Technicational

Digicel DL800

It seems like Digicel is steadily becoming a cellular brand in our Jamaican country. A couple months back with the introduction of the DL600 there has been a swarm of new phones to the DL series. This week we will take a look at the next upcoming rage in the family and that is the DL800. This phone is considered the long lost cousin to the DL750 and the sibling to the DL900. Let’s see what this phone has in store for us.

DL800 Specification as “listed on the Box”

The boxes of the DL phone always seem to neglect essential information that most users and potential buyers want to see? Where is processing power, RAM size, and internal storage? Luckily I know my way around the Android OS well enough. So the hidden specification for the DL800 is as follows.

Build Quality and Design

The DL800 is the only Digicel Smartphone that I find attractive and appealing enough to walk with on a daily basis. The phone has a removable battery and a memory card slot. The construction is all plastic; like you expected better at that price point… The DL800 truly looks sleek as it says on the box.

Camera Quality

The DL800 has an 8MP camera, so don’t expect it to come close to high end phone like the Galaxies. That being said, the camera isn’t bad at all. It takes pretty decent day light photos and a little below average night shot. But I’ll let you be the judge of that with the sample photo I have provided.

Performance

I have to admit, this phone feels slightly sluggish compared to the DL750. It not considerable slower and most might not see it, but to the trained eyes it’s there.  Also, the limited amount of internal memory hampers the full capability of the phone. Large games like Fifa 15 won’t fit on such a small internal storage, but the phone has the processing power to handle this game and much more.

Display

 Everyone needs at least a decent screen to look at when on the road, and that screen is usually your Smartphone. Your smart phone is the one stop for movies, games and pictures. The DL800 does a OK job of this but there is certainly room for improvement in the sharpness and color department.

Outstanding Features

We all know by now that the DL750 has a TV function that makes you watch local stations. Well the DL800 takes it a step further by allowing you to record what you are watching in the TV application on the phone. I know a couple people will be thrilled of this new addition in the TV app.  Also, it might not seem like much but the navigation buttons are backlit for ease of use in the dark. No more fumbling in the dark to find the back button.

Finally Thoughts

The DL lines of phones have grown considerable since their conception, so much so that their only competitor is themselves. The DL800 just made the competition harder… Now the hot topic will be should I buy the DL750, DL800 or the DL900? The answer to that is… the user knows best.

Digicel DL900

I wonder; is there any DL phone I have missed and haven’t reviewed? I think this is the last… for now. The DL 900 from Digicel, we finally meet you elusive bastard. Don’t know if it was the sale or the fact that the demand for this phone was high, but it was hard to get my hands on this phone to review. My patient has prevailed and here I have for the full review of the Digicel DL 900.

DL900 Specification as “listed on the Box”

Again, the box information on DL900 seems to neglect the essential information that most users and potential buyers want to see. Where is processing power, RAM size, and internal storage? So here I go again digging for the truth… So the hidden specification for the DL900 is as follows.

Build Quality and Design

The DL900 looks like a Samsung Galaxy S3 which isn’t a bad thing given the fact most person loved the shape of the Galaxy S3. Also, the DL900 is a heavy phone when the battery and everything else is installed. I can’t remember when I held a phone this heavy, but it feels great in the hands and sturdy enough to drop and survive the fall. The phone has a removable battery and a memory card slot. The construction is all plastic like it siblings DL900 and DL750 which is a given at its price point.

Camera Quality

The DL900 has an 8MP camera with flash for taking photos in the dark or poorly lit areas. The only problem I find with the DL900 is the auto focus. It’s very iffy when it comes to taking a well focused picture. That being said, the camera isn’t bad at all. It takes nice-looking day photos and a little below normal night shot.

Performance

It doesn’t get any better than this for Digicel phones. The DL900 is by far the best performing phone in the DL line up. It is considerable faster than the DL800 in games and all other categories.  Although, the limited amount of internal storage plagues this phone as well, but it’s slightly larger than the DL800. Thus I was able to fit FIFA 15 on it, but that is where the buck stops. So you will have the same internal storage problem on an even more powerful device.

Display

 As I always say; everyone needs at least a decent screen to look at when on the road, and that screen is usually your Smartphone. Your smart phone is the one stop for movies, games and pictures. The DL900 does an awesome job; I have to say I was most impressed with the clarity and vibrant colors of this phone display.

Outstanding Features

We all know by now that the DL750 and DL800 have a TV function that makes you watch local stations. Well the DL900 has a radio; yes that’s all folks… a radio. The feature list for the DL900 is not on the long side at all, but at least the specification sheet is better.  Also, the navigation buttons are backlit to alleviate use in the dark.

Finally Thoughts

Now, the hot topic of should I buy the DL750, DL800 or the DL900 can be answered. If you desire power and performance then the Digicel DL900 is the phone for you.

The A5 and A3 Smartphones from Samsung are identical in features but have minor differences on the hardware side. The Samsung Galaxy A5 for example comes with A  5.0’’ display, 13MP rear camera, and 2GB of RAM, while the Samsung A3 comes with A  4.5’’ display, 8MP rear camera, and 1GB of RAM. Apart from these specification stated both phones seem to be identical in performance and design.

Final Thoughts

It is A lovely thing to hold A full body metal phone in your hands. It gives you A sense of durability and quality the minute you hold it and slide your hands across its metallic surface. We hope this will be the start of many more phones with similar build quality coming from Samsung.  The Samsung A5 and A3 are certainly appealing to look at and the alluring colors available to choose from make the deal even so much sweeter. My hands are certainly itching to get my hands A review unit for both device.

Sometime life will through everything it got at you to slow you down but being strong and persevering is what my mother thought me and I’m going to honor her memory by overcoming the hell that was January. Anyhow, the next generation of gaming console is now one year older and I have finally gotten my hands on an Xbox One; better late than never. So, let’s start the year of with my unbiased Jamaican review of the Xbox One and I have to say… no amount of reading or watching YouTube videos could prepare me for the experience I had with the Xbox One.

System Design

The Xbox One Designed… I think Microsoft took the meaning of Xbox too literally and made the system into a… you guessed it, a box. I wouldn’t say it’s ugly, but it doesn’t turn heads for the good reasons. The system is big and square! Even the camera that comes with it is a relative of the square family. My assumption is that they wanted the system to run as cool as possible no matter how it looked. Well if that’s what they were aiming for then bravo Microsoft. The Xbox One runs very cool and quiet more so than its competitors and that is certainly welcomed in our climate. After 9 hours of continuous Killer Instinct and Warframe which are 100% free games; the Xbox One was still quite and cool as a cucumber.

System Controller

The best FPS controller got a little bit better with some tweaks. Now the D-pad on the controller is ready for fighting game fanatics. No more strange webbing for diagonal buttons which was a sore point for must person trying to pull off a combos in games like Tekken.  I have tried and tested the D-pad in Killer Instinct although I got my ass kicked… I couldn’t blame the controller this time around.

The Kinect

The every watching eye of Microsoft that really creeps me out. The new version of the Kinect has microphones built-in and listens to you every minute of the day even if it’s on or off. It has night vision, heat vision, 1080p camera, and infrared lights. That entire tech gives the Kinect the ability to accept voice commands like Xbox On or Shutdown. Also some sports game can tell if you said something inappropriate and penalize you for saying it. The Kenitc also helps you to do video Skype and hand gestures to navigate through the Xbox One menus. After awhile the novelty wears off on the hand gestures, but you will still appreciate the other option that is in the Kinect.

Final Thoughts

This time around you can’t regret buying a next Gen gaming console. Unless you bought a Nintendo WiiU, the all hope is lost and you’ll be stuck playing Mario games for awhile. The Xbox One is a well rounded gaming console and a well rounded media player too now that it can play almost all video format from a thumb drive or harddrive. This is an all in one entertainment console that does everything well, the only compliant I have is”I always feel like, somebody’s watching me, and I have no privacy”. Thank the Lord the Kinect can be disconnected now. The products mentioned in this article were provided courtesy of Royale Computers and Accessories telephone#: 906-1067, 906-1068, and 754-5048.