Tag: Pure Sensia 200D Connect

Sometimes you may be stuck for technological gifts to give Mum on her special day. Here, I have assembled a list of ideas to get you going, especially when it comes to high-value gifts where you can pool resources together to fund these gifts rather than buying many low-value gifts.

Tablets

Small size for the purse

Toshiba AT1S0 7″ Android tablet

The small 7” tablet computers come in to their own if the main goal is to have it on hand in your coat pocket. They can also fit comfortably even it to mid-sized handbags to use as an electronic notebook or electronic reference book.

• Google Nexus 7 Series
• Toshiba AT1So (review)
• Apple iPad Mini

To keep in the handbag, at home or the office

A 10” tablet may come in to its own if the main goal is to read or view online content while relaxing in that armchair or in bed. Similarly, they could come in to their own with a larger handbag or shoulder bag.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8
• Toshiba AT300 Series tablets (review)
• Apple iPad

No tablet computer is complete without a matching accessory cover or wrap that suits Mum’s taste. If she owns a tablet computer, you may offer her a newer cover or wrap, perhaps to replace that tired old one that she has on that tablet.

Computers

Small ultraportables

HP Envy X2 detachable-screen hybrid tablet-notebook computer

Small ultraportable computers that range from 11” to 14” can earn their keep for “on-the-go” computing tasks. This is more so if Mum wants to create a lot of content like typing up many email letters, writing memoirs or simply working a blog.

• HP Envy X2 detachable (review)
• Dell XPS 12 flip-head convertible
• Sony VAIO Duo 11 slide-out convertible
• Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook
• Asus Zenbook UX31A
• HP Envy 4 Touchsmart Ultrabook (review)
• Toshiba Satellite P840
• Apple MacBook Air

Larger laptops

On the other hand, a standard-size laptop or “desktop tablet” computer may come in handy if the goal is a computer that is mainly used at home and the desire is to store it away neatly when not in use.

• Acer Aspire 5733
• Dell Inspiron 15
• Sony VAIO E Series 15” (review –high-end)
• Toshiba Satellite P870 desktop-replacement (review)
• Sony VAIO Tap 20
• Dell XPS 18
• Apple MacBook Pro

All-in-one

The “all-in-one” desktop computer, with the computing power, screen and storage in one slender box, can become an alternative computer option if you want an elegant desktop computer. They are also becoming increasingly capable rather than glorified “kitchen kiosks”.

• Sony VAIO J Series (review)
• HP Touchsmart all-in-ones
• Apple iMac series

Printers

HP Photosmart 7510 multifunction inkjet printer – predecessor to the Photosmart 7520

As for printers, it may be worth looking towards a durable network printer that is cost-effective to run. Be careful of the printers that are cheap to buy because these units will be expensive to run due to short-capacity inks and toners, with situations where the cost of replacing ink or toner is as much as buying a printer of the same standard.

HP Photosmart 6520 or Photosmart 7520 desktop printers

HP Envy 120 – a neat aesthetically-pleasing printer for low-demand applications such as being a secondary printer

Brother MFC-J825DW or DCP-J725DW / DCP-J925DW

Small music system

1-piece including speaker docks and wireless speakers

Marantz Audio Consolette speaker dock

These single-piece systems, including speaker docks and wireless speaker systems, typically have a small footprint and can fit well on the kitchen bench or on the sideboard. Some of these may offer a “full” sound that encompasses te bass notes and the treble notes properly.

• Denon Cocoon series
• Marantz Audio Consolette network speaker
• Pioneer XW-SMA3 network speaker
• Pure Sensia 200D Connect (review)
• Roberts Stream 63i internet radio with CD
• Bose SoundDock 10 Bluetooth speaker system

3-piece

Sony CMT-MX750Ni – an example of a DLNA-compliant music system for a hotel room or serviced apartment

A three-piece system with separate speakers has increased flexibility. Here, you can keep the main unit on the sideboard and position the speakers further away, including mounting them on the wall or having them flank a fireplace or feature window.

• Sony CMT-MX750Ni (review)
• Denon CEOL (review)
• Denon CEOL Piccolo (without CD player) (review)
• Marantz CR603 CD receiver or Rotel RCX-1500 CD receiver (review) with small good-quality speakers

Earphones and headphones

Creative Labs MA930 in-ear headset

I would suggest that you look towards a few sets of headphones that suit different activities. For example, a pair of lightweight supra-aural headphones can work well for jogging or walking with good examples being provided by B&O (Form 2 – review), Bose, Denon, Sennheiser and Sony.

Earphones can also work well for public transport and other noisy environments especially where discreet use is required. Similarly a pair of good circum-aural headphones can go a long way for detailed music listening at home or in noisy environments.

It is worth having a look at this buying guide to be sure that the headphones fit yours and Mum’s desires.

Gaining the most out of the Internet experience

Internet setup

If there isn’t a broadband Internet service at Mum’s home, it could be a good gift idea to set up one there and install a good-quality router for the network as in the article that I had done about the “family house”.

To the same extent, optimising the home network with at least 802.11n dual stream coverage everywhere, preferably simultaneous dual-band 802.11n dual-stream Wi-Fi. As well, I would make sure that there is a HomePlug AV powerline segment in that network even if there is Ethernet in the house. This is to cater for ad-hoc wired-network setups.

The reason I would think of this is that you may be dealing with increased use of multimedia from online sources at the TV, laptop or mobile devices and you want reliable operation from these services.

Education

Similarly, you may pool resources together to give Mum access to IT education and support programs/ This is more so if she hasn’t got much in the way of computer skills.

Online content

As well, pooling resources to an online content service such as Spotify, Netflix, Hulu or QuickFlix may be a way to give her access to the music and movies that these services provide. In the case of Spotify, this may be about using it as an online music library or as a “music tryout” service that can be part of her complete music experience.

These services are not about replacing the existing content library but about hunting for new content that may be of interest.

Conclusion

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Mother’s Day with lots of fun, with you using this as a way to choose the right gift that will be value for money.

Introduction

I haven’t reviewed any of the Internet table radios for over a year because of a desire to review the “big sets” such as the hi-fi equipment and systems; as well as encompassing other computer equipment.

But now I have the chance to review the Pure Sensia 200D Connect Internet table radio which is the successor to the original Pure Sensia, the first Internet table radio that is controlled in the same manner to the smartphone or tablet. This set has been optimised for Pure Connect which is the rebranded version of the original “Lounge” online content service offered by Pure, with this service also become a music-content streaming service as well as an Internet-radio directory.

Price

The unit itself

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$599

Accessories and options

Optional ChargePAK F1 battery: AUD$79

Functions

Connections

Speakers

The Internet radio iteslf

Oval-shape remote control

The Pure Sensia 200D Connect, which is available in white or black, is an egg-shaped radio which can sit directly on the bench with its touchscreen display angled upwards. As well it can be perched on its supplied base so the display can face straight forwards. It also comes with an oval-shaped infra-red remote control that can be used to operate the basic functions.

As for power. the radio can work on AC with the supplied AC adaptor or can work on the optional ChargePAK F1 rechargeable battery which allows it to be a portable radio.

The connections available on the radio – AUX IN, Headphones, USB

One feature I am pleased about is that this radio has a headphone jack so you can use it with headphones or connect it to external powered speakers like computer speakers for a better sound.

The sound from the internal speakers has some good bass response which works well for voice and music, something that would be expected from a good table radio. Even when I tried it with the New Year’s Eve broadcast form Heart London, the sound from Big Ben’s chimes that rang in the year at midnight GMT (UTC) had that same weighty sound. As for tone control, you only have the bass & treble settings, without any loudness compensation or other tone preset.

For FM radio, the Pure Sensia 200D Connect is not all that consistent in “nailing” a clean stereo signal for all Melbourne stations when it was used downstairs of our split-level house. On the other hand, the set was able to catch all DAB+ multiplexes in Melbourne and play the expected clean sound from the services that are on the multiplexes. Of course the radio supports full information display for RDS-capable FM stations and DAB+ stations.

This set is operated primarily via this touch screen

The Internet radio functionality that the Pure Sensia 200D Connect has work well even though it was dealing with over-subscribed Internet broadcast streams. Like other Pure radios, the Sensia uses a form-based selection arrangement for “drilling down” Internet stations that you are after. This is different to the “tree-based” arrangement that most Internet radios use.

As well, you sign up with the free Pure Connect to store your favourite stations, which can also work as a listening point for Internet radio on your computer. There is also the ability to record from DAB+ or Internet broadcasts to a USB memory stick in the same way that you used to in the 80s with the classic boomboxes. But this function doesn’t extend to FM broadcasts.

Controls for power and volume on top of the radio

The Pure Sensia 200D Connect does work as part of the DLNA Home Media Network, more so when you select the content from its display rather than “push” the content from another DLNA Control Point device. You also have the ability to have this device show images on its display thus working as an electronic picture frame.

It can also work as a clock radio that responds to two alarm events and a kitchen (count-down) timer. The alarm events can be set to a particular weekday, Monday-Friday or the weekend as well as the ability to sound every day. There is even the ability to set the alarm to sound once which can be useful for specific events or if you have the Sensia 200D Connect in a guest bedroom.

When you turn the Pure Sensia off, the screen shows the current time, but goes blank until you touch it. You can override this so that the radio can work as a clock, showing the current time all the time when it is off.

Limitations and Points of Improvement

One point of improvement that Pure could implement is to be able to use a USB-connected optical drive as a CD player when you just want to play CDs. Similarly, the support for Bluetooth, DLNA MediaRenderer or Apple Airplay functionality could allow for wireless playback of music from smartphones or tablets.

This radio has the potential to be the basis for a platform-driven table radio product with such things as an app store or a software package that provide enhanced functionality. For example, it could benefit from a “hotel package” which provides an easy-to-set alarm clock that is reset when a guest checks out, volume limiting, tourist-information display and the like to benefit the hotel industry. Similarly, there could be apps that show the news, weather or RSS newsfeeds.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Pure Sensia 200D Connect radio be useful for a network-enabled radio that can be used in the kitchen, office or shop; or as a clock radio for the bedroom. This is more so if you value the large touchscreen or the online integrated functionality that this radio offers.