Re: Price

According to iTunes, the price is free. That's the case today (17 April), when the review was queued up for publication (11 April) and when the review was written (10 April).

Sorry, but we can't check the price of every single app we review every morning on the off-chance the supplier has decided to charge for something.

As always, then, caveat emptor.

Re: Interference

It's not meant to be a scientific test. It's meant to look at a circumstance most of our readers are likely to be in: operating a powerline LAN at a home in which there are also radios tuned to mainstream UK stations.

I have seen demonstrations showing powerline interference to DAB and FM, but I have never seen it demo'd across a range of products. So, was it a faulty adaptor, a duff product line or symptomatic of PL adaptors in general. I've seen no evidence to confirm the latter.

I've also yet to see any evidence that the interference, where present, reaches distances that really will impact other radio users to any greater distance than the same room, or produces any greater impact that all the other general interference on those bands.

I am not a radio engineer, though, so I keep an open mind. If it's clearly demonstrated that there's a real problem here, not a few folk getting annoyed because they think there's a problem, Reg Hardware's attitude to these gadgets will change.

Regarding DSL interference, I'll be honest: I can't comment - I don't use ADSL.

Re: Best ever?

Don't forget, folks, if you want to talk about GoT - or any other fantasy show on telly or on film - you can create your own threads in El Reg's brand new Reader Forums:

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/

See you there.

Re: Question not answered in the review...

I'd pay the £79 for the better screen, yes.

Re: Re: BBC and C64 both had strengths, but in clearly different areas

IIRC, the BBC Model B was £399 at (near enough as makes no odds) launch, while the C64 was £299.

Re: Can someone please explain

Because, Barry, there's content that will be available from Netflix that will not be available on iPlayer, which is generally limited to what was broadcast in the previous seven days.

But Netflix is not the only source of this material. You can buy it on DVD or Blu-ray too.

Some of it is on - dare I mention the word for fear of what it'll do to you - iTunes as well.

Re:

You'll be asking for free DVDs next...

Re: Do you need a TV licence to watch BBC shows via netflix?

It's 'old' BBC content, so no it's not covered by the licence fee. No more than a DVD is.

Re: Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The games are listed in alphabetical order.

Re:

Yes, but only in that Shalka thing.

Still...

'Exterminate! Exterminate!'

'What fucker said that?'

***

'You shall die, Doctor!'

'I have a (twin) heart condition... if you attack me, it's murder'

***

'It's bigger on the inside....'

'Free to those who can afford it. Very expensive to those that can't'.

Re: Still don't really see the point

If it's any help, I use an e-book reader for books, and a tablet for stuff that matters in colour, ie. comics, web, video, magazines.

Yes, I have one of each. But I do use both. Haven't needed a new laptop in years.

Re: Prime

Spot the potential winner of the *2012* list.

Re:

Run, Sackcloth-and-ashes Boy, run.

Re: What's the point of the Reg Rating.

We will be doing a special Barry Shitpeas edition next week where the Sony and Asus get 110% and the Apple gets 0%. Will that make your purchase decision easier?

Re: Anti-hero

Indeed. I thoroughly enjoy the Dredd strips, but you can't deny that he's a fascist bastard.

Re: But but but

You mean the one that no one can buy now? Tangentially referred to in the intro.

Re: Asus Transformer Prime

You'd have read the review if we had. We're on the case, though. Watch this space.

Re: Patrick Stewart?

Yeah, but hairs are your aerials to the cosmos, man. That is why bald-headed men are so uptight.

Camberwell carrots, anyone?

Re: Torchwood

No. God save us from DW spin-offs. Bloody awful, the lot of 'em, from 'K-9 and Company' onwards.

Re:

Careful dude, you're turning into an anti-Barry Shitpeas.

Maybe we should bring the two of you together and... BOOM

Re: OooooooEeeeeeOoooooo

Amen. Even if the game is crap, there's nothing like the theme tune to send a chill down the spine.

Re: Transformer ugly?

It does look better with the keyboard, yes. But then you may as well have an 11in Ultrabook and it'll look better still - though cost you more.

Re: Oh no.

You do sound totally blown away.

Re: Screen Ratio?

True, but there's a lot more to do with a tablet than watch video on it.

Re:

Yeah, might be the one that finally tips Barry Shitpeas over the edge. :-)

Re:

Hmmm... drifting into the arena of the unwellioids.

Doctor Withnail? No thanks.

Re: a few points

6) This feature is not a review.

Re: Really?

It's 50% of the Android tablet market, not 50% of the tablet market. Important distinction.

Re: what about the cost of e-books?

They incur 20% VAT, which paper books don't.

Re: I'm off to buy a Virgin TiVo

Yeah, but it does work in the important part... :-)

Re: Full fail compliant

Ahem. That's because it does go on sale until Friday, as it says in the story.

Re: Where are all the other devices?

It's not a round-up - it's a list of what we think are the best products of the year. Humax - and others - did not make the grade.

Re: Unfair advantage given to Virgin Tivo

Yes, I'm sure Virgin didn't pay for this one.

But if it wants to get a 100% score, it can send six cases of Brunello di Montalcino round to Vulture Central, marked for my attention.

Re: Non-starter for me.

Ahem, I've kept mine on often enough during T/O and L. Keep it out of plain view. Heck, you can't turn the thing off, anyway, just fix the screen view...

Re: Elephant in the room again.

IIRC, the PS3 has no HD DVR functionality, and no SD DVR without an add-on. But fair point about the other features.

Re: That's OK for you rich folks ...

E-books are rarely more expensive than paper. When they are, it's usually when the hardback is out, and the e-book is priced accordingly.

Solution: wait for the paperback to come out, and the e-book price will fall.

Caveat: this is a generalisation, obviously.

By buying carefully rather than taking a 'it's out, I must have it NOW' attitude, e-books need not be expensive. And they take up eff-all space in your living room, which is why I like 'em.

Buying a bigger house costs a *lot* more than the (tiny) e-book premium.

Oh, and paper? Just an analogue data delivery mechanism. It's the content that counts, not what it's sent to you on/in, IMHO.

Re: Nook?

Nook is nice but not readily available in the UK, where, IIRC, Barnes & Noble does not operate.

Re: Provided you redefine the meaning of tied.

Clarification. Kindle is tied to Amazon in as much as if you want to buy e-books, almost all of which are DRM-protected - O'Reilly offerings being a very notable exception - you really have to buy from Amazon.

With the Sony, say, you can buy from a variety of different bookshops.

You are still tied by DRM, though. If you buy a second e-reader, and it's not a Sony, you still have to make sure your new reader handles Adobe DRM. Fortunately, many do.

Reg readers may be able to strip Amazon-sold e-books of DRM, but lots of folk can't - or won't for fear of it requiring what they may perceive as dodgy software off the net. So, if they buy into Kindle, they're stuck with Kindle to view ebooks purchased from Amazon.

Now, Amazon at least supports iOS, Android and other platforms so its e-books can be read on other devices. That may be true of DRM'd ePub e-books too, but it's a while since I checked - Adobe Digital Editions software p**sed me off so much, I vowed never to use it again.

Does tie-in matter? No one here likes it, me included, but Amazon is not going to go titsup anytime soon, so you can argue your purchases are safe. If an ePub seller goes under, you can still read their offerings on any ePub DRM-supporting device.

The only barrier is the ePub-to-Kindle, and that is surmountable with third-party software if you need it. So, more a hassle than a barrier.

So, none of these devices are truly open, but they are openable. But the hassles are the fault of publisher-imposed DRM, not Amazon, Sony or Kobo.

Heck, even Apple dropped DRM from music the first chance it got.

Re: Bookeen Odyssey

It's not out yet, or wasn't late last month when we put this together. Besides, not having looked at it yet, how can we say whether it's any good or not?

Re: Yeah but....

Sounds like FUD.

I've taken Kindles through X-ray scanners to Europe, Australia and the US, and back again with no screen damage.

Airport staff inspecting bags without taking care of your kit? Now that I can believe.

Re: ...battery life?

It'll do 12 hours when run out flat, but you can expect to go a couple of days between charges for more real-world usage.

Re:

We're waiting to hear from Napster UK. No response as yet.

Re: Not Android 4.0.1

Absolutely correct. The update doesn't change the version number.

Mea culpa (not having a Nexus here to check)

Re: Ah !

6809, the only CPU, IIRC, with 'BRA' and 'SEX' as assembler mnemonics.

BRanch Always and Sign EXtended, since you ask.

Re: I remember the playground factions...

I had a Dragon, so there were at least a handful of us to the hordes of Beeb/Speccy boys, but I know where you're coming from.

Re: BBC Spectrum divide myth.

Nah. CBM 64 didn't arrive in the UK for a whole year after the Beeb's release. It didn't factor in my fellow comprehensive scholars as much as the BBC and Spectrum did.

Re: i'm off for a walk down memory lane...

Only shame is you can't go and do it in WHSmith, Boots, Laskey's, etc any longer

Re: A five core chip for mobile?

Fear not, 80 per cent of the cores will be powered down if you're not playing games. Most of the time only one core will be running.

Which, of course, begs the question why buy a Tegra 3 if four-fifths of it won't be used 99 per cent of the time?

Re: just to be clear

Sam, since you'd already said you'd be taking your page views elsewhere, there seemed little point in responding.

Since you ask, my view is that the use of swear words is entirely commensurate with the age, outlook and robustness of the vast majority of El Reg's readers.

FWIW, The Onion's comedy is hilarious - precisely because of the swearing. Could the author have used a tamer source? Certainly, but the review would have been less engaging and entertaining.

Personally, I also think it's important not to take offence when no offence is intended, as is the case here. One should feel more confident in one's beliefs when some else is seemingly rude about them. Turn the other cheek, etc.

Sorry to see you go, especially after staying with the site for so long.