not sure why this difference considering the only difference between the two is the one inch size difference.

The stylus support is handy to have, especially if you are using the e-reader for school or work and you can mark up, draw and write as required while reading documents.  You can also make your own notes for later reference.

Both displays can be navigated by tapping on the display – the location of the taps can be changed in the settings to the areas you prefer to use.  I like this option because sometimes while lying in bed reading I want something different to when I’m sitting on the couch reading.

I did notice that sometimes the display wasn’t overly sensitive to lighter touches when navigating around the e-reader.  Another advantage of the physical buttons.

The Clara Colour lacks buttons so it cannot be navigated using hardware buttons like the Libra Colour can.  Sometimes it is easier to reach and use the physical navigation buttons than the display and as such my preference is to have these buttons.

The front light (or backlight, whatever you prefer to call it) is a ComfortLight Pro which allows for not just altering of brightness but also the ‘temperature’ (warm or cold) of the display which is very handy at night where a warmer display allows for relaxation of the eyes.

The storage of both e-readers is 32GB which is enough for a lot of books (they can store up to 24,000 eBooks or 150 audiobooks based on 1.3MB per book and audiobook length of 6.5 hours with 28.8MB per hour) but if you stick a few comics on it that space will vanish quickly – although how many do you need on your device at any one time?

Comics look a bit faded on the coloured e-readers but it’s nice to have an e-reader which can do both e-books and coloured comics easily.  It means you only need to take one device on holidays with you.

The batteries are of different sizes with the Libra Colour at 2,050mAh and the Clara Colour at 1,200mAh, both of which is enough for up to 40 days of battery life (based on 30 minutes of reading per day with the front light at 30% brightness and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off).  It is interesting to see how much that extra one inch of display size (and maybe the stylus display drives?) must affect the battery life given both have the same expected battery life.

Nothing I’ve seen in this review has suggested to me otherwise which is great to hear because my Sage battery won’t last a week (there was apparently meant to be an update coming to improve battery life but I haven’t seen that in the last couple years I’ve been using it).

The Libra Colour comes with an IPX8 rating meaning it is “protected against the effects of continuous immersion in water.”  The X in it means it has not been tested against dust/solid ingress but water is the main thing for an e-reader with many folks liking to soak in a hot bath and relax while reading on their e-reader.  I’d suggest you don’t deliberately test this out though – I certainly did not.

The Libra Colour is 144.6 x 161 x 8.3 mm which is smaller than my Kobo Sage, mostly due to the slightly smaller display.  This is not a massive issue as it is still larger than most Kindles that you see around, especially if you have decent eyesight.

For me, with my woeful eyesight (without glasses) I do need the text quite large to be able to read properly given that most of my reading is before falling asleep at night, when I do not want to be wearing my glasses.  This results in less being able to be visualised on the page so I do need to turn the page more often – *shrug*.

This is a huge advantage of digital e-readers over normal books – you can alter the text size to suit your eyes.  Can’t do that with a traditional paper book.

The Clara Colour is just 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm in size making it quite compact and great for travelling.   It is 26 grams lighter than the Libra Colour at 174 grams but to be honest, both are light enough to carry in your bag easily without developing any kind of kyphosis or scoliosis from the weight.

How is the display to use?

As mentioned above there were times when tapping the Libra Colour display to turn the pages did nothing and there were times when it reacted so slowly I ended up skipping a page.  I’m not entirely sure why this was the case because it was difficult to replicate it when trying to figure out a reason so it was obviously not that much of an issue.

The Clara colour display did not have this issue so I suspect it was something to do with the stylus display driver on the Libra Colour.  It wasn’t bad enough to make me stop using it though, just a minor frustration that I noticed on occasion.

The colour marking up with notes etc was incredibly simple, especially when using the Kobo Stylus on the Libra Colour.  To highlight words, lines and paragraphs though you do need to tap and hold on a word using your finger rather than the stylus.  The Clara Colour does not support marking up, only highlighting.

The colours used for highlighting etc, along with the colours of the display are incredibly subtle and muted compared to that on a smartphone or tablet but that is one of the limitations of an e-ink display (at this stage – never say never).

The displays are easy to read and I love the ability to change the temperature or ‘warmness’ of a display based on time of day and also your preferences.

File Support

One of the main reasons I love Kobo e-readers are their vast file support.  It natively supports 15 file formats –  EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR.

It also supports audiobooks BUT ONLY Kobo Audiobooks which is crazy.  I tried to put a standard mp3 audiobook file on there, all to no avail.  It also means that audiobooks from sources such as OverDrive will not work either.

One more reason I love Kobo readers is the multitude of ways you can put the books and other files onto your e-reader.

With the more advanced Libra Colour, not only can you drag and drop from your PC but also download from OverDrive, Google Drive, Pocket and Dropbox.  The Clara Colour does not support Google Drive or Dropbox though.  It is very handy and it makes me wonder why this option is not included on the Clara Colour and given its $260 price tag it really should be.

One software option hidden away inside ‘Beta Features’ is the web browser.  It is very simple and can’t do much to be honest but it can be used to search quickly for the name of a book from Goodreads for example.  I’m not entirely sure when you would use this all that much given that these days most people have an Internet connected device such as a smartphone or tablet nearby that has a fully functional browser.

Notebooks

Notebooks within the UI of the Kobo Libra Colour allow you to make notes (funny that) on the go and then export them.  This is very handy but just how useful I’m not entirely sure.  I just wonder who doesn’t have an Internet-connected device designed for this sort of thing nearby to use but I think it’s a great push towards a healthier digital lifestyle (ie. away from the distracting and mentally-taxing social media).

Now the advanced notebooks did convert my handwriting into text well, it did not recognise smiley faces so you’d have to insert these as a freehand drawing if you really wanted them in.  You do not have the formatting that you’d get in a fully-fledged office program but it is designed for basic use only.

Interestingly, it was only during using the notebooks that I noticed any ghosting on the display.  As you can see in the pictures below, the writing was still ‘present’ after it had been converted to text.  I suspect that is a small software tweak needed where it should refresh the display once converting to text but doesn’t.

Audiobooks

Unfortunately, the only audiobooks that will play on either Kobo e-reader are those downloaded from the Kobo store which is incredibly disappointing.

Those that you have downloaded from there though will play as designed once you have connected a Bluetooth speaker or headphones to the e-reader.  I tested with both a speaker and headphones and they both paired quickly and easily and played the audiobook as expected.

The audiobook interface is super simple as you would expect, similar to that on Audible but it was refreshing for those who like an audiobook on occasion.  I just hope that they open it up to audiobooks from other sources too.  They haven’t closed off the standard books to those from their store so I am not entirely sure why they have done so for audiobooks.

Accessories

Kobo offers some great stands/covers that you can purchase separately from the e-reader.  They offer standard folio covers (SleepCovers) along with some that fold into a stand to help prop up the book while reading it.

The SleepCovers start at $44.95 for the most basic Libra Colour version but add an extra $5 for one that includes a folding stand in its design. Clara Colour SleepCovers start at $44.95. SleepCovers are actually great value and although I’d prefer them to be cheaper the ones with the included stand in the design are incredibly useful.

There is of course the Kobo Stylus as well.  There is a special cover/folio case that has a stylus holder too.  For me I think the stylus could be of great value if using the e-reader for marking up, such as reading and making notes on articles, grading papers and editing articles.  While the Kobo e-reader is not perfect for this task it is good that the stylus extends the uses of the Kobo Libra Colour meaning you may be able to get away with carrying one less device.

The Kobo Store and Kobo Plus

The Kobo Store is Kobo’s version of the Kindle Store but although Kobo doesn’t say just how many books it has we know it has more than 1.5 million, it doesn’t seem to have quite the same coverage that the Amazon Kindle Store does.  This is not a huge issue if you know where to buy the book you can relatively easily transfer the book from another device to your Kobo.

As for Kobo Plus I’m still yet to be convinced.  Kobo Plus has over 1.5 million eBooks and 150,000 audiobooks but for some reason there are very few of the big-name books or big new releases.  While Kindle Unlimited doesn’t either, it does give you the option to buy one for free each month.

For this reason I’m not convinced that Kobo Plus is decent value for your hard earned.  You are more likely to get better value out of OverDrive which uses your local library’s online ebooks and is normally fairly extensive.

Kobo Plus Read and Kobo Plus Listen are both $13.99 per month or you can opt for both of these for $16.99 per month.  You can get a month free trial though if you sign up so that may be an option for those undecided.

Use it forever

Forever may be a bit of a stretch but Kobo wants to extend the life of your e-reader with a design that allows it to be taken apart – and repaired.   They have partnered with iFixit to allow users to buy and replace their own batteries, circuit boards and screen replacements.

The overall goal of this program is to be more environmentally conscious.  Not only are the new Kobo e-readers made with recycled plastics and their retail packaging from 100% FSC-certified recycled paper, printed with soy-ink but the tablets themselves should have an extended lifespan due this repairability.

Verdict

The Kobo Clara Colour is a great little device.  Compact and incredibly portable, it is a great e-reader, but that is all it is. It is unfortunate that Kobo has limited the ways to add books to the e-reader as it would have been nice to see Dropbox and Google Drive support for it too.

This e-reader is for those who are either on a budget or only want their e-reader to read books (and listen to audiobooks if you want to get them from the Kobo Store). The black and white version of the Kobo Clara is just $20 cheaper than the Clara Colour which is makes the colour version a no-brainer in my opinion. At $259.95 it is still not cheap but one of the cheaper e-readers on our market here in Australia.

The Kobo Libra Colour though is an e-reader that does it all. It is compatible with the Kobo Stylus 2, it has colour, it has support for Google Drive and Dropbox and has physical buttons (and gestures on-display) for navigating. You can browse the web, mark up articles or assignments etc, make notes in the notebook, read e-books, listen to audiobooks — everything possible in an e-reader.

There really is no equivalent Kindle to the Libra Colour with the Scribe supporting stylus use but is a massive 10.2-inch display (you may as well buy a tablet at $549 for the Scribe), the Oasis is the same size and has physical navigation buttons but doesn’t support stylus use and neither of them are coloured. The Oasis is also much more expensive at $559.

The Libra Colour RRP is $359.95 which I think is a great deal. It may be $100 more than the Clara Colour but it can do so much more. If you are looking for an e-reader that can do everything and do not care about using Kindle Books then the Kobo Libra Colour is for you.

Kobo Libra Colour retails for $359.95 AUD, Kobo Clara Colour for $259.95 AUD, and Kobo Clara BW for $239.95 AUD at www.kobo.com/ereaders and select retailers. The Kobo Stylus 2 is currently available and retails for $119.95.

The post Kobo coloured e-readers, the Libra Colour and the Clara Colour — read in style appeared first on Tech Guide.

You don’t have to lift a finger with the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum and mop – it is a powerful and reliable system that can reach places that previous models couldn’t.

Tech Guide set up the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra on the lower floor of our two-storey home which is a combination of carpet, mats and a tiled floor – a perfect match for the robot.

The S8 MaxV Ultra has had several improvements across the board including a Flexi Arm which extends the side brush into corners.

It can sweep up dirt as close as 1.68mm from the edges – and we saw this for ourselves at our place.

Also onboard is 10,000Pa suction, a DuoRoller Riser Brush and VibraRise 3.0 mopping system.

The robot is designed to navigate and vacuum carpets and mop hard floors – and it can detect the surface instantly – in fact, as soon as it crosses back to carpet you can hear the suction kick in even higher.

At the same time, it lifts the brushes by 20mm, so it doesn’t wet or cross contaminate your carpets.

And when the S8 MaxV Ultra finds itself on hard floors it engaged the VibraRise 3.0 mopping system which moves 4,000 times per minute to offer some solid scrubbing.

It did an amazing job on our tiles.

On the vacuuming side, the Roborock did an impressive job.

We have a dalmatian named Logan as well as dark chocolate-coloured carpet in our lounge room so the little white hairs that Logan sheds are easily seen.

The S8 MaxV Ultra picked up most with its 10,000Pa suction.

To be clear, it didn’t get all the hair up off the carpet like a powerful stick vacuum would.

What works best is doing an initial vacuum and letting the robot vacuum maintain that level of clean by going out every day.

In terms of mopping, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra did a great job.

There was just the right amount of water used and you could see the sheen of the washed floor behind the robot.

There was never any excess water or dampness – it was just right.

The S8 MaxV Ultra did a tremendous job navigating our home and getting into every spot where it could fit.

Its sensors steered the unit around our furniture and the walls efficiently and gently.

There were even a couple of spots where there were some stray cords near power points and it did not stop it.

The S8 MaxV Ultra does have Reactive AI 2.0 Obstacle Recognition and Avoidance System and, apart from some cords it ran over, it did a good job navigating around objects.

It also has voice control built in so when you say “Hello Rocky” it awaits your command so you’re able to tell it to start cleaning, to clean certain parts of your home and to return to the dock.

Most of the time it was responsive to our voice but there were times it took a few prompts before it reacted.

It took about an hour to complete the mopping and vacuuming on my bottom floor.

The total area the robot cleaned was 68 square metres and during this time the robot returned twice to the RockDock Ultra charging station to clean the mops.

On top of that, this is also where we have a tank of clean water and a tank to collect the dirty water. This is all done automatically when the robot is docked and charging.

Both are easily accessible from the top of the unit.

And the dustbin is also emptied after each clean into a disposable bag inside the charging station.

The station was positioned in a corner and is small enough for it not to stand out too much in our home.

The other real strength of the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is the app and this is where you are taken step by step through the setup process before your initial clean.

It’s also on the app where you see the map of your home and the location of the robot during a clean.

The app is also where you can access all the settings for the vacuuming and mopping and creating a cleaning schedule.

On the map you can name the rooms to make it identifiable for the robot when you ask for it to go to that part of your home.

Another favourite feature is the ability to look through the robot’s camera even when you’re not home.

A popular use of this feature is to find your pets when you’re not at home.

When this feature is activated, it basically turns the S8 Max V ultra into a remote control unit where you’re able to steer it to look around your home. It turns it into a security camera on wheels.

And after all the cleaning and exploring the features, I did not lay a finger on the unit or the cleaning station. It truly lived up to the hands off solution.

The Roborock S8 Max V Ultra is a powerful robot vacuum system that can do the cleaning for you and give you some valuable time.

Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is available now and is priced at $2,999.

VERDICT

The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra offers a high level of cleaning quality and reliability. It is powerful and convenient system that’s ideal for every household to manage your cleaning.

The post Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum review – a powerful and reliable system appeared first on Tech Guide.

We love our coffee – we meet people to drink coffee together – it’s a big part of our lives. But what about if you can make café quality coffee at home? With the new DeLonghi Rivelia you can do just that – at the press of a button.

DeLonghi has been at this a while and they already make some excellent coffee machines.

We already own the La Specialista Prestigio – a manual coffee machine which grinds the beans, brews the coffee and has a steam wand to texture the milk.
We use it every day and it’s fun to make a coffee in much the same way a barista in a café would – manually.

The new DeLonghi Rivelia is the opposite – it’s fully automatic from bean to cup – and all you need to do is press a button.

Everything else is done for you right down to producing velvety frothed milk and mixing in nicely brewed coffee.

The unit is sleek and has a small footprint when you consider what it can do.

And it is all controlled through the intuitive 3.5-inch colour touch screen that steps you through every stage from initial set up to setting profiles and learning what you like and when you like it.

But despite it being a completely automatic machine, there are still several ways it can be adapted to suit your taste.

Setting up is surprisingly simple with the machine taking you step by step to get everything set up, the water tank filled and the coffee beans in the hopper.

It’s really easy to follow the steps via the display.

One of the best things about the Rivelia is your choice of drinks with 16 customizable recipes at your fingertips and the ability to create up to four personal profiles.

The machine remembers the coffee that you prefer and can make it for you every single time.

Another great new feature is the ability to switch between different coffee beans thanks to two interchangeable hoppers.

Traditionally whenever you fill your hopper with beans you’re stuck with that selection until they run out and you refill it with something different.

But with the Rivelia you can have two different types of beans in two different hoppers and easily switch them out depending on what you’re in the mood for.

The machine can also suggest things like the optimal grind, dose and temperature to suit the different coffee beans being used.

And the milk attachment works brilliantly and always produces fluffy, frothy milk.

There are settings on the milk attachment for the level of froth you prefer.

When we made our lattes, milk was always the first ingredient followed by the coffee.

There is also a cleaning feature on the milk container to ensure the hygiene of the system.

What we did when there was still milk left in the container, we detached this small unit from the machine and stored it in the fridge for the next coffee.

The Rivelia is good at making the coffee but what about the clean up?

Every time you turn off the machine it goes through a self-cleaning process which requires you to have a cup to catch any water.

The machine also reminds you to clean out the hopper which is where the ground coffee is disposed of after each cup.

The only thing we didn’t like was how often it suggested to clean the hopper despite the fact would only made two or three cups of coffee – I guess the machine is a clean freak.

And the clean up is not much more work than a pod-based machine.

Instead of tossing pods into the bin you’re just cleaning out the ground coffee from the hopper.

Yes, a pod machine gives you a choice of different coffee with each pod but we are more a pick and stick and the two varieties that were available with the Rivelia was more than enough to satisfy our taste.

The DeLonghi Rivelia is priced at $1,799 but coffee lovers would see this as an investment.

If you can make cafe quality coffee at home, you are going to be spending a lot less money buying it.

For us it meant our morning coffee was waiting for us at home rather than having to head out in the morning or after a workout to buy one.

If you drink a lot of coffee, there will be a lot of savings on how much money you’re going to spend so the machine will pay itself off in a year or two.

VERDICT

The DeLonghi Rivelia is an excellent fully automatic coffee machine that delivers consistently high quality brews to suit your taste at the press of a button. If you like cafe quality coffee without all the work, then this is the machine for you.

The post DeLonghi Rivelia automatic coffee machine review – cafe quality coffee at the press of a button appeared first on Tech Guide.

For many, mowing their lawn is a chore that’s right up there with vacuuming their carpets and mopping their floors. And it’s no coincidence then that ECOVACS ROBOTICS has extended its expertise from inside the house to the yard with the new GOAT G1 robot lawn mower.

The robot can do for your lawn what the other ECOVACS products can do for your carpets and hard floors inside your house.

Tech Guide has taken a hands-on look at the GOAT G1 from ECOVACS which was surprisingly easy to set up.

The idea of the GOAT G1 is to go out and keep your lawn trimmed and looking good rather than cutting long grass every couple of weeks like you would with a regular lawn mower.

In fact, ECOVACS says if your grass is 6cm or higher you will need to do a regular mow before putting the GOAT G1.

And that’s exactly what we had to do for our review.

Cutting the grass to the level you want is what you need to do so the GOAT G1 will keep it at this length without you having to lift a finger.

And for the record, ECOVACS named it the GOAT G1 – not to mean Greatest of All Time – but after the animal which happens like eating grass.

It was a straightforward setup which began with placing the charging station in an area of your yard which had plenty of space around it but near a power source.

The ECOVACS app steered us easily through the process which included linking to our wi-fi and even performing a firmware upgrade.

Next, we had to connect the two beacons which serve as boundary guides for the GOAT G1 in the yard.

Unlike other robot mowers, there was no need to run a boundary wire around the circumference of the lawn.

This often requires you to dig shallow trenches and hammer in the wiring with stakes.

The app presents various yard shapes and sizes and, if you can match your yard to one of these, it does make setup even faster.

Part of the process was to drive the GOAT G1 using the app like a remote control car around the edge of your lawn to map the mowing area.

You can see within the app as the map of your yard is being built – in much the same way that any Ecovacs Deebot would map your floor plan.

It also does this for the same reason, to establish the most efficient mowing path.

ECOVACS has taken a lot of the technology from its robot vacuums and brought it to the GOAT G1.

One of those technologies is obstacle avoidance with its AIVI 3D technology and a 150-degree fisheye camera which can not only detect objects in its path but navigate around them.

It can see objects as small as three centimetres which could include hoses pets, rocks and toys.

If you have dogs, we can’t tell you whether the GOAT G1 will be able to detect their poo as an obstacle so it might be an idea to clean up after them before you deploy the GOAT G1.

We tested the obstacle avoidance for our review by putting a rolled up hose in the G1’s path. It stopped short and went around it.

But a word of warning if the hose isn’t coiled high enough, there’s a chance the GOAT G1 will run right over it and damage it.

During setup, the app took note of the size of our yard after it was mapped and came up with a suggested schedule for the GOAT G1 which we gladly accepted.

It goes out three times a week and maintains the lawn as if we’ve employed a professional gardener.

And there are no trimmings to dispose of. The GOAT mulches the clippings as it cuts and puts it back into the grass.

And if it gets low on power halfway through your mow, it will simply return to the charging station to top up the battery and return at precisely the spot where it left off.

The app gives you plenty of control as well as giving you the ability to provide a view of the location of the lawnmower through the built in cameras.

The mower can also capture and mark the location of a person on the map and send it to you as a notification. So not only is it mowing your lawn it’s also a security camera on wheels.

Speaking of wheels, the goat G1 can easily get around your lawn and even go over paths and short dividers that separate some yard into different levels.

The GOAT G1 isn’t cheap – it’s priced at $2999.

But if your time is valuable, it will soon pay itself off.

And if you normally hire a gardener to keep your lawn looking good it might work out as a good investment.

VERDICT

The ECOVACS ROBOTICS GOAT G1 can keep your lawn manicured without you lifting a finger – it is easy to set up and run and will save you time and the cost of hiring a gardener to do the work for you.

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The ECOVACS ROBOTICS DEEBOT NEO robot vacuum will be available for $399 this week from Aldi as part of its Special Buys – that’s half price. And before you make the purchase you can read our complete review.

The DEEBOT NEO, usually priced at $799, will be available from September 9 in Aldi’s Special Buys while stocks last.

While the DEEBOT NEO might be new to you, we know the robot vacuum very well after using is for several weeks so we could write our review.

So if you’re wondering about what you’re going to get with the DEEBOT NEO – we’ve already done a thorough test drive and we’re republishing our complete review ahead of September 9 so you can appreciate the value you’re getting.

Here is our original review of the ECOVACS ROBOTICS DEEBOT NEO which will be tremendous value at $399 at Aldi on Saturday, September 9.

TECH GUIDE REVIEW OF THE ECOVACS ROBOTICS DEEBOT NEO

The DEEBOT NEO is both a vacuum and a mop and can take over the cleaning duties without you lifting a finger.

It has TrueMapping laser-based navigation technology so it can map your home and create an efficient path when vacuuming and mopping.

The unit is really easy to unpack and set up.

You need to find a clear space near a power point for the charging station and download the ECOVACS Home app to take you through the steps for set up.

From the app, once you’ve created an account, you can simply scan the QR code inside the lid to link the robot and give it a name.

The maiden voyage of the DEEBOT NEO is mainly a mapping mission (yes, it is still vacuuming and/or mopping) so it gets to know your home’s layout.

You’ll see the map forming on the app as it makes its way around your home.

And it can also create maps for different levels of your home.

The first thing we noticed with the DEEBOT NEO was that it was louder.

And that’s a good thing because the motor is providing more suction – twice as much as a matter of fact.

It was easy to see where it had been with the marks on our carpet.

We’re always amazed by how smart the DEEBOT NEO is and how it can gently find its way around your home without damaging your furniture or rolling over the top of a cable or a sock and getting tangled up.

Part of the TrueMapping technology is object detection so the unit knows to go around something it sees in its path.

In terms of the quality of the clean, we were pleasantly surprised.

We have two dalmatians at our place and chocolate coloured carpet, so the little white hairs Ziggy and Logan shed are easy to see.

The DEEBOT NEO did so well in one room we had to empty the dust bin before it could move to the next.

What will happen over the course of time is the robot vacuum maintaining the clean with a daily journey around the house.

The device is also pretty slim so it can fit under furniture and under tables and around chairs so there’s no need to stack chairs and move items for the DEEBOT NEO to do its thing.

And on the mopping side, the DEEBOT NEO also excelled.

It a small water reservoir and can be fitted with mopping pads. It comes with a washable mop pad and 10 disposable pads.

We have large tiles in our living area and kitchen that are a light colour and can easily show up the dirt.

On its first run, the unit did offer a respectable clean but there were some stubborn spots that needed a manual wipe.

But if it does this everyday – it can easily maintain the level of cleanliness.

The water distribution was impressive thanks to its electronically controlled water pump.

It left a little snail trail where it had been, but this quickly dried.

The unit never once left any excess water or puddles.

The DEEBOT NEO is smart enough to detect the floor type so when in mopping mode and it encounters carpet it will stop instantly.

If it’s in vacuum mode it will increase suction power when it moves from hard floors to carpet.

For those new to robot vacuums, and we imagine a lot of people who buy the DEEBOT NEO will be, the unit will automatically return to the charging station and recharge the battery when needed before heading out and completing the cleaning run.

The app does put all the control in your hand with the ability to set schedules and send the robot vacuum out manually.

Even when you’re not home you can log into the app and take control.

You might find out someone is popping around later, and your place needs a spruce up – you can activate it manually from the app even before you get home.

It’s also possible to link theDEEBOT NEO to Alexa or Google Assistant for voice control.

The DEEBOT NEO is also compatible with the ECOVACS Auto Empty Station so it can automatically transfer the dust and hair collected by the robot vacuum into the larger dustbin which can be emptied every 30 days.

The ECOVACS ROBOTICS DEEBOT NEO goes on sale on September 9 through Aldi for $399.

Following that special offer, the unit will be available at its regular price of $799.

VERDICT

The DEEBOT NEO will surprise you with its cleaning quality and efficiency – it has packed in a lot of flagship features into an affordable and attractive unit that would make an excellent choice as your first robot vacuum.

The post DEEBOT NEO goes on sale for half price at $399 at Aldi this week – read our complete review appeared first on Tech Guide.

When it comes to shavers the more blades you have the better they are and Panasonic has just released its first electric shaver with six blades to provide an even closer shave.

Panasonic’s new ES-LS9A has six Japanese surgical-grade blades created using Samurai sword traditions so it can handle all beard types and maintain their sharpness even after years of use while causing minimal skin irritation.

There are two new thick stubble blades that are coated with Titanium along with two finish blades and two lift blades which can cut more hair in a single pass.

The height of the beard capture area is increased thanks to the tapered blade tips which makes sure those long, flat and difficult hairs are easily captured.

The inner blades of the ES-LS9A are nano-sharpened at a 30-degree angle so hairs are cut as close to the root as possible whether you’re shaving wet or dry.

The shaver also has a flexible shaver head so it can adjust to the contours of your face and still maintain contact between the blades and your skin.

The six blades can move in 22 independent directions vertically and horizontally so it covers a greater area with each stroke.

The Panasonic ES-LS9A delivers more than 84,000 cross-cutting actions per minute to manage to get through facial hair of all thicknesses.

I decided to give the shaver a try for myself.

I’ve got a decent beard if I don’t shave for a few days. When I tried the ES-LS9A I hadn’t shaved for three days so there was a bit hair to trim.

I charged the shaver to 100 per cent before I got started and found it provided a surprisingly close shave.

Usually I use a blade with shaving oil and I can get a nice close shave in just a few minutes.

Using the ES-LS9A took a little longer as I tried to manoeuvre the shaver around the contours of my face and chin.

I don’t have much electric shaver experience, but I learned pretty quickly I needed to attack my beard from certain directions to give the six blades their best chance.

This was probably the closest shave I’d ever had with the many electric shavers I’ve tried over the years.

But it took me almost three times as long as I would shave with a razor. And that’s probably more a fault of mine than the shaver.

Once I got the direction of attack right it powered through and left smooth skin in its place.

I also used the handy pop up trimmer on the rear panel to tidy up my sideburns as well.

The good news is the Panasonic ES-LS9A also comes with a cleaning and charging dock which automatically removes beard trimmings from the blades while recharging it at the same time.

Also includes is a small zip up travel pouch and the plug which can be taken from the dock and plugged directly to the shaver to charge.

The Panasonic ES-LS9A electric shaver is priced at $899 and available at the Shaver Shop.

The post Panasonic’s six-blade electric shaver uses the same Japanese blades as a Samurai sword appeared first on Tech Guide.

It’s one thing to clean but you want to clean hygienically while also saving time as well and that’s exactly what the Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum can achieve.

The Samsung Bespoke is an advanced cleaning system that can look after all the carpets and hard floors at your place as well as clean up pet hair if you have a dog or cat.

Part of the package, apart from the Jet Stick itself, is a charging station that also doubles as a cleaning station.

The Samsung Jet Stick has a five-layer filtration system with a metal mesh grill filter to scoop up the larger particles while the washable micro filter can capture up to 99.999 per cent of fine dust particles.

This is particularly useful if you or anyone in your household has any sensitivities or allergies.

Tech Guide has been using the Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum for a few weeks and we used it to clean our tiled floors and our carpets.

And as the owner of two Dalmatians we also made good use of the Pet Tool.

The clean station is a tall unit that also doubles as the charger so you need to position it in an out-of-the-way corner near a power point.

When not being used, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum is cradled on top of the clean station so its onboard battery will be fully charged every time you want to use it.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum itself is quite slim and light so it’s no effort vacuuming or mopping the floor.

There’s a decent sized dustbin onboard as well.

There are four levels of suction – MIN, MID, MAX, JET – which offers up to 210W of power and 135,000 RPM.

The modes can be set through using the buttons on the handle.

This display can also tell you the charging status when it’s on the cleaning station and give you the remaining running time.

Suction is impressive even in the lower modes which offer long run times, but we mainly used the JET mode to give us a solid clean with the main Jet Dual Brush head which was useful for removing pet hair from our carpets and giving the hard floors a sweep.

The obvious comparison for a similar vacuum would be a Dyson and while it’s not quite as strong suction-wise as a Dyson it is not far behind.

The latest Dyson is more expensive and it’s only a vacuum but with the Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum you get a vacuum, mop and a cleaning station and lots of accessories.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum’s JET mode gives you about nine minutes of cleaning time which is fine if you’re cleaning a few rooms, but the slower modes can offer up to 30 minutes of use.

The Pet Tool is a smaller head and we used that on our furniture to vacuum the tiny white hair from our dogs.

The unit’s attachments easily click in to place to suit what and where you’re cleaning.

The main wand is also height adjustable to suit anyone so they can use it comfortably.

Included is a crevice tool to get into those small places and useful in the car along with the combination tool which has a brush on the end so you can dust and vacuum at the same time.

The Flexible Tool also make life easier with the ability to place the cleaning head at an angle up high do things like clean the top of cupboards and your blinds.

Also included is a short cradle to place all your accessories in handy reach as well.

But the mopping accessories require you to find your own storage.

When you’re done vacuuming, you simply place the Jet Stick on the cleaning station and press the front button and the content of the bin will be sucked out and placed inside the disposable bag that sits inside the unit.

The bag is large enough to last up to two months before it needs replacing. You get three bags in the box and can buy five-pack for $30 that would lost almost a year.

You can also manually empty the bin into your garbage, but you have to fiddle with the clip that disengages when placed inside the cleaning station to open the lid and toss out the dust.

This doesn’t work as well as the cleaning station which uses suction to get rid of all the debris.

The dustbin can also be detached so you can wash it in the sink as well.

One thing to remember when taking the vacuum off the cleaning station – be sure to close the lid of the dustbin otherwise you won’t get the same suction.

Now let’s talk about mopping.

The Spray Spinning Sweeper comes with two reusable circular microfibre pads and an easy clean bottle that slips inside the head and sprays water in front of the sweeper to get a good clean.

It also comes with disposable wet pads.

A press of the + button sprays the water – and you get a decent amount even with a short press so you can spread that around quite a wide area.

We used the Spray Spinning Sweeper on our light tiles and it easily shifted the dirt and stains we normally have to remove on our hands and knees with a wipe.

It would have been good to have a bit more speed with the mop pads to create a bit more friction and cleaning power but as is it still worked admirably.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum comes with two batteries (the spare one can rest on the accessory stand) so you’ll never be caught short on your clean.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum is available now and is priced at $1,149.

VERDICT

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum is an effective cleaning system that not only does a great job vacuuming and mopping but also lets you stay organised and hygienic with the cleaning stand and accessory cradle. If you’re a clean freak – this will make you feel right at home.

The post Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra Stick Vacuum review – complete cleaning solution appeared first on Tech Guide.

The new Ecovacs Robotic Deebot Neo robot vacuum has inherited a lot of premium features from previous models so it’s an ideal choice for anyone looking take their first step into the category.

And if you get your skates on this Wednesday March 9 and head to your local Aldi store, you’ll be able to score the Deebot Neo for the wallet-friendly price of $399 – that’s half price the regular price of $799.

The Deebot Neo is both a vacuum and a mop and can take over the cleaning duties without you lifting a finger.

It has TrueMapping laser-based navigation technology so it can map your home and create an efficient path when vacuuming and mopping.

The unit is really easy to unpack and set up.

You need to find a clear space near a power point for the charging station and download the Ecovacs Home app to take you through the steps for set up.

From the app, once you’ve created an account, you can simply scan the QR code inside the lid to link the robot and give it a name.

The maiden voyage of the Deebot Neo is mainly a mapping mission (yes, it is still vacuuming and/or mopping) so it gets to know your home’s layout.

You’ll see the map forming on the app as it makes its way around your home.

And it can also create maps for different levels of your home.

The first thing we noticed with the Deebot Neo was that it was louder.

And that’s a good thing because the motor is providing more suction – twice as much as a matter of fact.

It was easy to see where it had been with the marks on our carpet.

We’re always amazed by how smart the Deebot Neo is and how it can gently find its way around your home without damaging your furniture or rolling over the top of a cable or a sock and getting tangled up.

Part of the TrueMapping technology is object detection so the unit knows to go around something it sees in its path.

In terms of the quality of the clean, we were pleasantly surprised.

We have two dalmatians at our place and chocolate coloured carpet, so the little white hairs Ziggy and Logan shed are easy to see.

The Deebot Neo did so well in one room we had to empty the dust bin before it could move to the next.

What will happen over the course of time is the robot vacuum maintaining the clean with a daily journey around the house.

The device is also pretty slim so it can fit under furniture and under tables and around chairs so there’s no need to stack chairs and move items for the Deebot Neo to do its thing.

And on the mopping side, the Deebot Neo also excelled.

It a small water reservoir and can be fitted with mopping pads. It comes with a washable mop pad and 10 disposable pads.

We have large tiles in our living area and kitchen that are a light colour and can easily show up the dirt.

On its first run, the unit did offer a respectable clean but there were some stubborn spots that needed a manual wipe.

But if it does this everyday – it can easily maintain the level of cleanliness.

The water distribution was impressive thanks to its electronically controlled water pump.

It left a little snail trail where it had been, but this quickly dried.

The unit never once left any excess water or puddles.

The Deebot Neo is smart enough to detect the floor type so when in mopping mode and it encounters carpet it will stop instantly.

If it’s in vacuum mode it will increase suction power when it moves from hard floors to carpet.

For those new to robot vacuums, and we imagine a lot of people who buy the Deebot Neo will be, the unit will automatically return to the charging station and recharge the battery when needed before heading out and completing the cleaning run.

The app does put all the control in your hand with the ability to set schedules and send the robot vacuum out manually.

Even when you’re not home you can log into the app and take control.

You might find out someone is popping around later, and your place needs a spruce up – you can activate it manually from the app even before you get home.

It’s also possible to link the Deebot Neo to Alexa or Google Assistant for voice control.

The Deebot Neo is also compatible with the Ecovacs Auto Empty Station so it can automatically transfer the dust and hair collected by the robot vacuum into the larger dustbin which can be emptied every 30 days.

The Ecovacs Robotics Deebot Neo goes on sale on March 9 through Aldi for $399.

Following that special offer, the unit will be available at its regular price of $799.

VERDICT

The Deebot Neo will surprise you with its cleaning quality and efficiency – it has packed in a lot of flagship features into an affordable and attractive unit that would make an excellent choice as your first robot vacuum.

The post Ecovacs Robotics Deebot Neo review – quality robot vacuum that won’t break the bank appeared first on Tech Guide.

We love BBQ, we love eating ribs and brisket but never thought we would be able to make it for ourselves, but the Traeger Ironwood 885 grill has changed all that.

We’ve always been a big fan of the show BBQ Pitmasters and marvelled at their skills as they prepared award-winning BBQ pork, beef and chicken.
And now we’ve been able to try our hand at becoming a BBQ Pitmaster ourselves.

What makes things a whole lot easier is the technology built into the grill.

Traeger’s WiFIRE technology means you can connect the grill to your home wireless network and control it from anywhere.

This feature alone greatly appealed to us as we took our first step into this new world of BBQ and smoking.

The Traeger Ironwood 885 is just one model in the company’s line-up of smokers and grills.

This freestanding grill is 1.15m tall, 1.35m wide and 66cm deep.

The unit is on wheels so it can be moved wherever you need it in your yard and once you have you have found your spot, the wheels can be locked so it stays put.

It has a solid build quality and is fairly easy to put together out of the box. The box even converts to a little cubby house for the kids.

The Ironwood 885 uses wood pellets and is powered by electricity so there’s no need for a gas bottle or any other connection.

The Traeger D2 Direct Drive is what powers the grill on DC (direct current) to maintain a consistent temperature in any weather conditions.

Once it’s ignited it uses the wood pellets for both fuel and to provide the smoke flavour to your meat.

The pellet hopper is on the right side of the grill and feeds down into the ignition chamber.

One thing we didn’t know was there were numerous flavours of wood pellets including hickory, apple, cherry, pecan, mesquite and many more.

And you’re not stuck with one flavour of wood pellets either. If you decide to make a change even with a full hopper, there is a trap door so you can empty it out to a storage container and then refill with another flavour of wood pellets.

So not only can you have a different smoke flavour but, as we’ve learned, there’s also plenty of options to flavour the cook with different rubs and sauces.

This was a whole new world.

But what we liked about the Traeger Ironwood 885 and its companion app was that everything was explained and spelt out, so we had expert guidance every step of the way.

The app not only lets you control the grill but also includes hundreds of recipes and videos for you to follow.

The Traeger Ironwood 885 is not your regular BBQ with a hot plate. It uses direct heat and smoke through specially designed channels in the main chamber.

It has a downdraft exhaust system that creates channels to circulate heat and smoke that can cook your food up to 20 per cent faster.

The downdraft exhaust system let you control smoke output while at the same time increasing the penetration of smoke into your food to really come up with that wood fire flavour.

inside the grill there are two Shelves with a large grilling area they can hold up to 10 chickens, 7 racks of ribs, nine pork butts and up to three briskets.

It also has double wall stainless steel interior and an airtight lid, so it keeps the heat in no matter how cold it happens to be outside.

there is a control panel and digital display that allows you to ignite the system, set the temperature, set timers and monitor your cook.

but thanks to the Wi-Fi controller you can now do all this from the Traeger app on your smartphone including setting and monitoring temperatures, keeping an eye on timers and receiving alerts.

There’s also a meat probe which can show you the meat’s internal temperature – a figure that’s used to determine if the meat has been cooked long enough. This information can also be displayed through the app as well.

And remember how we told you about the included recipes within the app? There are more than 1,500 recipes and videos.

You can follow your favourite pitmasters and chefs and never miss a new recipe.

There’s also a lot of information about grill care and cleaning as well as a shortcut to help and support whenever you need it either through chat, a call or online.

OK, but what about our cooks?

We’ve cooked ribs three times and each one has been a huge success.

First of all, the grill is really easy to operate so it gives novices like us an easy way to cook some great food.

It also heats up pretty fast to the desired temperature so you can get cracking on whatever you’re cooking.

We learned the process can take several hours, in the case of our ribs it was a five-hour cook with the recipes giving us clear instructions on temperature, cooking time and other preparations.

And the Traeger Ironwood 885 did the rest.

During those long cook times we were able to get on with your life and check in through the app and make any adjustments if they were needed.

Our first cook was beef ribs over five hours which we prepared with Traeger’s own rub before the cook and then coated with Traeger’s barbecue sauce before serving.

Our second rib cook was pork ribs purchased from a butcher which had already been coated with a rub before we cooked them for five hours and coated them with barbecue sauce.

More recently we cooked four racks of pork ribs which we coated with Traeger’s rub before placing him on the grill for three hours.

We then removed the ribs and wrap them in foil with brown sugar, butter and apple juice and cooked for another 90 minutes before applying the barbecue sauce and serving.

And we were able to monitor all of this through the app including how long was left in that part of the cook.

We were even able to monitor the wood pellet level as well through the app.

The Traeger Ironwood 885 has really ignited (get it?) or passion for BBQ and what was once considered too hard is now easily achievable thanks to this impressive grill.

It is available now and is priced at $2,899.

VERDICT

Whether you’re thinking of trying your hand at BBQ for the first time or if you’re a seasoned professional, the Traeger Ironwood 885 with wi-fi onboard and the companion app delivers across the board to help you cook like a true BBQ Pitmaster.

The post Traeger Ironwood 885 with wi-fi review – go from novice to pitmaster appeared first on Tech Guide.

We all know the importance of flossing but just how easy and effective flossing can be all depends on how you do it. If you use the new Waterpik Nano water flosser you will quickly find it’s really easy.

The new Waterpik Nano is a compact version of the previous model that allows you to floss effectively using just water.

When many people think of flossing in the traditional way with string, they see it as a chore –  and it also takes a bit of time

But with the Waterpik nano it’s fast and easy to get the job done while delivering the same results for removing plaque and food between your teeth.

The device delivers water at three different pressure settings to clean out any gunk between your teeth.

Think of it as a high pressure hose for your mouth which can remove up to 99.9 per cent of plaque from treated areas, braces and even below the gumline.

It has been clinically proven to be 50 per cent more effective for improving gum health than string floss.

So even if you have implants, crowns, bridges and veneers, the Waterpik Nano is safe to use and can help you get that clean feeling.

The Waterpik Nano is actually 50 per cent smaller than previous Waterpik countertop units which means it’s not hard to find space in your bathroom for your daily flossing routine.

Setup is really easy. You simply fill the reservoir with warm water and click it into the base.

You then insert one of the tips until it clicks into place in the handle, select your pressure from one of three settings and turn it on.

First time users may take a little while to get used to the sensation but it won’t be long before you’re navigating your mouth expertly and flushing out any debris between your teeth.

For our review, we did notice particles in the sink that had been removed with the Waterpik Nano.

It’s important to stand over the sink to let the water drain from your mouth but it’s not too different or harder than brushing your teeth.

You are meant to aim the tip along your gumline and pause briefly between teeth.

And a word of warning, always keep the Waterpik tip in your mouth while it’s turned on otherwise you will spray water everywhere.

It only takes a few cleans to get used to the actions and you’ll have that clean mouth feeling.

But it would have been great to have the on/off switch on the handle itself.

As it is now, you have to keep your head over the sink and reach over to the unit with your free hand to switch it off.

There are three pressure settings and we recommend starting off at a low pressure until you get used to it.

You’ll be surprised at what you’ll see being washed out of your mouth especially if you haven’t flossed for a while.

And when you’re done, simply detach the reservoir, turn it upside down and place it back on top of the unit as a cover.

Even if you are a regular brusher, flossing will offer a clean a brush just cannot achieve.

And with the Waterpik Nano, it’s three times as effective as using regular string floss.

The new Waterpik Nano isn’t just physically smaller than its predecessor – it’s also cheaper at $139.95.

It’s available now from the Shaver Shop and Chemist Warehouse.

VERDICT

If you’re serious about mouth and gum health, the Waterpik Nano is an easy and effective way to floss – faster and easier than using string floss and three times as effective. And all it uses is water.

The post Waterpik Nano review – effectively floss your teeth using just water appeared first on Tech Guide.

When we think of Karcher we think of high pressure cleaners but the company has also produced a handy 2-in1 cordless floor cleaner that makes light work of your hard floors.

The Karcher FC7 is an all-in-one product that makes cleaning fast and easy.

The lightweight unit has a rechargeable battery and comes with trademark yellow highlights on the chassis.

Being a hard-floor cleaner, the FC7 has four detachable rollers and dual water tanks that collects the dirty water and debris as it mops.

Tech Guide gave the Karcher FC7 a whirl on our tiled floors.

What we liked about the device is that it’s aimed at users who can’t spare the time to vacuum the floor before mopping it.

The FC7 does all of that at the same time so you can pick up things like pet hair, crumbs and other small debris and dirt and give the floor a good clean at the same time.

The unit has a four rollers which makes it easy to glide around your floors.

The FC7 feels like it’s floating on a cushion of air which helps you move it back and forth and side to side to easily clean even if it means moving around obstacles and furniture.

And the fact that you’re picking up dirt and debris while mopping at the same time means you’re cutting your cleaning time in half.

There are two water tanks aboard the FC7.

The first up near the handle is where you put your clean water and a capful of detergent.

The second is below beside the rollers where the dirt and debris is collected as you are cleaning.

The cleaning rollers rotate as you are sweeping and mopping and continually moistened with the clean water and detergent from tank one so it can scoop up the dirt and mop up the floor as you move it backwards and forwards and sideways.

The water coming in is filtered into a separate tank so you’re not just moving dirty water back over your floor while you’re cleaning.

There are two cleaning modes including a boost mode for those extra dirty areas that need a little more attention.

Overall we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the clean of our tiled floors.

They are a light colour and really show up the dirt when it’s there so it was pleasing to see the Karcher FC 7 blaze through the dirt and grime as well as pick up pet hair from our two dalmatians and other crumbs and debris on our floors.

You can see a sheen of water on the ground as you are cleaning but the rollers come in to play to scoop up the dirt and polish the floor at the same time.

After a few minutes when the floor dried off we were able to walk on the tiles and put our stools and chairs back on the floor.

The FC 7 considers the need to prepare for your clean but also to clean the product afterwards.

Like a vacuum cleaner, you do have to spend some time every few cleans to clear the base of pet hair and debris that doesn’t end up in the tank.

Thankfully those sections of the base easily click away and can be cleaned with a simple rinse under a tap.

While it’s charging, the Karcher FC7 rests on a base that also doubles up as a cleaning station.

The bottom of this base looks like a small tub which allows you to add a little water, place the FC7 inside and run the rollers to give them a rinse.

The FC7 is powered by a 25.2V lithium ion battery which takes about four hours to completely charge.

On a full charge it will run for up to 45 minutes which is plenty of time to clean all of your hard floors thoroughly.

We did find the instructions a little confusing with illustrations outlining what we needed to do to set up and clean but the written instructions we’re at the back of the booklet instead of beside the illustrations to make them easier to understand.

Thankfully it is pretty simple to set up and operate and to clean afterwards.

There were times when we did have to pick up the odd crumb off the floor afterwards but that’s not a deal breaker because it had picked up most of the other dirt on the floor in the process.

The Karcher FC7 is available now from Harvey Norman and is priced at $799.

VERDICT

The Karcher FC7 is a handy cleaning product to own if you have a lot of hard floors and not enough time to vacuum before you mop.

The post Karcher FC7 review – the easy way to vacuum and mop at the same time appeared first on Tech Guide.

We’re spending more time than ever before at home so it’s important to keep the air quality high and the latest Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde can do just that.

And as its name suggests, the new Dyson unit is strong enough to filter formaldehyde – and that’s a big deal because it is more prevalent than you think.

Formaldehyde is a colourless gas pollutant that can be found in insulation, paint, wallpapers, varnishes and household cleaning products.

It is also actually released by furniture and wooden products containing formaldehyde-based resins like plywood and fibreboard.

So there’s a good chance there’s formaldehyde in your home.

But formaldehyde particles are 500 times smaller than particles the size of 0.1 microns so filtering them is really hard.

But Dyson has cracked the code with the Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde.

For those wondering, formaldehyde can cause a variety of irritations including eye, nose and lung irritations.

Tech Guide took a closer look at the Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde which we set up in our living room.

The product is a nice medium size that’s large enough to cool and heat efficiently but small enough to carry to any room in the house.

We paired the unit through the Dyson app so we could not only control the device with our smartphone but also see information like air quality, the temperature and humidity.

Using the app means users can control the device from anywhere on their network so they can turn it on from another part of the house.

For example, the unit may be in your bedroom and you are able to turn it on before you go to sleep so by the time you get to bed, the room is at the right temperature for you.

Many people are under the false impression that the air quality inside their house is clean but the truth of the matter is there are numerous household pollutants in the air.

These include formaldehyde, benzene, nitrogen dioxide, industrial emissions along with pollens and allergens, bacteria as well as other fumes and cooking odours.

And being inside your home, these pollutants have nowhere to go.

The Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde multiplier technology draws in pollutants and then projects the purified air throughout your living space.

There are four sensors onboard including a dedicated solid-state formaldehyde sensor, which uses a unique algorithm to precisely diagnose the air quality before reacting and purifying the air.

The onboard HEPA+ carbon filter can capture gases and 99.9 percent of particles that are as small as 0.1 microns.

Then the catalytic filter comes into play to destroy formaldehyde as well.

The unit traps formaldehyde and then converts it into water and CO2 through this catalytic filter.

And the good news is this filter is self-regenerating so it will never need replacing.

All of the filters are located in the base of the unit and are really easy to access and install once you take it out of the box.

The Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde also prevents the pollutants leaking back into the air thanks to the seals that meet HEPA H13 standards.

But it’s not just a filter and a purifier, it can heat and cool the room as well.

The onboard air multiplier technology makes light work of circulating heated and cooled air throughout the room.

Users can set an ideal temperature as well as the fan speed and once that is reached the unit automatically maintains that level.

While it does heat the average size root quite well, larger spaces take a little bit more time.

The unit has to work a lot harder in those larger rooms and, as you’d expect, isn’t as consistent as having the product in an average-sized room.

If you want to warm yourself up using the Dyson Purifier Hot and Cold Formaldehyde it works quite well if you are in its path and sitting close to it.

We found that sitting a couple of metres away we could feel the air coming from the unit but the stream had lost its warmth by the time it reached us and the air was colder than we expected.

Generally if the unit is kept in a corner of the room it will provide consistent heating and maintain it even on those really cold nights.

At the higher fan speeds the unit can be a little noisy if you are sitting close to it but generally it made a non-intrusive background noise.

The included remote control makes it easy to set it to the right temperature and control the airflow.

Having the Dyson Link app puts that convenience in your hand with your smartphone and also makes it possible to control the unit with your voice.

The Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde is priced at $999 which is a lot more expensive than rival products but the Dyson easily outperforms those other products in terms of airflow, heating and cooling and the sheer level of filtration which now includes that elusive formaldehyde.

Because it can improve the air quality in your home and thereby the health of your family – it’s well worth the investment if you or your loved ones have allergies and other sensitivities.

The post Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde review – stay warm or cool with clean air appeared first on Tech Guide.

As a big Star Wars fan it’s no surprise that I like products with lasers but I never thought that one of those products would be Dyson’s latest V15 Detect powerful cordless vacuum.

Yes there is a laser aboard the V15 Detect and it helps it live up to its name by helping customers detect hidden dirt on hard floors.

The laser, which was naturally designed by Dyson’s talented engineers, shines a beam across the floor on the path of the V15’s head and clearly exposes any dust and dirt that have been left behind.

For our review we saw dust and hairs on our tiled floors quite clearly when using the laser head on the V15.

Our tiles are an off white colour and we own two Dalmatians so their little white hairs that are easy to see on our dark carpet are all but invisible on our tiled floors.

With the naked eye you would swear the floors are clean but we were shocked to see the dirt, dust and hair still on the floor.

That’s one of a few new features with the Dyson V15 Detect.

As far as the suction and power goes – let’s just say the V15 has got it where it counts with strong enough suction to feel our carpet almost lift off the floor.

But this time around the V15 Detect – it’s not enough to be clean – customers can now expect their home to be a healthier place to live.

With the laser, users can easily see if they have more work to do to completely clean their hard floor.

But now the unit can tell you what you’re vacuuming up off your floor.

It does that with the acoustic dust sensing which uses a piezo sensor which can actually work out the size of the particles.

And users can see, via the display on the handle, the amount and size of the particles and dust being vacuumed.

So at a glance it’s easy to see how clean your floor is just by looking at the chart in front of you.

You’ll be surprised at what you will find in your home when cleaning.

But now the Dyson can provide ways for you to know exactly what needs to be cleaned thanks to the laser and the acoustic dust sensing.

This unit dramatically shows that just using our eyes to judge the cleanliness of an area is surprisingly lacking.

The Dyson V15 Detect has a hyperdymium motor which spins up to 125,000rpm to generate powerful suction along with five stage filtration that captures 99.99 per cent of dust particles down to 0.3 microns.

Combine all these features and customers can have peace of mind they’re getting the best possible clean in their home.

The new Dyson performs at the same noise level as the previous generation so it’s not going to cause too much of a disturbance.

The handle design and dustbin are the same as the previous model and include the same mechanism to easily empty the dust into a garbage.

There is also one new attachment with the Dyson V15 detect – a new conical shaped anti-tangle tool which can deal with a vacuum’s biggest enemy – human and pet hair.

Because of its shape this attachment is able to vacuum long hair without it getting tangled in the brush.

Instead it wind up the cone and is released at the top where it is sucked into the bin.

It’s a smaller attachment so it can be used everywhere including on your furniture and in tight spaces.

On the performance side the Dyson V15 detect can run for up to 60 minutes in Eco mode and about 12 minutes in Boost mode. This is similar battery time to the previous unit.

The Dyson V-15 detect doesn’t offer a huge improvement in performance over previous iterations but the new features give users a clearer picture of the cleaning situation and the health of their home.

The Dyson V15 Detect Absolute Extra with two cleaner heads and fives tools, grab and go dock and whole HEPA filtration is available now and is priced at $1,449.

The Dyson V15 Detect Total Clean with two cleaner heads and fives tools is available now and is priced at $1,399.

The post Hands on with the Dyson V15 Detect which has a laser and acoustic dust sensing appeared first on Tech Guide.

Vacuuming and mopping are those chores you hope someone else does. Or you can leave it up to the Ecovacs Deebot OZMO 950 which can now operate on multi-level homes.

No, it’s not going to climb the stairs on its own but the OZMO 950 can map more than a single level of your home and remember the fastest path to clean.

And it’s a vacuum and mop in one with improved suction to deliver a more thorough clean.

The unit is just 9.3cm high – one of the thinnest bodies you’ll find on a robot vacuum in this class – which means it can slip under furniture and beds on its rounds.

It also has numerous sensors and bumpers so it can thoroughly, yet gently, work its way around your home without damaging furniture or skirting boards.

It’s really easy to connect the Deebot OZMO 950 to your network via the Ecovacs Home app.

From the app you can start and stop the robot and even send it back to the charging base.

The app will also tell you how many times it has gone out to clean and the area of floorspace that has been cleaned.

There are also advanced controls that will allow users to set up area cleaning, custom cleaning modes and even set up a virtual boundary.

It is here where you can also access the map of your floorplans.

The Deebot OZMO 950 creates a map of your house with its Smart Navi 3.0 Laser Mapping and Navigation technology every time it starts to clean so it can know its way around and find the most effective cleaning path.

The OZMO 950 can handle multiple floors so it will store these saved maps in the advanced section of the app.

The one and only issue we had with the multi-floor mapping feature was that we had to move the charging stand from floor to floor so the robot can establish a start point.

Perhaps the app could be improved to be able to set a manual start point.

The charging stand is obviously needed so the robot can automatically return and charge itself up if needed.

But with a massive 5,200mAh battery onboard – which equates to about 200 minutes of cleaning time – we’re sure the OZMO 950 could vacuum our second level without the need for a recharge.

The other option is to include two charge stands in the box or make it cheap to buy so a user can set up multiple charging areas in their two or three storey home.

In our case, we have a two storey home so we had to unplug and relocate the charge stand, along with the robot, every time we moved the OZMO 950 between floors.

It’s a great idea to be able to clean multiple floors but the reason customers would buy the product in the first place is for convenience.

Ecovacs needs to maintain that convenience factor and not impose on our convenience to facilitate a new feature.

But this is far for a dealbreaker for us.

The OZMO 950 is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor.

On the vacuuming side, the cleaning quality has stepped up to a new level.

We have two Dalmatians at home and our chocolate coloured carpet easily shows up short white hairs.

The OZMO 950 didn’t catch all the hair (not even a Dyson can do that with a single pass) but it did an impressive job.

The dust bin filled up pretty quickly on the robot’s first trip around the house which is a good sign that it can maintain that clean on subsequent runs.

What was really impressive was how easily the OZMO 950 can move from surface to surface and easily climb up to rugs and on to slightly raised edges, door sills and other sections of the floor.

It can actually scale up to 2cm to a new level.

You can also hear the vacuum change tempo and strength as it moved from carpet to our tiles and back again thanks to the Floating Brush 2.0 pressure retention system.

When it’s time to mop, you simply fill the 250ml tank that sits inside the back of the unit and attach the cleaning pad and it will clean your hard floors as well.

In our case we have tiles and you could see where the robot had been thanks to the shiny moisture trail.

The water is regulated with an electronically-controlled water pump at four different speeds depending on how much dirt the robot finds.

The robot did a respectable job with the mopping. The other way we usually clean our floors is with a steam cleaner and that needs to be operated by a human.

The OZMO 950 did a nice clean, while not as thorough as our steam mop, it was good enough to pick of the dirty patches on the tiles that I would normally have to spot clean with a disinfectant wiper cloth.

But, just like vacuuming, if used every day or every two days you can maintain an impressive cleaning level.

This is easy to do through the app which allows users to remotely activate the OZMO 950 to get to work from anywhere.

The unit is also compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa so you can also control it with your voice and it will work with other smart devices.

And you can get all of this for $999 – which is a really competitive price when compared to similar products from other brands.

The Ecovacs Deebot OZMO 950 is available now from JB Hi-Fi, Godfrey’s and Appliances Online.

VERDICT

The Ecovacs Deebot OZMO 950 is a truly versatile device that can lighten the cleaning load at your place. And with price under $1000 it’s also represents remarkable value as well.

The post Ecovacs Deebot OZMO 950 robot vacuum review – versatility and value appeared first on Tech Guide.

Leading home robotics company Ecovacs Robotics has unveiled its latest flagship model – the Deebot Ozmo 950 – which has new multi-floor mapping functionality and three hours of battery life to give your home a fast and thorough clean.

The Deebot Ozmo 950 has already been awarded the IFA Product Technical Innovation Award for its mapping technology.

“Ecovacs aims to play a key role in the development of the service robotics industry in the next 20 or even 100 years,” said Jonathan Tang, Vice President, Head of Global Business at Ecovacs Robotics.

“The new brand Visual Identity goes well beyond a Logo. It represents Ecovacs’ brand spirit which is innovative and vibrant, as well as our commitment to building an intelligent home service robotics brand.”

Launching in Australia in October, the Deebot Ozmo 950 includes the upgraded Smart Navi 3.0 laser mapping and navigation technology which scans, maps and plans the most efficient cleaning path around your home.

The Multi-Floor mapping means the robot can now store multiple maps of a home’s different levels so no area of the home is left out.

The Deebot Ozmo 950 offers a premium cleaning experience with a new pressure retention system called Floating Brush 2.0 and superior suction power.

This allows the machine to sweep up to 4mm deep cracks so no dust can hide.

And Max+ Mode increases suction power when needed to tackle stubborn dirt and other messier areas.

The Deebot Ozmo 950 can be controlled and monitored through the Ecovacs Home app and also directed by Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

The app also allows users to create virtual boundaries for both vacuuming and mopping and the ability to assign cleaning areas, set schedules and switch between modes.

“Ecovacs Robotics designed the DEEBOT OZMO 950 to meet growing consumer demand for a smarter, more affordable vacuum robot with premium features that include vacuuming, mopping and smart-home capabilities and we are excited to be launching this shortly in Australia,” said Karen Powell, Country Manager for Ecovacs Robotics Australia and New Zealand.

“By combining intelligent mapping, navigation technology, energy-efficiency, automated mopping capabilities and new designs for the robots to enhance mobility, our robots ensure that the always missed spots can be well taken care.

“Ecovacs robots are already the first choice of over 15 million families around the world, are we’re delighted that an ever-growing number of Australian households are among them.”

The Ecovacs Ozmo 950 will be available in Australia in October. Local pricing will be announced closer to the local launch date.

The post Ecovacs Robotics launches new flagship Deebot Ozmo 950 vacuum appeared first on Tech Guide.

The Ecovacs Robotics DEEBOT 710 proves that you don’t need to spend big money for a smart robot vacuum that offers an impressive cleaning solution for your home.

The DEEBOT 710 utilises the company’s latest Smart Navi 2.0 Mapping technology so it can create a virtual map of your home to plan its cleaning path.

But probably one of the best features is the price.

At just $499, the DEEBOT 710 offers tremendous bang for your buck.

The circular robot uses a vision camera located on top of the unit to find its way around your home and create a pattern so it won’t go over the same areas unnecessarily.

Also on board are sensors which helps the DEEBOT 710 navigate around furniture and other objects and also makes it smart enough to avoid stairs and prevented from falling.

On the base is the main brush with rotating brushes on either side to sweep the dust into the vacuum cleaner.

The robot is 32cm wide with sensors and bumpers on all sides so it won’t scratch and mark furniture as it’s going about its cleaning path.

The device is really easy to set up. It actually talks to you through every step of the process as well.

Even in use, the DEEBOT 710 acknowledges your commands with a voice response.

The first thing you need to do is download the Ecovacs Home app to link the device to your home network so it can be controlled through the app on your smartphone.

The next step is to position the charging dock in a space with plenty of clearance close to a power point.

The charger needs about half a metre of space on either side and about 1.5 m of space in front of it to give the DEEBOT 710 room to move when it starts the cleaning cycle and when it returns to recharge.

When the robot is completely charged you’re ready to deploy it.

This can be done with the included remote control or via the app.

Users can choose one of three cleaning modes.

Auto is when it programs a path to clean your entire house and, in doing so, creates a map of your floorplan.

If it’s just the edges that you want to look after there is a mode for that as well.

And if you have a spill in a certain area of your house the DEEBOT 710 can also do a spot clean in a specific area of your choosing.

As the DEEBOT 710 goes about its cleaning it will navigate around the furniture and even go under tables and chairs if it can fit through. If not it will just move around it.

Also on board is a high efficiency filter which anyone with allergies and asthma will appreciate because it reduces airborne triggers.

We live in a home with chocolate coloured carpet and large areas of tiles where two dalmatians are free to roam and leave behind short white and black hairs.

The DEEBOT 710 did a surprisingly good job picking up most of the hair off the carpet as well as sweeping up our tiled floors as well.

And that’s all thanks to suction that is twice as good as previous models to offer an even deeper clean.

But the DEEBOT 710 also has a new Max Mode which can be used to clean up problem areas and messes on carpet and on hard surfaces by increasing the suction in those spots by up to two times.

And it’s easy to empty the dustbin. You simply click it open and pull it out of the back of the DEEBOT 710 and empty it in your rubbish bin.

The app also provides information about the usage of the side brush, the main brush in the filter with estimates on how much time each can be used before they need replacing.

Of course, this is also a smart device and the companion app gives you complete control.

Users can receive updates as well as monitor the robot’s cleaning process from anywhere on their smartphone.

The app also makes it possible to set a cleaning schedule for a set time each day, for example.

This is where you can also choose between the various cleaning modes or activate it on the spot.

But a feature we loved was the surprisingly accurate visual map the DEEBOT 710 created when it went about its cleaning.

This provides an excellent visual representation of just how far and wide the DEEBOT 710 has roamed on its cleaning path.

Our only criticism with the app is that it could have been slightly more intuitive on the home screen which shows a picture of the DEEBOT 710.

It took a little bit of clicking around in the top corners to access the cleaning modes before we realised all we have to do was tap the photo itself.

Users can control the DEEBOT 710 with their voice.

It’s compatible with Google Home and Amazon Echo smart devices.

So instead of using the app you might say “Hey Google, ask DEEBOT to start cleaning” or “Alexa, ask DEEBOT to start cleaning”.

It has a 2,600mAh lithium battery on board which equates to about two hours of cleaning time.

But don’t worry, when the battery is running low the DEEBOT 710 is smart enough to return to the charging dock to power up again.

The Ecovacs Robotics DEEBOT 710 provides a surprisingly good clean for your carpets and hard floors.

And the advantage the DEEBOT 710 is the fact that you don’t have to do anything.

It takes care of the cleaning for you so you can get on with other things.

The DEEBOT 710 can certainly hold its own against other robot cleaners and at just $499 – it certainly punches way above its weight.

The Ecovacs Robotics DEEBOT 710 is priced at $499 and is available from the official eBay page and Amazon.

VERDICT

The DEEBOT 710 is packed with smart features and provides a thorough clean for your carpets and hard floors and, at $499, it represents incredible value.

The post Ecovacs Robotics DEEBOT 710 review – impressive smart robot vacuum at a great price appeared first on Tech Guide.

For men and women who find shaving a tiring and tedious exercise, there are modern day options that are quicker and easier. IPL or intense pulsed light is among the modern technologies that take the pain out of regular shaving.

This technology was originally evolved for use by medical and cosmetic practitioners to carry out a variety of skin treatments for therapeutic and aesthetic purposes including photo rejuvenation and hair removal.  Photo rejuvenation is a method of addressing skin pigmentation, thread veins and sun damage, apart from alleviating other skin diseases.

It is important that you understand the suitability of a particular device that you choose to your skin tone. To make the task lighter for you, we have reviewed multiple brands.

Before we move to the brands, it is essential to understand that IPL hair removal gadgets are small handheld contraptions, but with enormous power to remove your natural hair permanently. The thought of acquiring one such gadget for your needs need not be daunting since the product offerings have continuously evolved to be more effective in eliminating or reducing facial and body hair. What is more desirable is that the prices have also been dropping consistently over a period of time.

How Do IPL Machines Work

IPL works by manipulating light that gets absorbed by the melanin in hairs which damage the follicle. Over a period of time, the hair gets weaker and stops growing eventually.  However, it is essential that you do not confuse between laser and IPL. While IPL uses intense pulsed light, it does not constitute laser and instead emits a spectrum of wavelengths and colours to reduce hair growth.

Laser, on the other hand delivers a singular red light wave to remove the hair follicle permanently.  Most hair removal machines for domestic use employ IPL. If you are using an IPL machine, it is likely that you will see some regrowth and therefore need to repeat the hair removal process once every 6 or 12 months. More importantly, you should also check the hair and skin chart of the particular brand to confirm whether the machine is well suited to your skin tone. An ideal combination however, would be fair skin and dark sin. On the other side, laser devices are generally not effective for people with dark or very light hair (white, grey, red or blonde).

Is Your Skin Tone Right For the Machine?

For individuals with very light or very dark skin, some of these devices may simply not work because by design, the machine locks itself when it is unsafe for you to use. Nevertheless, most machines come with a minimum of 3 levels of intensity giving you the option to choose depending on the pain threshold you can endure. Some devices also sport power setting to choose on the basis of your skin tone. Experts suggest starting with a low power setting and gradually work the way up.

Before you start using the device, the skin should be shaved fresh and should not be waxed since the follicle needs to remain under the skin. Likewise, you are better off not using these devices for intimate areas like the nipples, upper lip and the genitals.

Leading dermatologists also suggest that people with darker skin need to exercise more caution since pigmentation and discoloration may occur. If you have doubts about the effectiveness of a particular device, you can approach a trained specialist who can carry out the task tailoring the settings to suit your individual circumstances. Such an option can also be more effective and comparatively cheaper.

On that note, here are reviews after testing the machines for more than 3 months on women and men in the age profile of 20 to 50 years. All the machines reviewed by us resulted in significant hair reduction.

Iluminage Touch

This was the first among home IPL devices approved on the basis of results for all hair colours and skin tones. It is pretty easy to use and effective. You can merely plug in and choose from 3 different intensity settings. Once the choice is made you can select the start button and slowly glide over the desired area, 2 to 3 times. This is also the singular device where you are not required to hold the button down and therefore frees you from potential finger ache.

This handheld device emits flashes of light that won’t hurt you and instead provides a warming sensation. The device also includes protection glasses. By repeating every week, you can experience significant reduction by the 4^thsession. We also noticed that there was virtually no regrowth of hair in areas like arms, the legs showed tiny patches coming on medium, dark and light skin tones.

Universal IPL

Universal offers the ultimate in hair removal gadgets for clinics that love efficiency and versatility. Operators can access a range of treatments with a singular system and that is not limited to only hair removal. Global as well as Australian professionals praise the IPL machines offered by Universal Medical Aesthetics.

The machine offers quick and painless treatments that can be administered with ease and comfort making it very convenient for the patients. For optimal results, regular treatment is recommended. However, many clients experience marked improvement from a single session. Company also offers marketing resources, technical and treatment support.

Philips Lumea Prestige

This comes with 4 curved heads that are detachable, making it very convenient for different areas.  The device is simple to use and a smart skin sensor identifies the power setting that is just right for the skin tone of the user. The device locks itself when very light or very dark skin is encountered. You also have the advantage of keeping the device plugged in for use on larger areas, while going cordless for smaller patches. With a bi-weekly use, it was noticed that the hair nearly disappeared after 4 to 5 treatments.

Braun Silk

This is particularly suitable for individuals with sensitive skin. It comes with ‘gentle’ as well as ‘extra gentle’ settings and makes it very comfortable to use. Another desirable feature is that the power setting adapts itself to the skin tone as you use it. Therefore, you are free from the bother of more or less power and don’t need to do anything manually. Noticeable improvement can be experienced in about 5 weeks with weekly use and by about the 12^thweek any remaining stray hair will also become practically invisible.

You can now make an informed choice on what works best for you.

The post The ultimate guide and review of IPL hair removal machines appeared first on Tech Guide.

There are plenty of companies that are trying to cut Dyson’s grass with a high performing vacuum but Chinese brand Roidmi has come up with a competitive solution.

The Roidmi F8 Storm is a light and compact cordless smart vacuum that offers remarkably powerful suction for its size.

Roidmi F8 Storm is actually a product created by a member company of the well-known Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi.

It is currently available through its Indiegogo page where it exceeded its $10,000 crowd-funding target by 3,245 per cent.

Tech Guide was lucky enough to receive a review device and put it to the test.

Despite being relatively small, it still has 115W of suction power through its 100,000 RPM digital motor and also packs in a battery that runs for up to 55 minutes.

It comes with a few attachments and is really lightweight so it’s simple and easy to use.

Roidmi F8 Storm has a simple all-white design and features a 270-degree curved handle which gives the user numerous options to grip it comfortably.

The device also has a companion app which links via Bluetooth and allows users to check battery power and filter capacity and provide notifications when it’s time to empty the bin.

The app even tells you how many calories you burn while you’re cleaning.

For our review, we were able to vacuum our living areas and four bedrooms well before the high-performance lithium ion battery ran out.

And if you really want to go hard, there’s always Max mode which really boosts the suction power.

But you’re only going to get about 10 minutes of battery life in this mode.

Under the hood is a four layer filtration system which can catch hair, dust, allergens and dirt so not only will your floors and carpets be clean but the air will be clearer as well.

There is a collection bin built into the main unit which fills up pretty quickly thanks to the efficient suction that the Roidmi F8 Storm provides.

One of the only downsides was the fact that all we had to empty the bin quite often because of the superior suction.

And it worked equally well on hard floors as it did on carpet. And I have two Dalmatians who shed short white hairs on my chocolate coloured carpets and the Roidmi powered through them all.

The Roidmi F8 Storm also comes with swappable cleaning heads to suit the task at hand.

The brush head has a built-in motor for more powerful and deeper cleaning.

There is also a built in light and sensor so it can illuminate your path when needed,

Also included is an anti-mite brush which has flexible nylon bristles so you can clean your mattress.

Combined with a rubber strip this helps remove mites and hair from deep within fabrics.

Because the unit is so small, it’s also an ideal tool for cleaning the inside of your car.

We found it really portable thanks to its small size so you could easily get into the nooks and crannies of your vehicle to clean it.

But it’s not the quietest vacuum in the world, especially in Max mode, but it’s no load than a Dyson.

And storage is easy thanks a magnetic wall plate which can hold the vacuum upright while charging.

If you want to compare it to a Dyson V8 you’ll see it matches the suction power at 115W, it can run 15 minutes longer in default mode than the Dyson, takes half the time to charge at two and a half hours, it’s lighter at 1.5kg (the Dyson is 1.8kg), has a slightly smaller dustbin at 0.4L (Dyson is 0.5L) but also has a companion app (the Dyson V8 does not).

Pricewise, you’re looking at $US289 for the Roidmi F8 Storm which works out at about $385 in Australian dollars – still noticeably cheaper than the Dyson V8 which will set you back about $550.

Australian customers can order the Roidmi F8 Storm now on the company’s Indiegogo page with the product expected to ship by August.

VERDICT

The Roidmi F8 Storm is a light and powerful vacuum cleaner that really delivers in terms of suction, design and value. It proves you don’t have to spend huge money to get a top-quality cordless vacuum cleaner.

The post Roidmi F8 Storm review – a compact yet powerful smart cordless vacuum appeared first on Tech Guide.

When talking about coffee, it is not something we just like – it’s something we LOVE. Jura has created the Z8 coffee machine so customers can continue that love affair at home.

Australians have very high standards for coffee and will go out of their way to find brew to suit their taste.

Jura’s Swiss-made Z8 machine sets the bar pretty high to meet the standards of even the fussiest coffee drinkers.

We are definitely in the coffee lover group and was pleased to able to put the Z8 through its paces.

Coffee lovers, including us, are not just interested in a great tasting brew but also love the art of finding the right coffee beans, getting the milk to the right temperature and blending them together to come up with an enjoyable drink.

This is why a good barista is worth their weight in gold because it takes more than just pressing a button and pouring warm milk into a cup. There is an art to it.

Jura has managed to package all of that into a single machine with the Z8.

It’s a decent sized machine that has quite a large footprint – it is 32cm wide and 45cm long so you will need a bit of bench space to fit it in.

Not only will you need the bench space, you also need $4,490 (but we have seen it cheaper in stores).

While many may cringe at that price, other truly passionate coffee lovers will see that as an investment.

If you add up all the coffees you drink in the year – let’s say two coffees a day at $4 each.

That’s $56 a week and $2912 a year.

So, when you look at it, a real coffee lover could get their money back in less than two years.

And the good news is, the Z8 delivers café quality coffee right there in your own home.

And the beauty of the system is the fact it is completely automated.

There are some machines that allow you to get hands-on from grinding the beans, tamping the grounds and heating the milk – and this is fine if you will really want to get involved in the process.

But the Z8 is aimed at the customer who appreciates quality but either doesn’t have the time or the ability to make it themselves.

Under the hood, is the Pulse Extraction Process to combine the coffee with hot water and create full bodied brews.

Everything is controlled through the 4.3-inch touchscreen colour display.

It has a clear layout and lets you pick the size of your brew and the strength.

And the cool thing is, you can save your favourite drink in the machine’s memory along with the other members of the household.

What we loved was the precision of the machine and how it achieved optimum extraction time by pulsing the hot water through the ground coffee at just the right frequency.

And it did this every time whether you are after a ristretto, espresso or lungo.

Users can choose up to 16 different specialties from the start screen and a total of 21 beverages via the Rotary Selection.

The brewing chamber can handle between five to 16g through the 15-bar high-performance pump.

But no matter what you chose, each time the extracted coffee had a velvety texture with an amazing crema.

All the user needs to do is pop the coffee beans into the top of the machine and fill up the 2.4 litre water tank.

And if you want to add milk to your coffee, there is an additional glass cup which you fill with milk, attached to the machine with a pipe – and it will do the rest.

The result is nicely warmed milk with delicious milk foam.

The cup tray is height adjustable and you can brew two cups of once – handy if you have guests over.

When you through making coffee, there’s not much clean up that needs to be done.

If there is still milk left in the glass cup, you can just store that in the fridge.

At the press of a button you can also steam clean the milk system.

After a few coffees, you’ll also need to clean out the waste tray.

In here you will find perfectly circular ground coffee that was ejected from the system after extraction.

VERDICT

The Jura Z8 is ideal for customers who are truly passionate about their coffee and willing to spend this sort of money to enjoy a high-quality brew at the touch of a button in their home.

The post Jura Z8 coffee machine review – create a cafe quality brew in your home appeared first on Tech Guide.

Many people interested in purchasing a 3D printer have been put off by the high prices but now there’s an affordable product available from Aldi priced at under $500 that can open up a whole new world of creation.

The Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch is priced at $499 (we’ve seen it’s been reduced even further to $449) and Tech Guide put it through its paces.

We’ve never used a 3D printer before and we imagine the more expensive models can print larger objects.

When 3D printers were brand-new, like any new technology, they were quite expensive.

But now, years later, there are a lot more affordable as we can see from the Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch.

What’s the use of having a 3D printer, a lot of people ask.

For a start, it’s a lot of fun making objects.

You can create all kinds of things including desk organisers, decorative objects and even jewellery.

It won’t be long before instead of buying parts for our household products and appliances, will be able to print them out ourselves.

The Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch is priced like a beginner’s machine but can a beginner use it? We decided to find out.

But before we get into our review you have to understand how 3D printing works.

A 3D printer produces three-dimensional objects unlike your regular printer that can put writing or pictures on a piece of paper.

To do this it requires plastic filament which is fed into an extruder.

Like a regular printer, a 3D printer also requires a file.

In this case that file is a three-dimensional construction of an object which the printer can follow and create layer by layer.

Each layer is about a millimetre high with some objects taking several hours to produce.

The 3D printer creates these layers by heating up the plastic filaments and depositing that melted material to lay them in a certain order until the object is complete.

Have a guess what we’re printing with the Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch from @aldiaustralia. Find out in our review at techguide.com.au #3dprinter #filament #aldi #tech #review

A post shared by TechGuide (@techguideau) on Mar 11, 2018 at 5:15pm PDT

OK, now you know the basics of 3D printing, let’s turn our attention to the Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch.

The device comes in a pretty large box and after you unpack all the pieces, you need to put it together.

The 3D printer needs a bit of room and has about the same footprint as a multifunction printer.

The difference here is it also needs a fair bit of height, so you can fit the filament roll and give it space to produce objects.

To get started we had to place the printer’s base through the tower frame and screw it all together.

Part of the base is the print bed where the object is printed layer by layer. On the front is a touchscreen to control the device.

The tower frame includes the extruder and the belt drive.

And plugging all the parts together was really simple thanks to the clear labelling – A plugs into A etc.

It wasn’t long before we were all set up, all plugged in and ready to go.

Included with the printer are some filament samples in various colours so you can print out a few small objects.

For serious printing, you will need to purchase larger filament rolls which cost about $40 each and are available in various colours.

But there was enough filament to get started printing small objects.

Setting up Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch serves two purposes. It gets the printer ready for your first print but also teaches you the basics of 3D printing.

First thing we had to do, was make sure the print bed was level. Each corner of the bed has an adjustment screw as the extruder moves to each corner.

A small card that comes with the printer is used to test the gap between the extruder and the print bed.

To increase or reduce the gap between the bed and the extruder, you adjust the screw to raise or lower the bed.

After levelling the bed, the next step is to feed in the filament.

The filament rests on the spool holder at the top of the frame and can be fed in to the top of the extruder through a small hole.

A small lever allows access to pass the filament down into this gap. It was here where the instructions weren’t too clear.

We had to look up a video on YouTube to give us a better direction on how to set it up.

Another thing we learned was that a 3D printer needs to operate at high temperatures.

The printer bed is heated to a certain level – usually about 70 degrees – while the extruder, so It can draw down the filament and melted to mould into the object, can be as hot as 240 degrees.

So a tip for young players, keep your hand away from the bed and the extruder while the printer is working.

The Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch uses gcode files to print objects.

There are some examples on the included SD card which slots into the side of the machine.

There is a cable to connect it directly to your computer, but that isn’t necessary. You can print directly from the SD card if you prefer.

Also included on the SD card is the Cura software which is a free open source slicer, available for Windows and Mac computers which allows users to convert 3D files into the gcode format.

The touchscreen makes it easy to navigate the menus with the main tasks being adding filament and choosing the object you want to print.

The printer is bed level and the filament has been fed into the extruder and is starting to feed out of the bottom.

This is when you know you’re ready to go.

First up we chose something simple to print – a seven-pointed star. This only took about 20 minutes and we were surprised with the quality.

And the fact that we created something from nothing – three-dimensional object we could hold our hands – was fascinating.

We got braver and more confident and started printing other objects including a unicorn, a dice, more stars, a moon and an NFL ball.

We were really impressed with the level of detail the printer can produce right down to the finest points and sharpest corners.

The smoothness and consistency of the surfaces was also surprisingly high quality.

But this process also had some hiccups. There were times when the object we were printing wouldn’t stick to the print bed and we had to stop everything and start again.

There were also other issues we had where we needed to call technical support to help us through.

The issue we had was while we were trying to change the filament and it just wasn’t going through.

We were advised to take apart the extruder cooling fan and assembly – there were only two screws involved – and we found a piece of filament had broken off inside the extruder which explains why the new filament wasn’t passing through.

We removed the excess filament with a pair of tweezers and put everything back together again and we were good to go.

We added a full roll of filament so we can print out some larger objects.

One was a rocket that had to be printed in three separate pieces before fitting neatly together.

As we are writing this review, we are halfway through printing a small replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Users have to understand, some prints can take quite a long time, were talking up to ten hours in some cases.

But it is fascinating to watch as the object is being built and how, layer by layer, we eventually see the finished product.

The Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch certainly punches above its weight in terms of ease of use and the quality it can produce for the price.

The documentation and setup instructions could have been a bit more detailed and without the assumption the user knows anything about 3D printing to begin with.

This is important as a first time 3D printer buyer would naturally choose a product like this to get started rather than spending thousands of dollars on a more advanced unit.

As beginners ourselves we were a great example of that, and now we’re hooked.

Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch

Price: $499 (seen for $449) available now from Aldi.

VERDICT

The Cocoon Create 3D Printer Touch is an affordable device that can produce surprisingly good results. It is a fine introduction to the amazing world of 3D printing.

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