Mini Ninjas: IPad App Review

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

With half term coming up shortly I was pleased to be asked to review a new app for the IPad, Mini Ninjas. In the game you start off as Hiro, the smallest of a gang of Mini Ninjas who have set out to defeat the Evil Samuari Warlord. The other Mini Ninjas have all been captured so it is up to Hiro to save the day and free his friends.

Hiro starts off running along a scrolling screen, he has to jump over obstacles, fight off enemies and on the way collects coins and ingredients for special potions. Hiro is able to use Kuji magic which allows him to form a protective bubble around himself, create electrical storms or possess animals to sneak past enemies.

The action is fast paced, you tap on the screen to make Hiro jump or attack and it is great fun seeing him take on the enemies. On the way you get to pick up animals, which follow you about. You also get to release your trapped friends. If you do this you can play as a different Mini Ninja and get to use their abilities.

All the Mini Ninjas have different skills. As well as Hiro you can be Suzume , who has a magic flute that attracts collectables, Kunoichini, who has a staff to allow you to do massive attacking jumps, and Futo, who has a massive hammer which will smash rocks and everything around.

In the latest version of the game you can also take on the abilities of your animal companions which gives you even more skills to use to defeat your enemies. You get the power ups from the Dojo Shop in the game when you have enough coins. Then you can use the moves of Panda, Fox or Crane. Panda is powerful and wise with strength like no other allowing you to knock aside enemies with ease. Fox is agile and swift allowing you to pounce out of danger with ease and Crane is graceful but deadly with aerial abilities which help to avoid flying enemies.

The coins you collect also allow you to customise your ninja in the shop as well as buying other power ups to help you on your quest. The game is fast paced and enjoyable. My son spent ages playing and is much better than I am. It is really addictive and great fun. Square Enix, who wrote the game, are planning a cartoon of Mini Ninjas in the future and I can see this becoming a big hit with kids.

Mini Ninjas is RRP £0.69 and is available from the App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. You can download it here: https://itunes.apple.com/app/mini-ninjas/id577106023?mt=8

You can also find more information on the Mini Ninjas website: http://eu.square-enix.com/en/games/mini-ninjas-mobile

Disclosure: We were sent a code for the app in order to do an honest review.

Magix Page & Layout Designer Review

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

Recently I have needed a decent design program to create a number of different things like business cards and fliers but I didn’t have a suitable program on my computer. My son was complaining as he had been taught to do some page design at school but was not able to complete his homework. You can do a certain amount using a word processor but it is not so good for designing cards or small business cards. I was really pleased when I was asked to review Magix Page & Layout Designer as it sounded like just what I needed.

Magix Page &Layout Designer allows you to create business cards, letter heads, invitations, birthday and other cards, menus, logos, flyers and anything else you can think of. It provides a large amount of templates to get you started or you can just create your own design from scratch.

When you first start the program you get a document appearing on the screen which takes you though how to use it. It is useful to read this but the program is very intuitive and it is easy to guess what to do. If you are stuck the help system is comprehensive.

To get started just go into the Design Gallery and choose a template. There are plenty to choose from and each can be modified to your preferences. I really liked the range of photo albums which allowed me to create my own professional looking photo book. You can even enhance the photos directly from the application which is very useful. If you just want a blank page you can choose different sizes and orientations.

There is also a wide range of clip art, even dragons which pleased me. You can easily resize, change the colour and add your own text to your design.

Once you have chosen the template you want to use then you can do modifications using the different galleries and tools.

I had great fun adding shapes and changing them so they were 3D in appearance. Text can be easily placed and it will even flow around objects creating a professional look and feel. You can easily add borders as well using the line gallery, there are a range of standard plain lines as well as more interesting effects like little footprints. It is easy to modify the size and colour of these as well. Magix Page & Layout Designer can also be used as a logo maker and I will be trying this feature out next. You can also easily create a pdf of your design and share it on Flickr and Facebook.

I found the software really easy to use and was able to create a number of professional looking documents which I was pleased it. My son was also able to use it without any help and was soon happily creating away. I will be using this software a lot in the future.

You can buy Magix Page & Layout Designer for £69.99. Magix can be found on facebook and it is worth giving them a follow to find out the latest about their produces and they regularly run competitions

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of Magix Page & Layout Designer in order to do an honest review. I was not told what to write and my opinions are my own.

Ideal Cases – Personalised Device Cases Review

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

Recently I was asked by Ideal Cases if I would like to design a personalised case for a device of my choice. The cases are personalised so you can add your own photos and art work which make it unique. I definitely need a cover for my phone as I have this terrible habit of dropping it and if it did not have a case it would be a wreck by now. The case I had was looking a little bit worse for wear so I was pleased to get the chance to replace it.

Ideal Cases has a range of covers for lots of different devices. From phones of all shapes and sizes to e-readers and i-pads, they have it covered. Once you have chosen the device it is really easy to design a cover, the website guides you though the steps.

First you chose the type of case you want, the options vary depending on the device you have. For the iphone 3GS they have clip on cases in plastic. For other devices you can get rubber and leather as well. I was quite happy with the clip on case, which offers medium drop protection and high scratch protection.

Designing your case is great fun. You can choose to upload photos in a grid design or template design. If you know what you want you can start with a blank canvas and design what you want. Finally you can use DIY Fan Art which allows you to customise pictures of your favourite band or film. I went for the photo upload option and decided to chose some personal pictures to make it special.

As well as the photos you can add little bits of clip art to give the case a bit of style. I added a little star above my son. The case colour can be changed to suit and I went for a blue colour. You can also add frames around the photographs if you wish.

The case arrived in a little plastic box which showed it off to perfection.

The case also has all the holes in the right place to allow you to access all the switches and buttons on the phone. It fits snugly round the phone and feels very secure.

I love the look and feel of my new phone cover, it is really personal and makes it stand out. These cases would make a lovely personalised gift as well as being practical.

The whole ordering and designing process was very simple and straight forward. The case arrived reasonably quickly and you can track your order on-line to see what is happening. You also get emails though-out the process to let you know what is going on. My case was RRP £24.99, obviously the price will depend on the case you choose.

For more information visit http://www.idealcases.co.uk

Disclosure: FuelMyBlog organised for me to receive a case to my design in order for me to do an honest review. I was not told what to write and my opinions are my own.

LED Light Bulbs Review

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

In these days of increasing energy prices everyone is aware of energy saving light bulbs. Until recently filament light bulbs were in use in most homes but these have been phased out. I use energy saving light bulbs but I am not very keen on them. I find they take a long time to warm up and become bright and overall their light seems dimmer. I was very interested to learn that you can now buy LED Light Bulbs from LED Hut.

In case you are not aware, LED stands for light emitting diode. When these were first invented you could only get them in red. I remember being fascinated as a child when they were using in clock faces and scientific calculators to show the numbers. Technology has moved on since then and they now come in a range of colours. They now have many uses including backlighting LCD TV’s.

I was really keen to try the LED bulbs and see if they would be an improvement on low energy bulbs. The great thing about using LED bulbs is that they also have a low energy consumption. A normal incandescent light bulb loses a lot of energy as heat. LED’s are an improvement for a number of reasons.

LED’s are more efficient and use 90% less energy.
LED’s last longer. They last 25-30 years providing consistent light without breaking.
They create less carbon dioxide (a factor in global warming) . Switching all your bulbs to LEDs can save 56 tonnes of carbon dioxide being created.
They save money. You can save £9.15 per month by swapping 12 standard 50W halogen light bulbs to LEDs light bulbs which works out as £2,550 over the bulbs’ lifespan.

It all sounded great but I wondered how they would work out in practice.

The bulbs arrived in rather plain white boxes carefully wrapped in bubble wrap to prevent breakages.

Opening the boxes I found the bulbs. They come in a range of different sizes that will fit most standard light fittings. You can even get LED Strip lights. I needed candle type bulbs and normal shaped bulbs to light my living room. You can get them in both screw fitting and bayonet fitting depending what you need.

The LED light bulbs come in different values of Watts, the same way ordinary light bulbs do. You can also choose the type of light you want, from cool white to warm white. The cool is more suitable for bathrooms and kitchens and the warm for living areas.

They look very much like normal bulbs until you look at them head on. When you do this you can see the LED’s inside the bulb, it looks a little bit like a flower.

So what did I think? I installed the LED light bulbs in my living room as it looks really gloomy with energy saving light bulbs. When I switched on I noticed an instant difference. The bulbs seemed bright instantly, I did not have to wait for the light to warm up and reach full brightness. I also thought that the room seemed a lot brighter with less lights on. I was very pleased with the results and will be looking at changing the bulbs in my other rooms as well. The great thing is that I am saving money while I am using these bulbs and they should not need replacing for a long time. The bulbs are slightly more expensive to buy up front but considering how long they last it is a worthwhile investment. The standard bulbs I fitted are £12.83 and the candle bulbs are £8.60.

You can visit the LED Hut website for more information about LED light bulbs and to use their interactive energy saving calculator.

Disclosure: I was sent some LED Light Bulbs to try out and find out more about them in return for an honest review. I was not told what to write and my opinions are my own.

Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer Review

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Dragons and Fairy Dust

Appliances Online very kindly asked me if I would like to review a fridge freezer and sent me the Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer to try out. I have to say I was very pleased with their service, they delivered on a Sunday. I got a text message and a phone call the day before delivery and another call on the day of delivery to make sure I would be in. The fridge freezer was carried in and installed with the minimum of fuss.

If you are looking for a fridge freezer where the fridge and freezer are of equal size and that holds enough for a family of three or four, then you might want to look at the Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer.

The Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer has a lovely sleek design and the doors are easy to open. It is quite large, the dimensions are (H)175.0 x (W)60.0 x (D)65.5 but it is not so large that it will loom in the corner of a kitchen. It actually fits neatly in a corner and looks nice. Another good point is that it is A+ rated which means it is very energy efficient so will not use as much electricity when keeping your food cold. As the fridge is always on this will help save energy and should make a difference to your electricity bills.

The fridge is situated at the top of the Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer and the freezer is situated at the bottom. This is actually well thought out as you need to bend down to get into the freezer and most people will be opening and closing the fridge more often than the freezer. Opening the fridge door you can see it is very roomy inside.

The main part of the fridge has three shelves where you can store your food and two drawers for putting your fruit and vegetables in. The shelves are quite wide and deep so you can actually put a lot of food inside. There is 182 litres of storage space in the fridge.The top two shelves are adjustable.

You can easily slip them of position by pushing them up slightly at the back and sliding them out of the grooves shown in the photo. You can then replace in a slightly different position. They slide in and out easily which also makes it easier to clean them.

The fruit and vegetable boxes slide in and out easily and have plenty of room inside. The whole fridge uses Hotpoint’s Air-tech Evolution system which keeps the fridge at a constant temperature. As a result of this fruit and vegetables seem to stay fresher for longer which is a bonus.

The inside of the fridge door has three shelves.

Again the top two are adjustable and can be moved to different heights depending what you are storing. There is plenty of room for bottles, cans and condiments in here. I could easily get two 2 litre bottles of milk and 2 litre bottles of pop inside. The temperature inside the fridge can be easily adjusted using the temperature dial at the top.

I found that the middle setting was cold enough.

The freezer contains three drawers which have almost see thorough fronts to them.

The drawers are really easy to open and are actually very large inside. The middle drawer is the largest and the bottom drawer is the smallest, but there is actually very little difference.

I found that all the contents of my old freezer fitted inside with space to spare so it is actually a lot bigger than it looks. The freezer capacity is apparently 116 litres.

One thing that really struck me about the Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer is how quiet it is. I hadn’t realised how noisy my old fridge was until I received this one. It is so quiet that I keep thinking it is not on. I have been really pleased with the Hotpoint STR175WP Fridge Freezer and it suits my needs perfectly.

If you want to watch my video review you can see it here: