Computing Archives - Page 15 of 16 - TBNI.Blog

Griffin Survivor – iPhone 5 – Unboxing and Initial thoughts and reviews!

September 22, 2012 by TomBoyNI

Anyone who knows about my opinions on cases will know that I am a huge fan of the Griffin Survivor series of cases. It is pretty much what my iPhone 4s lived in, and now it is what my iPhone 5 has started its life off in.

These cases are hardcore. They are big and bulky, but when you are aiming for extreme protection they are the dogs dangles!

They are tested against drops, water (not waterproof unfortunately), sand and dust, and has received US military approval.

I tend to double up on the protection as well, as I also have the phone covered in a matt screen guard and rear protector too. If using an additional screen guard with the Survivor or any other type of case with its own built in screen guard you need to use matt. Anything else will case water marking between the two.

If you think this is a bit excessive you are probably most certainly correct, I just dont like the thought of a little piece of dust getting in there and scratched away at the phone unchecked for a long period of time, so easch to their own eh?

As far as the case goes there are a few notable changes from that of the iPhone 4 / 4s :

iFace iPhone 4 / 4s Case : Thoughts and Photos…

August 23, 2012 by TomBoyNI

The iFace cases are currently found all over eBay and YouTube at the moment, they are hugely popular and also due to this popularity they range massively in price. Expect to pay around £5GBP to have one delivered in the UK, NOT the £20 – £30 some eBay sellers seem to have them for sale at!

I’m not going to write too much about this case or its predecessor, the iFace 2 case, coming next, as it is simply a bright, cheap and cheerful case.

It is surprisingly well made, and with little details like the cut out Apple logo on the bottom all adding to the overall quality of the case.

When it is on it actually looks really nice, and due to the contoured shape of it, it is a pleasure to hold. As far as protection goes I’d be off the opinion that in an emergency it will help in the event of a small knock, however it is certainly not an impact case.

Griffin Survivor iPhone 4/4s Case Thoughts and Photos…

February 11, 2024August 23, 2012 by TomBoyNI

Having been an admirer of the Griffin Survivor Case for quite some time I purchased one around a year ago. It took me so long as this is an expensive case, at the time I bought it it had just went sub £30GBP, I think now though you can pick one of these bad boys up for around half that! That my friends is a brilliant investment!

I purchased this one pretty much immediately after the Ballistic HC (previous post – https://tbni.blog/2012/08/23/ballistic-hc-iphone-4-4s-case-thoughts-and-photos/ ) and when it arrived I was immediately impressed! This case is not for the weak of heart, it is huge, it is heavy and if you like the look of your iPhone naked, you will probably hate this. However if you want to protect you phone this thing is just the ticket.

It claims the following rather impressive stats (and also has under its belt that it is approved to military standards) :

Ballistic HC iPhone 4 / 4s Case – Thoughts and Photos…

February 11, 2024August 23, 2012 by TomBoyNI

The Ballisitc HC is one of the range of cases in the Ballistic range, in this instance the ‘HC’ meaning ‘Hard Core!‘ The others in the range are :

LS – Life Style & Life Style Smooth
SG – Shell Gel & Shell Gel MAXX

There is also a full range for all other popular makes of phones and tablets, which you can check out here : http://www.goballisticcase.com/collections/all

This is my second Ballisitic HC case, the first I had was with my iPhone 4, and was black, all black. Then when I updated by phone to the 4s I was so convinced on this particular case, I purchased the white one, to go with the new phone.

It lasted 2 days!

Mac OSX – Mountain Lion – It is Official it is coming in a few hours… 25th July 2012!

February 11, 2024July 24, 2012 by TomBoyNI

The wait is over, Mountain Lion is coming to the Mac Faithful, if you are not sure what that means get yourself over here to check out the new features, when you have finished drilling get back over here and read the tips on how to ensure you have a safe and smooth upgrade!

Now here is the best guide to make sure you are ready to upgrade and enjoy the goodness!

With the OS X Mountain Lion set to launch on Wednesday as announced by the company’s chief financial officer on Tuesday, Apple users around the world will be pumped to get their Macs upgraded. But what are some things they must keep in mind in order have successful transitions to the new operating system? Here are a few tips.

‘Durable’ iPhone 4s Case – Thoughts / Reviews and Photos…

February 11, 2024July 8, 2012 by TomBoyNI

So to start this is an eBay case, and it ranges massively in price from seller to seller, expect to pay about £7.00 including post and packaging for this case, anything more and you are being ripped off. The best sellers also have it in pretty much every colour you could ever want. As you can see I have opted for the ‘dark blue’ option, thinking that it looked very like the Subaru WR Blue shade of blue, in actual fact as you can probably tell from the photos it is a good bit lighter than WR Blue.

I am a big fan of hard and tough cases, and this definitely ticks those boxes. It is tough and hard, it is after all metal, and whats more you need an ‘Allan’ key to put the thing together.

Coming Soon : iPhone 4s Griffin Survivor and Ballistic HC Covers

February 11, 2024June 29, 2012 by TomBoyNI

Following on from my recent postings about phone covers I thought as I have a good bit of experience with them I would continue it on a touch.

I’m all about the extreme protection and to start off I thought I would go with some of the best known cases in the extreme heavy duty protection market, namely the Griffin ‘Survivor’ and the Ballistic ‘HC.’

These are not for the iPhone purists, they are not discreet in any shape or form. They are big, bold and chunky as hell. They have many layers and are designed to stand up to the worst situations a phone should find itself in.

These two would be my two favourite cases and rank higher in my opinion than the Otterbox ‘Defender’ which I will cover at some point also.

Anyway that’s what’s coming over the next few posts.

Google Chrome & Google Drive Released for iOS

February 11, 2024June 29, 2012 by TomBoyNI

Today is a great day for all things Google and at the same time all things Apple! Why so? Because Google Chrome is released today in the App Store for all iOS devices.

This has been met with much cheer across the Apple circuit, mainly because people have become discontented with Safari and it’s limitations. Customers, fanboys, lovers and haters have all been crying out for an alternative, and the alternative they have been screaming for has arrived.

I don’t think there is too much need for me to go into massive details about this app, it is easily downloaded, free and small so you have no excuse for not giving it a go, so get yourself over to the AppStore and get downloading.

A few points I will make though after my limited trial of it this morning.

April 2012 – Best Skins Ever Install – iPod Nano 6th Generation

February 5, 2024May 3, 2012 by TomBoyNI

As I have mentioned before I am a huge fan of Zagg and their InvisibleShield product, however from a little experience and some reading I decided to have another go with a Best Skins Ever for my new 6G iPod Nano.

Now I already have one of these installed on my MacBook Pro and I have to say it is perfect, from memory the install then took me almost 2 hours, but it is a big beast to be covering and I wanted perfection – with a little time and effort, that’s what I got.

So why my affiliation towards Zagg when I have covered my £1980 laptop in a Best Skins Ever? The answer probably doesn’t make much sense, the Zagg cover for the MacBook Pro was around $80, the Best Skins Ever was closer to $30. The reviews on the internet said they were pretty much the same, and as my laptops rarely leave the safety of my desk I decided to save a few $$$ and go with the BSE product. After all it was more to keep the MacBook clean and sparkly as it won’t be going to far into the big bad world.

The BSE has been on the Mac for around 10 months now, and it is still exactly as it was when I put it on, perfect. And it feels smoother than the Zagg, there is no orange peel effect, it too is crystal clear, as far as the protection goes against scratches and such I can’t comment. Thats why I sway towards Zagg, I have been using Zaggs on phones and cameras for years and have had some moments that would have destroyed an unprotected screen, and thanks to the Zagg everything has remained pristine. I have sold on old tech well above the market value because of the Zagg, when removed it looks like brand, spanking new! So there we have it I KNOW Zagg protects, I don’t know that for BSE. Time to try.

In my new regime to get fit, I decided to quit smoking and start running, I already had an iPod Touch (3G) and after lugging that around for a few miles I knew I needed something more convenient, spet up please iPoad Nano. This little device is great for running as you really do forget about it and thanks to Nike+ it keeps track for everything for you, and that nice lady keeps updating you as to how you are doing, great stuff. Howver it needed some protection. The BSE was ordered and delivered to the UK for $9.49, the equivalent Zagg was coming in at $23.99, huge difference I’m sure you’ll agree, both being the full body coverage.

The BSE was ordered on a Monday, and arrived the following Monday, the same sort of timescales that I am used to with Zagg, so no real differences there.

Now this is were the differences start. The Zagg arrive in a padded Jiffy bag, with a nice manufactured box containing the shield, an applicator, a micro fibre cloth, and an instruction leaflet. The BSE arrives in a white envelope, with an invoice and the shield…

April 2012 Review : G-Form Extreme Sleeve for iPad (and others up to 10″)

February 5, 2024April 27, 2012 by TomBoyNI

OK so first off it should be noted that I am a little bit OCD when it comes to keeping my gadgets and tech in pristine condition. I mean after all I paid big money to have them, money that I had to work damn hard to get, and as such I want to keep my stuff looking nice and shiny.

Now I know that some people say that you shouldn’t obsess about keeping things immaculate, I have to say I don’t, I just try and buy a few things that will keep my tech new and shiny without me having to worry about them at all. Means more money back on the re-sale for the upgrade too!

So my iPad (3) then, it cost me £659. For a little further investment I can keep it clean, scuff and scratch free and protected anywhere I go, without having to worry about it.

My iPad (3) for example has a Zagg Full body invisible shield on it, an Apple Smart Coverand a Belkin rear shield. As far as scuffs and marks go it is pretty protected, all I needed was something to keep it safe in my bag.

Then I went to the Gadget Show Live 2012 at the Birmingham NEC, and whilst wondering around I saw a yellow iPad case. Now yellow is my colour so I was instantly intrigued. Then came the claims of this yellow iPad case being the home to an iPad that was dropped from 100,000 ft and survived.

Disclosure :