Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

As you are aware I am a Samsung Mob!ler and I have recently been playing with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a tablet computer which runs on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system and features TouchWiz 4.o which makes navigating more intuitive.

The tablet is a nice size, it is very slim and easy to handle. The dimensions are 257x175x9mm and it is only 565g in weight. The front is black and there is a small rim round the edge of the screen that is not touch enabled. The sides are grey metal. On the top you will find the power button and the volume controls. These are raised buttons which make them easy to press. Also on the top is the headphone socket. On the bottom is the socket for the charging cable and on each side are the speakers.

The screen is bright and colourful, it is a multitouch 1,200 x 800 LCD panel and uses Samsung’s Super PLS technology. The viewing angles are great and if you play an HD movie it looks really good.

Navigation

The screen is easy to use and navigate around. There are five home screens which you can access using the small dots at the top of the screen. Each of these can be customised with various Android widgets like email, calendar and the weather. At the bottom left of the screen you will find four buttons. There is a back arrow which allows you to go back to the last thing you were looking at. The little house which takes you back to the home screen, a symbol that looks like two boxes which brings up a list of the applications that are currently running on the system and finally a button which allows you to take screen shots. In the bottom middle of the screen you will find a little up arrow, if you press this it brings up extra apps like the Calendar, Music Player and Task Manager. When they appear the arrow points down and you can press it again to make them disappear. On the bottom right is a clock, battery power indicator, wi-fi indicator and information about the pulse news application and downloads. If you click on this it brings up a small menu which allows you to access common settings like wi-fi, GPS and Settings.

If you click the Apps button in the top right of your screen you get access to all the Applications that are installed on your tab.

Again this is spread out over multiple screen that you can access by pressing the little numbered dots. It is worth noting that Polaris Office is installed by default which allows you to create and view Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents.

The internet browser offers support for Flash which is brilliant and also allows tabbed browsing so you can have multiple windows open. Interestingly it has a tilt to zoom feature which allows you to hold the screen at two points and tip the screen back and forwards to enlarge or reduce it. This is rather novel and quite useful.

Camera

There are two cameras included, a 3 MP rear facing camera and a 2 MP front facing camera. They offer a maximum resolution of 2084×1536 pixels (1280×720 for video), and can record video at 720p HD as well. The camera offers a number of features like autofocus, LED flash, smile and panorama shots and there is a macro mode for close ups. It is easy to use and the settings are very clear and straight forward.

Specifications

OS	Android 3.1 Honeycomb
Chipset	CP: XMM6260
Display	10.1″ 1280 x 800 (WXGA) TFT
Wireless Connectivity	BT 3.0, WiFi a/b/g/n,Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS
Camera	3 MP rear camera with LED Flash, autofocus and geo-tagging. 2 MP front camera
Video	WMV9, WMV8, WMV7, H.264, MPEG4, H.263, VP8
Audio	MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA
Battery	7000 mAh
Dimensions	256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6 mm
Weight	565g

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a lovely look and feel and is very intuitive to use. It is a lovely tablet with a lot of nice features and definitely worth a look.

The Pumpkin

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

As you are aware I shared some information about the Club Penguin Puffle Pumpkin Template the other day and my son was really keen to give it a go. This is the finished result, I thought I would share it with you all.

I think it turned out quite well. If you want to have a go yourself you will find all the information and links to the Club Penguin Puffle template here: http://dragonsandfairydust.co.uk/2011/10/29/club-penguin-puffle-halloween-pumpkin-template/

Di Palomo – Inspired by Italy but made in England

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

Recently FuelMyBlog offered me the chance to try some products from the skincare, fragrance and home fragrance company Di Palomo. This company is based in Torquay but has a range of products which were inspired by time spent in Italy and the scents found there. I was really pleased to try these products as I love Italy. I spent my honeymoon in Italy and we visited Florence, Rome, Venice and Pisa among other places. I have very fond memories of my time spent there. To get you in the Italian mood here is a picture I took in Venice.

I was sent two products in the range to try, White Grape and Aloe Bath and Shower Cream and White Grape and Aloe Body Butter. Both of these, obviously, contain grape and aloe which are known for their soothing properties. Both products are packaged nicely, they come in white boxes with green grapes subtlety embedded on them. The body butter is wrapped in green tissue paper inside the box which gives it an extra touch of luxury.

White Grape and Aloe Bath and Shower Cream

The Bath and Shower Cream comes in a pump dispenser which makes it easy to use as much or as little as you need. The cream is green in colour and has a nice consistency, it is not too runny. It has a nice perfume, which is sweet and grape-like but not overpowering. It can be used either in the bath or as a shower gel. I choose to use it in the shower and I found that it lathered well and left my skin feeling noticeably softer. The perfume lingered on your skin after use which was nice.

RRP £9.00

White Grape and Aloe Body Butter

The body butter contains over 30% cocoa butter and you notice this when you first use it as it thicker than other body butters. When it was rubbed onto skin it melted in really nicely and was absorbed quickly. It did not leave my skin feeling greasy after use and I did notice that it left much softer for a while after use. Again it has a subtle and pleasant perfume which lingered on my skin after use. My skin tends to be very dry and I noticed that really helped.

I love the way the grape motif is carried onto the lid of the container.

Both these products did remind me of Italy, you can almost imagine being in a Tuscan grape field in the summer under the warm Italian sun.

RRP £15

For more information and to view the other products in their range go to: http://www.dipalomo.com

You can also follow them on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/dipalomo and find them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Di-Palomo/225983860746411

Other reviews you may be interested in:

Acorelle Epilation Body Scrub

Club Penguin Puffle Halloween Pumpkin Template

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

It is Halloween on Monday, and we usually go out of the way to carve a pumpkin. There is something comforting about a candle twinkling in a pumpkin on Halloween night. When I was little we used to use a turnip but it seems that pumpkins have become usual these days.
I wanted to share this video with you which you will appreciate if you have children who like Club Penguin. Disney have produced a video with QVC Papercraft Studio guest presenter and crafting blogger Kirsty Wiseman carving a Club Penguin Puffle Pumpkin Lantern. I think this would make a pumpkin with a difference.

You can watch the video here:

You will need to get a pumpkin, a felt pen and something sharp to carve the pumpkin with. You will also need the template which is here: http://community.clubpenguin.com/funactivities/arts-and-crafts/puffle-pumpkin.htm. I am going to be having a go at making this today or tomorrow and will let you know how it turns out. I would love to know what sort of pumpkin you are making.

To visit Club Penguin you can go here: http://www.clubpenguin.com/ and the template is here

In case you start wondering why we carve pumpkins for Halloween and why we used to use turnips, which I must admit I was starting to do, I found this interesting article here which is a good read.

http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

Did you win the FunMats Giveaway?

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

As you know I recently ran a c0mpetition to win a Funmat, which is a piece of your child’s art work made into something you can keep forever. You can find more information here. Sadly I could only choose one winner and I did this using the Psychic Science Random Number Generator. The winner is