Things to Consider in Building a Chicken Coop

If you love the idea of raising chicken in your backyard, it is important that you know what it takes to put up a chicken coop. Of course, you can get a pre-built chicken coop at the shop but you will find it a little expensive when in fact building your own can be easy and fast.

If you are interested in the idea of a do-it-yourself coop for your chicken, you can actually do it with the help you chicken coop guides, designs and plans that allow you to follow certain instructions in building your poultry coop. Of course, by having a chicken good guide and design at hand, you will know what you will need, the tools that you will be using, as well as the materials that you need to secure for the building.

With a good guide at hand, building a coop can actually be easy and fast. Here are some things to consider if you want to make this a do-it-yourself project.

- Get a good chicken coop guide and building plan. Most of these coop designs have detailed instructions on how to build and materials that you need to make a coop. It just important that you get something that is easy to understand and have clear instructions.

- Decide on the materials that you will be using. You don't have to scramble to the shop at once. Survey your basement for some scrap lumber. This will help you empty your basement and save money from buying new materials as well. You can even find a lot of bargain materials that you can also use in your coop. Choose materials also that require you less maintenance as well.

- Chose a location where you will build your coop. This is important to consider especially for sanitation and health of your chicken. A slope or hilly land will be ideal for your coop to facilitate drainage of water. If you are putting your coop in your backyard, make sure your coop is facing the sun to avoid moisture and damp areas in your coop. Damp areas can be a breeding ground for bacteria and other organisms that can bring diseases to your chicken.

- Choose a coop design that allows proper ventilation and insulation for your chicken. Make sure also that they can get much natural light as well.

- Make sure that your coop keeps away your chickens from predators and other animals that can harm them. Install fences and chicken wires and make sure that the windows and doors do not provide entrance for the predators. Keep in mind that some predators can dig into the soil to prey on your chicken, so make sure your coop design does not allow that. You can also opt for a mobile chicken coop if you want to avoid predators from coming back to the place where the coop was once located.

Indeed, putting up a chicken coop has lots of considerations. But if you have a great chicken coop guide that will help you choose a design of your coop and maintain you coop, raising chicken would be a great fulfillment.

Click Here!

Secrets to Dog Training Review - Is it Really the Best Dog Training Program?

Why do so many people agree that Secrets to Dog Training is the best Internet dog training program? Approximately 65,000 satisfied customers already think it is. After reviewing this program I can tell you that it is very complete, and has everything a dog owner will need to do a great job training his own dog at home.

The techniques Daniel teaches are based on positive reinforcement training.By following the step by step instructions in the course, you will learn not only the basic methods of obedience training-the vocal commands and the dog training hand signals that accompany them- but you will also be learning why the exercises are done in a certain way for getting the best results. Because Daniel teaches a positive style of training, you will have fun while teaching your dog to be his best.

One of the important things you will be learning about in Secrets to Dog training is dog psychology. A basic understanding of dog psychology will help you be better able to communicate with your dog. You will learn that dogs see their world a lot differently than people do, and communicating on their level will be a key to your success with training. By communicating with your dog properly you can eliminate the training mistakes that serve to make good results harder to get.

You will learn how to the leader of the pack, the Alpha dog, which you need to do in order to earn your dog's respect and confidence. By becoming the pack leader you can bond with your dog.

Secrets to Dog Training teaches you a very effective step by step system to follow, which starts by training your new puppy the most basic dog training exercises. As your dog develops and becomes ready to learn more, the more advanced exercises are added to the training.

In this 260 page book, you will be learning all the step by step exercises for obedience training your dog at home- but also correcting the 25 most common dog behavior problems. In case your dog has a problem not specifically answered in the book, Daniel offers you free email consultations with the expert staff and excellent Forum they have.

Daniel has thrown in a half hour long video presentation for you, so you can watch the pros in action. Check out the video to see exactly how a professional gets the great results he does. Try copying the pros, and very shortly you will be having  fun teaching your dog some new tricks. In Secrets to Dog Training, you get valuable and practical information that will translate into results that you'll love when you put these techniques into action. These training techniques are guaranteed to work, so you know your efforts will get you're the fastest and most effective results possible.

Besides the book, the video and the free email consultations, you will also get some more cool bonuses when you purchase Secrets to Dog Training. These bonus eBooks, will help you with subjects such as Resolving Dog Aggression Problems, Secrets to Becoming the Alpha Dog, Grooming Your Dog, and more.

In addition to all this, Secrets to Dog Training comes with a 60-day guarantee. In case you are not completely happy with Secrets to Dog Training, you can get all of your money back, no questions asked.

Click Here!

Dog Food Secrets Review - Learn About the Right Food to Feed Your Dog

Dog Food Secrets is a startling new book the illustrates an important reason why our dogs get sick and die much sooner than they should. Andrew Lewis is the author of Dog Food Secrets. His young 4 year old Beagle developed kidney failure, and died a horrible premature death. Andrew began a dedicated study to find out just why dogs like his and so many others could get so sick, even though they were apparently well cared for.

What he found out was absolutely shocking. The ingredients found in almost all commercial brands of dog foods, even the so called premium brands, had toxic harmful adulterants and fillers that were poisoning our pets on a daily basis.

Andrew claims that by feeding your dog home made meals, you can prolong your dog's lifetime by up to 134% or over 8 years-while at the same time, having a happier, healthier and more active dog. He says dog owners can enjoy their pet's company for many more years by avoiding feeding our pet unhealthy meals. He recommends an alternative to commercial dog food brands that will provide your pet with the right amounts of nutrition he needs to be at his healthiest, happiest and most energetic.

Almost all commercial dog foods contain things like preservatives that are illegal for human consumption, euthanized animals (including dogs themselves), dog feces, sodium pentobarbital (which is still found in the bodies of euthanized animals added to the mix, along with other unsavory items. Andrew Lewis teaches you how to read the labels of packaged dog food so you can understand exactly what you are-or are not-getting.

Andrew includes as a bonus another excellent book called The Dog Food Conspiracy Report, which will tell you which 9 products-out of all products tested-passed Andrew's teams rigorous standards. This is good news for those of us who cannot (or don't want to) cook our dog's meals to ensure that they have a healthy nutritious diet.

Dog Food Secrets offers you 35 different tasty and healthy recipes proven by Andrew's specially trained dog gourmets to be well received by dogs everywhere. Four Paws Up! He gives you ideas that make the recipes easy to prepare, and tips on how to make a large enough batch to last for several meals at a time. Andrew teaches you that between the cost savings of buying the best dog foods commercially and the health benefits your dog will get, that making your dog's food at home is the better choice.

Besides providing the specially formulated healthy recipes, Dog Food Secrets also reveals a specific formula to calculate just how much food your doggy needs. The formula is based on several factors, such as whether your dog is very active or not, whether your dog is pregnant or breast feeding, whether your dog has been neutered, or whether your dog is old or young. All these factors have an influence over just how many calories are needed daily to keep your dog at his healthiest.

Dog Food Secrets also provides you with information on how to spot any signs of illness in your dog before they get too far progressed. Andrew has included a complete health care program for you to follow, starting with your dog as a puppy and then moving on throughout the stages of his lifetime. This section includes valuable health related information about illnesses such as parasites and gum or dental problems, and a list of 5 important vaccinations your puppy or dog needs to have.

I very highly recommend checking out Dog Food Secrets. This is a valuable book for anyone who loves their dog and is concerned about providing their pet with the longest and most healthy life possible. You will never look the same way at a bag or can of commercial dog food again.

Click Here!

Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700-Watt Juice Extractor

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest

This is my third juicing machine. My first was a Champion which served without problems for years. On the plus side it was powerful and durable. On the down side it was rather noisy, vibrated a lot and left a lot of juice in the pulp and was hard to clean. My second juicer was the omega screw machine which I still have. I bought it because it also did wheat grass. On the plus side it is quiet and juices anything, makes nut butter and extracts a lot of juice leaving very dry pulp. On the down side it is slow and worst of all the feed tube is really small. You have to do a lot of cutting to get things small enough to get into the feed tube. I pretty much only use it for wheatgrass now. The Breville is the best juicer I have had. It is an example of good product design in that it is simple, practical and attractive. It is powerful, has a feed tube large enough to take large whole carrots, beets and small apples. It is quiet, comes apart easy and cleans up quickly. The capture pitcher which nests into the machine has a nice cover so you can store the juice for later. If making juice is a hassle you're going to put off doing it. This juicer makes juicing easy and not a hassle.

BUY NOW!!!

NewAir AW281E 28 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest

I had concerns about purchasing the AW281E because it seemed to be a no-name brand only sold at a few stores, but the reviews were better than the well known brands so I pulled the trigger and purchased. I'm glad I did. The construction seems to be very good and I love the look. Even with the light off, the digital blue LED temp indicator (haven't checked accuracy yet, but others have commented on this) has a strong glow, which I like. With the light on, it's very nice looking, but I leave it off so as not to adversely effect temperature. The shelves are adjustable, so despite what others have said, larger bottles, girth wise, will fit. There will be a loss of capacity if you store larger bottles, so get a larger unit if that's an issue. Longer than standard bottles (more than an inch) will have to be put in sideways, or if too long, won't fit. An example of the storage versatility: I put in six boxes of Black Box wine, my daily drink (obviously not an oenophile!), plus another ten bottles, four on the top rack and two stacked on top of each other on each of the three other shelves next to the boxes (I leave out three shelves to fit the boxes). That's 34 bottles worth of wine--some nice bottles and the daily cheap stuff! As for noise, there is a fan that has run continuously since I've had the unit (three days). If everything in the house is turned off, the fan is easily audible within thirty feet, but it isn't annoying because it's white noise--a constant sound. As soon as you start talking or turn on a TV you will not hear the fan unless you get within a few feet of the unit. If you have a reasonably powerful desktop computer, you have a fan that is going constantly, too. It's noticeable if you listen for it, but does it really bother you? While not constant, your refrigerator probably makes a similar amount of noise. Does it bother you? If they do, then this unit isn't for you, but this would probably apply to any thermoelectric wine cooler, not just this one. While there is noise, and this was a concern while considering this purchase, my wife and I have absolutely no complaints regarding this issue. FYI, I keep the unit in my pantry, with the door almost always open. I haven't looked into it, but from what little I've read, I believe the only moving part is the fan. If true, this means that the fan is the only thing that would ever wear out and should be easy to replace, when necessary. The front control panel could possibly break and need replacement, but it shouldn't wear out unless you're pushing the buttons every day. There is a drip tray at the bottom back of the unit that is supposed to be emptied and cleaned periodically.

BUY NOW!!!

Black & Decker CHV1510 Dustbuster 15.6-Volt Cordless Cyclonic Hand Vacuum

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest

The Black & Decker CHV1510 15.6-Volt Cordless Hand Vac has 50% more reach than the previous Dustbuster design for less bending and better accessibility. Lightweight and portable for quick clean-ups! The rotating, slim nozzle targets dirt in tight spaces. Brush and crevice tool accessories are located on-board so there are no loose items to misplace. The wide mouth design means this vac can effortlessly scoop up large debris. Cyclonic action spins dust and debris away from the filter so suction power stays strong. A Translucent, bagless dirt bowl makes it easy to see dirt and easy to empty. Removable, washable dirt bowl and filters allow for a thorough, hygienic cleaning. It uses a 3 stage filtration system that means less clogging and cleaner air exhaust. I can be stored in 3 versatile ways: horizontally, vertically, or mount on a wall. It has a charging indicator light that allows you to always know you have a good connection. The Energy Star approved charging system saves energy and helps protect batteries. Battery charger is designed for 120V.

BUY NOW!!!

Cyanics Bluetune Solo Portable Bluetooth Speaker and Speakerphone

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest

 

Output power: 4W (RMS ). Spearker Unit: 50mm micro driver. Bluetooth compliant: V2.1+EDR. Wireless range : 10M. Bluetooth profile support: A2DP Stereo. Speaker playtime: up to 8 hours. Bluetooth playback time: up to 4 hours. What is in the box: 1 pc Bluetune-Solo, 1 pc of 2 in 1 charging/audio cable, 1 pc of user manual.

BUY NOW!!!

EnGenius DuraFon 1X Long Range Industrial Cordless Phone System

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]EnGenius DuraFon 1X Long Range Industrial Cordless Phone System. DURAFON 1X PBX 1PORT LONG RANGE CORDLESS PHONE SYSTEM. 1 x Phone Line(s) - 1 x Sub-mini phone Headset

    Limited Warranty: 1 Year
    Manufacturer/Supplier: EnGenius Technologies, Inc
    Manufacturer Part Number: DURAFON-1X
    Brand Name: EnGenius
    Product Line: DuraFon
    Product Model: 1X
    Product Name: DuraFon 1X Long Range Industrial Cordless Phone System
    Marketing Information: The EnGenius DuraFon Long Range Industrial Cordless Phone System provides mobility and communication in demanding business environments including nurseries, car and truck rental lots, self-storage facilities, farms, maintenance yards, marinas and other large campus environments.
    Product Type: Cordless Phone
    Connectivity Technology: Cordless
    Frequency Band: 928 MHz
    Number of Analog Phone Lines: 1
    Total Number of Phone Lines: 1
    Maximum Cordless Handset Supported: 9
    Caller ID: Yes
    Features: Expandable, Keypad Lock, Call Waiting, Vibrator, Caller Log, Speed Dial, Phone Book, Conference Call, Spread Spectrum, Flash, Hearing Aid
    Headset Port: Yes

BUY NOW!!!

Death Wish Coffee

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest

 

Our company's mission was to develop an insanely strong coffee that was dark, highly caffeinated, and very flavorful. Mission accomplished! Introducing, Death Wish Coffee - The World's Strongest Coffee. Not for the weak. Our special blend of beans are inspected before and after the roasting process to ensure proper roast consistency and bean density. Every aspect of our coffee is optimal for providing a strong, robust, flavorful brew. Get yours while supplies last.

BUY NOW!!!

LED USB Rechargeable readers Glasses

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

There are your regular pair of reading glasses, and then there are those that definitely boggle the mind with technology thrown into the equation. With the $49.95 Rechargeable LED Reading Glasses, you know for sure that we are talking about the latter, and it works great even if you do not own a reading lamp beside your bed. After all, putting on this pair of Rechargeable LED Reading Glasses would definitely allow you to see better in low light conditions, as it delivers up to 2.5 hours of illumination on a single charge.

You also need not have to weigh down your head with heavy batteries inside the Rechargeable LED Reading Glasses, since they can be juiced up via AC in an hour, of if you prefer, to use USB connectivity courtesy of the included adapters. A couple of LEDs that are mounted at the temples of the frame will be able to project crisp focused light regardless of where you look. The glasses themselves are made from durable hard plastic with scratch-resistant refractive lenses, and each purchase comes with a hard-plastic travel case.

BUY NOW!!!

EvriHolder DynoBytes Sandwich Crust Cutter

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]CRST-D Features: -Dyno byte.-Easily de-crusts sandwiches and cuts into dyno shapes.-Great for back-to-school promotions and year-round.-Top rack dishwasher safe.-BPA free.-Patented. Dimensions: -Dimensions: 1.2'' H x 4.5'' W x 4.25'' D.

BUY NOW!!!

Group wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day in Lima, Peru

Group wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day in Lima, Peru on February 14, 2013.

Huge wave

Australian surfer Marti Paradisis rides a wave near Pedra Branca Rock, south of Tasmania in the Southern Ocean. Paradisis won the 'Biggest Wave' section of the Australasian Big Wave Awards.

Zumreed Hybrid Speaker Headphones

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]They say that all good things are meant to be shared, so could this be the reason that the $107.99 Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones should be shared (its purchase price) with your sibling, so that the two of you are able to enjoy your favorite music pieces together? Just what are the Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones, and what do they do, exactly? For starters, the Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones will come with a unique switch that when turned on, will be able to send soundwaves all around you as the headphones now function as a pair of speakers, doing its bit to share your favorite tracks with everyone else in the room. Now, the issue arises as to whether they like your choice of music or not, but that is a different story for another day.

This pair of hybrid headphones will come with loudspeakers that have been mounted on the outside for instant sharing, and it is self-powered thanks to a built-in rechargeable battery so that you need not rely on your music-playback device’s battery source. Not only that, it can be juiced up by plugging it into a USB port, and will also play nice with any audio-source that sports a headphone jack. You know what the next generation model of the Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones should come with? Yes sir, I’m looking at a wireless capable model in the pipeline.

BUY NOW!!!

SONOS PLAYBAR TV Soundbar and Wireless Speaker

[[posterous-content:pid___0]][[posterous-content:pid___1]]Have you heard of Sonos before? Surely you have, as they are the leading manufacturer of wireless audio systems, and have decided to take the plunge where wireless audio is concerned with the introduction of the beautiful, eye-catching Sonos Playbar. The Sonos Playbar can be said to be the soundbar for music lovers, delivering immersive HiFi sound to the TV. Not only that, since it is a full Wireless HiFi system, it is capable of streaming all the music on earth via a solitary easy-to-use player. In a nutshell, HiFi, meet HiDef. HiDef, stick your hand out for HiFi.

John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc., said, “Sonos has transformed the way people listen to music throughout the home and now we’re bringing our wireless HiFi approach to home theater. PLAYBAR will change everything about the sound experience in your living room, bringing together amazing HiFi sound for your TV and wireless access to the world’s music in a radically simple way.”

The sophisticated all-in-one design of the Sonos Playbar will merge exposed aluminum with high performance speaker fabric, delivering a look that is not only timeless, but also understated. After all, since it will not need a subwoofer or speaker wire, it is capable of fitting easily into any room and setup. Thanks to the integrated sensors, it will be able to assist the Sonos Playbar to automatically adjust EQ and channel orientation, allowing it to lie flat on the TV stand or rotate for low profile wall-mounting above or below the TV.

When you open up the Playbar, those who are from an engineering background will find nine individually amplified speakers, where half a dozen mid-woofers help deliver deep, rich low-frequency sounds, with three tweeters pumping out crystal clear high-frequency detail. It does not matter whether you are watching a movie, playing a game or streaming a song from Pandora or Spotify, the Sonos Playbar is equal to the task with clearer and louder audio. Of course, for such premium performance, you will have to pay through your nose, and we are looking at a $699 price tag for the Sonos Playbar.

BUY NOW!!!

Street

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

Beer barrel room

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]The beer barrel room in Germany can be rented as a double bed or a single bed. In addition to the bed, each room has a 32" flat screen TV, DVD, free internet access, a phone flatrate and a shower with massage jets.

Breathtaking aerial view of tulip fields in the Netherlands

See the full gallery on Posterous

The breathtaking aerial view of tulip fields in Anna Paulowna in the Netherlands are captured by photographer Normann Szkop. It looks too much like a natural colour palette. Amazing!

Arriba! BABY

Arriba! BABY

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

HP SPECTRE XT Touch Smart Ultrabook 15-4010nr 15.6-Inch Laptop

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]HP Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook Review

Highlights: Stylish with a full HD 15.6" IPS touchscreen display, Core i7 ultra low voltage cpu, 8GB RAM, 500GB hard drive with 32GB SSD cache.

The HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is HP's top of the line Windows 8 ultrabook. Like all ultrabooks it has a dual-core ultra low voltage Core i-series cpu with HD4000 graphics; in this case HP has chosen to pair a Core i7 with 8gb RAM, which adds a 15-20% speed boost over the Core i5's with 4gb RAM often seen in ultrabooks. The screen is a 15.6" wide-angle IPS touchscreen. A 5400rpm disk with a 32GB SSD Intel Smart Response cache provides storage. The HP is powered on the go by a 4 cell 48wh battery.

The HP comes nicely presented in a black cardboard case. A soft beige cloth bag encloses the laptop, and a black nylon bag stores the power accessories.

On the outside the HP is a stylish and thin brushed aluminum wedge which calls to mind a largish MacBook Air. Weight is just under 5 lbs, about 1/2 lb heavier than the 15.4" MacBook Pro Retina. It feels very sturdy, if a bit unwieldy when held by the side with one hand due to the width, which is 14.87 inches. The bottom is a nice soft-touch material with a vent in the back for the fan, and vents on the sides for two speakers (two more speakers are under the screen behind the keyboard). Inside is a wide palm rest with a large trackpad. The trackpad is set in a depression, and is made of glass. The spacious keyboard eschews the common practice of adding a numeric keyboard to 15.6" laptops. The hinges are sturdy and a bit stiff - the display can be opened without holding down the base of the laptop, until a certain point when the base starts to lift.

Connectivity is good. The HP is one of the few Windows laptops to have a Thunderbolt port. Unlike many other laptops, the two USB 3.0 ports on the left are not blue colored. The USB 2.0 port on the right can be used a charging port when the laptop is off. Rounding out the ports are an HDMI port, Ethernet RJ-45, a headphone/microphone combo jack, and an SD/MMC card slot. A Kensington MicroSaver lock slot is also included.

The 2x2 a/b/g/n WLAN is provided by Intel and supports wireless display (WiDi) for connecting the laptop to compatible TV's or adapters. Intel Smart Connect Technology can be configured to wake the laptop from sleep periodically and download email, etc. This could be useful if you need to just pick the laptop up and go with all your email already downloaded. Bluetooth 4 and an HD webcam are also included.

The HP comes pre-installed with Windows 8 64-bit. A recovery partition is included to reset the laptop to factory settings. Windows 8 makes this easy via the settings menu.

It is not easy to get inside this laptop. Fourteen Philips screws protect the underside. More await inside. However, once opened up the 6Gb/sec SATA hard drive and 6Gb/sec mSATA cache drive can be replaced, although the cache will need to be disabled first via the included Intel Rapid Storage Technology console. The single memory slot is populated with 4gb RAM, and another 4gb is wired on.

The warranty for the non-customizable model 15-4010nr is standard at 1 year. However, the customizable 15t-4000 (not always available on the HP web site) comes with a 2 year warranty. This model can be customized with Windows 8 Pro, a faster 7200rpm hard drive, or an SSD.

The black keyboard is wide and spacious. Unlike most 15.6" laptops, the HP does not have a numeric keypad which means the keyboard is centered, and combined with the spacious palm rest provides a decent typing experience; although it is no match for the Thinkpad keyboards of old. The arrow keys skimp on the size of the up and down arrows; it would be better if the 4 arrow keys extended below the rest of the keyboard slightly (as in some Lenovo's) to make them easier to find and allow for full size up and down keys. The Windows function keys are tied to brightness, loudness, screen, wireless on/off, etc, which means that you must press the "Fn" key to activate the regular Windows F1 - F12 function keys. This is particularly annoying when having to refresh web pages with Fn-F5. In a nice touch, Alt-F4 works as usual to exit a program (Alt-Fn-F4 would be a bit much). In contrast, the Lenovo Yoga does this better by dedicating the F5 key to refresh and the F4 key to the exit function (particularly important with Windows 8 Metro style apps which often have no other way to force an exit). The caps lock and wireless on/off keys have a small LED to indicate when they are on. The keyboard backlight can be turned on and off by the F5 function key. This key always remains lit itself so it can be found in the dark.

The highly configurable Synaptics touchpad works well and the glass surface is smooth to the touch. It is set in a depression and there is no question when your finger gets to the edge of this trackpad - a good thing. The touchpad can be turned off by tapping at the top left, which illuminates a small LED next to it. This functionality can thankfully be disabled in settings. The pressure required to click the touchpad is a bit too much and doesn't have very good feel; however it is rarely necessary to actually click it as a tap for left click and two-fingered tap for right click are usually sufficient. Selecting text is the main exception, where a click and drag is often required.

The display is a bright, glossy 15.6", full HD 1920x1080 IPS touchscreen panel. The IPS designation stands for "In Plane Switching" and indicates that the display has great viewing angles from the top, bottom, and sides. It is a bit on the heavy side, however overall the laptop is not unbalanced. The ability to interact using touch is surprisingly natural in Windows 8; scrolling around web pages and moving/resizing/closing windows works very well. In Metro apps, touch is even better and the familiar two-finger zoom function works great in Internet Explorer, although oddly not in apps such as the news app. The panorama photos in the travel app and the maps app are particularly fun to interact with via touch. If Windows 8 is a success, touch will be an important reason why.

Alas the days of 16:10 aspect ratio displays are gone and this display is no exception at 16:9. While this is great for viewing YouTube, Netflix, etc, it is not great for viewing photos and interacting with lots of on-screen windows, because the vertical space is limited. Landscape photos have large black side borders, and portrait photos are even worse. This is one of the main usability issues of this laptop. It's a shame that manufacturers don't address this, as Apple has done with the MacBook Pro 16:10 displays.

To partially mitigate the lack of vertical real estate, the task bar can be positioned on the right or left side of the display so it doesn't take up space at the bottom. This also makes the task bar easier to interact with via touch, especially when using the "fingers behind the display, thumb in front" technique.

Display brightness is excellent, and can comfortably be used 1 or 2 steps below maximum in most situations. On battery, the brightness can be adjusted through it's full range. Contrast is good, and images and video pop nicely. Color range (gamut) is decent, but does not cover sRGB. Calibration would be required for better accuracy.

The glossy display makes for strong reflections. At certain angles, even the silver palm rest and the keyboard backlighting can cause distracting reflections (luckily the keyboard backlight can be turned off with the F5 key). In direct comparison, the Retina MacBook Pro does a better job of reducing glare.

For some, the high resolution of 141 dpi may result in text that is too small, and a finicky touch experience when interacting with windows. The Windows control panel for display personalization allows boosting text, icon, and window border size by preset or custom percentages. A custom setting of 113% seems to result in windows and icons that are more touch-friendly, and text that is nicely sized. Oddly, this setting does not affect native W8 apps like the news reader, which has no zoom function either. Browser text size can be zoomed using two fingers on the touchpad or screen for Internet Explorer, and via the touchpad or "Ctrl +" and "Ctrl -" in Google Chrome.

Performance of the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is very good for an ultrabook, probably due to the 8gb of 1600MHz DDR3 memory and Core i7-3517U cpu. This cpu nominally runs at 1.9 GHz with Turbo Boost to 3 GHz. The Windows Experience Index clocks in at:
Processor 7.1
Memory 7.9
Graphics 5.7
Gaming graphics (1664 MB) 6.4
Primary hard disk 5.9

That's an overall score of 5.7, quite good for not having a dedicated graphics card.

The HP handily beats the Core i5 Lenovo Yoga, benchmarking at 13,722 in Google Octane vs the Yoga's 11,853. In the Furmark OpenGL benchmark, the HP pleases with 367 "Furmarks" vs the Yoga's 245. The benchmark was run fullscreen at 1024x768, with no anti-aliasing.

The SSD disk cache works surprisingly well, and the disk rarely seems to be a performance bottleneck. With caching set to "Maximum" (the default) in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console, CrystalDiskMark reports 4K write speeds of over 30MB/sec! Set caching to "Enhanced" and this falls to 0.6 MB/sec. This is because the Maximum setting does write-back caching (writes written to disk in a lazy fashion) while Enhanced does write-through caching (all writes written immediately to disk).

Note, these benchmarks were done on an HP customized model (15t-4000) with a 7200 rpm hard drive, not the standard 5400 rpm model (15-4010nr). The 5400 rpm drive should still provide good performance due to the SSD cache.

8GB of the 32GB SSD cache drive is taken to support Intel Rapid Start, which is a kind of fast hibernate which kicks in after two hours of standby. The laptop wakes up and writes the contents of memory to an 8GB partition on the SSD, then shuts down. Pressing the power button brings the laptop back up in about 5 seconds. For some reason the Intel Rapid Start configuration utility is not included in the laptop build, however you can download it by searching for "intel rapid start download".

The Spectre XT TouchSmart is very quiet in casual use. The fan is often turned off. Even when the fan is on, it is usually not very loud, and is never obnoxious. HP Coolsense is included, which senses when the laptop is moving and runs the fan more often to keep your lap cool. In practice, the laptop doesn't get too warm, and Coolsense can be turned off to keep the fan from running as much. The one place that gets a bit warm is the well-placed fan vent on the underside at the rear.

The HP has four small speakers, two underneath on the sides and two behind the keyboard under the display. It can play quite loudly, and produces a bit of a thump on the underside. Audio enhancement is provided by Beats Audio, which boosts bass and treble, while performing all kinds of phase and other manipulations which make the audio sound "wider" and "more dynamic" (read: distorted). Thankfully there is a Beats control panel which can turn Beats off, and which also has a 9 band equalizer to customize the response curve. Dolby V4 on the Lenovo Yoga does a better job than Beats, although the HP still sounds better because it has better speakers. Once configured, the audio is pretty decent for a laptop.

Battery life is provided by a 48wh 4-cell non-removable battery. This is probably the biggest disappointment. Netflix streaming only lasts about 3 hours and 20 minutes with the brightness two steps below full. In contrast, the Lenovo Yoga can stream Netflix for about 5 1/4 hours at one step down from highest brightness (to match the HP). Casual web surfing might last 4 hours on the HP with the brightness lowered to 1/2 or less (which is still pretty readable indoors).

The power brick is not too large, yet the AC cord is ungainly - quite thick with a large three-pronged plug. The power plug that connects to the laptop seems a bit thin and weak, although it inserts far enough into the laptop to have good support. It sticks out over an inch from the side though which gets in the way.

In summary, the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is one of the top Windows 8 ultrabooks available as of this writing. HP made almost all the right choices to make this a very nice package. Although pricey compared to other laptops with similar specs, the HP stands out for its responsiveness, stylish looks, and big bright touch-enabled wide-angle HD display. The SSD cache works very well; an SSD main drive is not necessary, although nice to have as a factory option or via the ability of the end user to replace it.

Improvements would be to reduce weight by 1/2 pound, replace Beats Audio with Dolby V4, increase battery life by 50%, reduce the bulkiness of the power cord, and (Holy Grail time) move to a 16:10 1920x1200 display with low reflectivity.

BUY NOW!!!

Samsung ATIV Odyssey Windows Phone

Source: amazon.com via eko on Pinterest