iPhone 4 SwitchEasy NUDE Quick review.
Once announced I ordered the ‘SwitchEasy NUDE’ case for my new iPhone 4 after being impressed with the SwitchEasy NUDE for the iPhone 3GS. I figured it’d be a safe bet for anyone who hates bulky cases that hide the iPhone’s industrial design. Well I was wrong… Here’s quick list of why:
- Clear case just shows more dust/finger prints than naked iPhone 4. Dust gets trapped inside the case and shows. [High-Res Photo1 + Photo2]
- Sharp edges; doesn’t feel good to hold. Feels cheap.
- Doesn’t fit tightly. The iPhone doesn’t sit flush against the case and wiggles a bit.
- Doesn’t provide any screen protection (ie: a raised edge on front).
- Hard to remove. The metal bezel on my iPhone actually shaved some plastic off of the case.
- Volume buttons are little hard to press.
I don’t like anything about this case… I’ve already removed the case after a few minutes of use and will not be using it. Sadly I doubt I can return the case for a refund as I ordered directly from SwitchEasy. I’ve emailed them to inquire about a refund.
UPDATE Aug-02-2010: Info on SwitchEasy returns (Still haven’t gotten a refund).
UPDATE Aug-11-2010: Got my refund!
CO-OP: Assassin’s Creed 2 Review Special. Damn I really want this game now! Hope someone gets it for my birthday (Dec 14).
Halo 3: ODST Video Review (gametrailers.com)
[Review] iPhone/iPod Scosche passPORT Charging Adapter
I posted the other day about wanting to order the Scosche passPORT Charging Adapter to enable charging of my new iPhone 3GS with my 2008 Scion xD Pioneer audio system. This is a common issue with newer iPods and iPhones with accessories (such as car stereos) from 2008 or before due to changes in Apple’s hardware.
I received the adapter yesterday and have used the device twice since. There’s not much to it really. Just plug it in and it either works, or it doesn’t. In my case it works great! My iPhone now charges while plugged into my car’s audio system and still interfaces with the stereo as it should.
A few notes to be aware of:
The iPhone still displays a message (that can be ignored) saying the “accessory is not compatible” because it still detects the “older accessory” (aka the Pioneer sound system) through the adapter.
I also found that if I disconnected my iPhone (leaving the adapter plugged-in) while still playing music, my car’s stereo would still think the iPhone was plugged-in and would become locked into the “iPod” screen. The easy fix for this was to either turn-off the stereo before disconnecting the iPhone, or disconnect the adapter also.
Conclusion:
At $24.99 (or up to $30) it’s a bit steep for such a simple device, but it’s far better than the alternative of not being able to play music while charging with some other car iPod/iPhone charging device. The Scosche passPORT should easily pay for itself with the amount of use it will get.
Product Link: Scosche passPORT Charging Adapter for iPod touch 2G, iPod nano 4G, iPhone 3G (and iPhone 3GS)
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen [Reviewed]
My friend who I saw the movie with blogs his thoughts on the film. I also posted my thought in his comments, so check that out too under his review.
/Film Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Ouch! I’m not spending full price to see this.
Roger Ebert reviews Transformers 2
Not sure if I want to see it anymore… Maybe it’ll still be fun if you turn off your brain while watching it?
Review of McDonald’s “McCafé” Coffee
It kinda sucks… The iced Mocha is alright, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for one. The hot drinks just suck. All the coffee tastes mostly like regular ground coffee instead of the espresso they claim to use. In contrast Starbucks is worth it’s steep price for a good coffee.
Beat Prince of Persia (360) last night: Thoughts
From my post on the Untitled Image “Now Playing” topic.
I really enjoyed it overall but it does have a few issues.
My main issue with the game is it’s ridged controls, they just aren’t fluid or responsive as I felt they should be and often were the cause of my “death”. Most of the time you guide the Prince into an action and he will go into semi-auto.. For example when you jump at a wall; depending on your angle you will either wall-run (as far as he can without footing) or climb up it (as far as you can without footing) and you have control over when to jump or to slide down the wall…
I’d almost rather have to press a button to wall-run so I can’t accidentally do the wrong action, it would take some more skill but in the long run could be more easy. The other bad thing is that it almost seems to remember your button presses, so you can easily kill yourself by mashing a button; once the Prince is done doing the previous action he will usually do whatever the last button press was (before the action) even if things have changed (during the action) and you want to do something else you can’t abort.
The easy “quick retry” that everyone talks about, (you never actually can die in this game and some feel it makes the game too easy) I feel was needed to keep the controls from ruining the game. If I had to wait for a level to re-load every time I “died” I’d have thrown the game out the window within the first few hours.
The combat was really strange at first since it’s really nothing like what you’d expect. It’s all one-on-one fights and they are quite few.. Once you understand the combat system it’s actually quite fun. The combat is all about blocking/countering and using the right attacks at the right time.
The art design and over all feel of the game was the best part. If there were none of the above mentioned issues this game could truly be a favorite, but it falls just short, like I did so many times jumping off a wall in the game.
1UP Video Game Podcasts “Replacements” Impressions 1
On my quest to fill the 1UP Podcasts void in my life I am listening to a bunch of podcasts I have never listened to before. So far I’ve listened to:
- Player One Podcast (iTunes link) I picked-up on an after holiday episode so it was rather bland. The hosts are ex-EGM staff so I went back to the previous episode to get a better taste. It might grow on me but I’m not overly impressed yet… I’ll give it a chance and stay subscribed for now.
- Gamers With Jobs (iTunes link) This was also an after holiday episode where they were missing someone but it was still actually enjoyable. In the episode I heard they talked a bit more about obscure PC games than I’d care to hear about. I’ll stay subscribed.
- Giant BombCast (iTunes link) It’s a bit more informal than the 1UP podcasts. If they added slightly more structure it could be great. I do like that they jump right into what they were playing after the opening silliness. I’ll be subscribing and I’m sure it’ll grow on me.
- Idle Thumbs (iTunes link) I enjoyed this one within the first 5 minutes and was fun all the way through. They actually have the best “1UP podcast” style synergy between the podcasters that makes it much more engaging. They also stay on the subject of games better than some podcasts. Less structure than 1UP podcasts, but still very good.
Another Review: Charter Communications
It’s a bit old but this guy’s review is about the most scathing I’ve seen so far.
The thing that really bothers me is that they haven’t been too bad for me until recently. Hulu and Netflix streaming is almost useless most of the time now… The bandwidth drops-off right when I get home from work! (The only time I really do use it.)
Review: Charter Communications
This review was posted just today. Apparently I’m not the only dissatisfied customer…
