Sony Z3 Compact to Samsung S5

First of all let me say that the Sony Z3 compact is a really good phone. 

I decided that as I travel a great deal, reading from my phone a slightly larger screen would be advantageous to me, so I started to look into larger screen phones. 

I looked at the:

Samsung S6: decided not to go for it cause of the lack of SD card computability, and the cost. For that price and no SD card I would definitely go with the iPhone. 

LG Flex: Good phone but not water proof.

Sony Z3: I like the Z3 compact but decided to try something different. Plus the so is harder to root. 

Google Nexus: Nice phone just didn't really like the ascetics. 

So after reviewing and playing with a lot of different phones. I decided on the Samsung S5. I have also rooted the phone to get as much out of it as I possibly can. 

So below are the Pros and Cons of the phone in my opinion: 

Style. 

The phone is nice in your hands, it has a solid feel, but if I am being honest it feels slightly cheaper than the Sony or the iPhone that I have had. Don't get me wrong it isn't, but the look and feel is not quite as nice as the other. But put a case on it and it is great. 

Screen. 

The screen is great. Very clear and pictures look great. I have to say that this is expected by any phone in today's market even the cheaper models. Let face it too the resolution you have on phones now is so hi that it is more than what is required and just drains battery life. I would recommend changing the screen settings to improve the battery life.

Apps and functions. 

As with most phones you will get built in apps. These are so annoying, not the music player or the camera and album of course those apps are important and handy to have straight out the box, but I am talking about the boots are that runs in the background. This is annoying on the Samsung. I don't need to be told to check the charger flap or the back of the cover. When will these companies stop putting this onto there phones. Rooting the phone as I have done allowed me to remove this but I should have had too. 

The apps and the scrolling etc it good. Just as was the Sony. Easy to navigate, and the search function is easy to find and I use it a lot. 

Also one thing I found was the Bluetooth was a lot more stable on the Samsung. With th Sony I has problems connecting to my cars Bluetooth, it would connect and not work or not connect at all. Not with the Samsung. Solid as a rock. 

The finger print scanner is a bit well crap. I constantly am having problems with it. I have numerous profile and it is very hit and miss, unlike the iPhone. Still a good function.

Speed. 

The phone is fast, same as the Sony, although I have noticed with a few memory intensive apps open it will freeze up occasionally. Never had this on the Sony, but it on,y slows up for a second or too. Nothing serious. 

Battery. 

The battery life on the phone I good. Not quite as good as the Sony, but still very good. I highly recommend downloading Greenify it is a great app that will improve battery life, also juice defender is a good app for that and if you like playing around with your phone tasker is another great app that you can add profiles to, to improve your battery life. 

I also really like the function of the replaceable battery. 

Rooting the phone.  

The Samsung was a piece of cake. There are lots of sites out there for the Samsung that will walk you through the process and in most cases it is just click and play. The Sony was a lot harder and although doable, not simple at all. 

Rooting the phone allows you to do so much with your phone and although not essential, if you like to set your phone up and have complete control worth it. It will in some cases void your warrantee you can revert back if you do have a problem. 

Conclusion.

I do really like the Samsung. The feel and size is just right for me, yes the boots are is a pain in the backside but work arounds are available. The battery life is good, yes others are better, but still good. Overall I would recommend the phone.

 

Three Bells - Heathrow Terminal 3

OK so a post about food, and a where to go if you are on the move., and this is one I can recommend.

The Three Bells, terminal 3 Heathrow is not through security in terminal 3, it is just before that. When you go into the terminal itself, after you have checked in, go up the stairs and head to the far right of the terminal. You will walk past the security and see signs for the toilets. The Three Bells is on your left, next to an Italian I think.

I went in there at 1800, prior to a flight to Dubai at 22:00. The place was full, but I didn't want to go through security. The place was full, but the service was excellent, their is table service and it is quick.
I sat down, was asked by a lovely waitress what I would like after about 5 mins. I ordered a Guinness and Gammon and Chips.
The Guinness was with me in about 3 minutes and the food 10 minutes after that. OK it was not Michelin star food, but it was like a good honest pub grub. I was more than happy with what I received and the portion size was very good, some of the guys I was with had fish and chips, it was so large that they had to share.
The 2 Guinness and the food only came to under £20 and for an airport I was impressed.

Results:

Price: 8.5 out of 10

Quality: 8 out of 10

Service: 9 out of 10

Total: 8.5 out of 10

iPhone to Sony Xperia Z3

Another review about something not related to food, could still be of use to some.

Recently I decided it was time to get a new phone.
After years of having an iPhone (which I was more than happy with) I decided I wasn't prepared to pay the large sums for a new iPhone 6 especially as I wanted to have at least 128gb of space. So I looked through the alternative, finally settling on the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.

Below is the review of the phone and how easy it was to transfer.

Cost difference:

Basically the iPhone 6 compact not that far below £800 for the 128GB, the Z3 I got by looking around a for £400 and I paid £40 for a 128GB SD card.

Transferring all data from iPhone to Sony?

Surprisingly this isn't as hard as what you may think. Sony has an inbuilt app that allows you to transfer all of your contacts, iPhone music library, and photos to the new phone, if you want. This can be done from the computer or the phone itself.
In regards to the contacts their are a few small issues, what is does is it links the contacts on your phone to your Google account, so if you happened to already have a Google account with people on it, that are also in your iPhone you will have to pick which contact you want to keep.
Although there is some messing about, generally I would say this is easy.

If you used the mac calender, syncing it with your iPhone, this can still be done with your new android device, by downloading an app called SmoothSync. Great app and worked well.

What to do about apps?

Most of the apps that you have on iTunes are available on android and in a lot of cases they are free.
OK it is a pain in the arse when you first get the phone to go through your apps and look for them on Google, but this is really only a one off, and once you have done it once you will not need to do it again.

Apps that I would recommend getting are:
AVG antivirus - Virus Scanner
AVG cleaner - Cleans up your phone from all the junk you collect
Greenify -  This will turn off apps that are not running and save your battery.
File Commander - A bit like windows explorer, lets you look through the folders on your device
Tasker: If you want to customise your phone
Office Suite -  Office basically
Adobe - So you can read pdf's
FireFox - Sometimes a little better than Chrome
VLC player - Plays any video file I have ever come across

Anything else is personal preference.

The difference between Android and Apple.

Lets face it, anyone who has used an iPhone knows it is so simple to use, anyone can pick one up and just use it out of the box. Yes the more you play and the more you use it the better you will get and the more you know, but that is the same with anything.

The Sony and other android devices are a little harder to use. I mean yes you can take it out of the box and make calls, send text etc but using the apps, understanding the widgets and all the other customization stuff is a little harder.
It took me a little looking on Google and  YouTube to figure out how I wanted it setup, but in general it is easy to do.
One thing that I do find frustrating is that when you close the apps i.e. press the button in the right hand corner and swipe them off the screen, this doesn't stop the app running in the back ground. Which will use up your battery. However Greenify will get ride of this for you, (just remember if you get this app you have to give it admin permission to do its job, this is found in the settings of the phone)

Conclusion:
Although it may take you a little bit more time to get used to the phone, it really isn't that big a deal, even with a small amount of playing you will be fine, in the end if you want to you can customize it a lot more than an iPhone, even the keyboard can be changed, it is a welcome change to be honest.

Issues.

OK so I did find one thing that is very very annoying. After about a week of having the phone, I broke the screen, long story.
Anyway I got a new one through the insurance.
Now I thought that the back up of the phone would allow me to download all of the content of the phone, display setting and everything as you can with an iPhone (effectively replacing the new phone with a mirror of the old one). This is not the case with the Sony, when you restore from back up. Your contacts, apps etc will be added back onto the phone, but not how you have set them out on the phone or some other phone settings.

Yes you can say that you shouldn't break the phone, but I have to admit that the way Apple does it, is SOOO much better and easier.

Conclusion.

Would I recommend moving from iPhone to Android?

If you are happy paying the higher cost of the iPhone then I would stay with them, however for about half the price you can have the same spec phone, in fact in a lot of ways a better spec phone for half the price. Plus with the removable memory, such a good feature.

So the answer is a definite: YES.....

Which is a better system/phone?

This is a hard question, it is each to their own, I would say that apple is much more simple to use, better back up and better support, but android is more customization, there are more phones out there on the android system, each with there own merits.I like them both.

All I can say is give it a GO, if you don't like it sell it on eBay, you wont of lost a lot.

Am I happy as a convert?

YES

I hope that this has helped some of you out if your thinking of leaving the giant that is Apple.

Bodum Coffee Mug and Press - Product Review

Thought I would put a few product reviews on here, as well as restaraunt reviews. So here's the first. 

This is Bodum coffee press and travel mug. It's about £24 from there own website, www.bodum.com, but I am sure if you look around you can find a little cheaper online. 

It's a thermal mug which allows you to make tea and coffee from fresh coffee grounds or tea leaves, using a French press built in. Although I only use it for coffee and wouldn't mix between the two as you may contaminate the flavour. 

I have had this mug for a while now and love it. I am a little bit of a coffee snob, not ashamed to admit it and while working away a good coffee in the morning is my daily little treat. It allows me to bring some good coffee from home and make a good coffee over and over again. 

The coffee will stay warm for a good hour in the mug, it's easy to clean and easy to travel with (it fits in my rucksacks side pocket well, as well as my cup holder in the car). 

If you happen to stop off somewhere without any coffee you can always add another coffee from say costa or Starbucks to it, saving yourself a few pence too. 

I have a number of thermal mugs at home and this is the one I go for anytime I'm away from home for more than a few days. 

I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes good coffee or tea. Yes it is a little expensive but a great mug, strong and sturdy, and makes good coffee. The only downside I find while working on a boat, is that in bad weather the base is a little small meaning it may fall over, but with the cap it rarely spills. 

Rating 9 out of 10. 

The French Restaurant - Midland Hotel Manchester

So recently I organised a surprise birthday for my girlfriend and I in Manchester, part of the surprise was to go to The French Restaurant, by Simon Rogan. Here's what I thought of it. 

Location and decor. 

The hotel itself is beautiful. On arrival I was impressed with the Marrocco feel in the bar just to the right of the restaraunt. It is very elegant and the staff made us feel welcome without being too pretentious. We were offered a seat in the bar and happily listened to the piano player to our left. 

Very pleased at this stage.

Pre dinner drinks: 8.5 out of 10. 

The restaraunt was nice although the tables had the look of garden furniture. Maybe that's just me but took away from the experience of what was supposed to be one of the best restaraunts in Manchester. Although the feel was relaxed and calming. 

Decor: 6.5 out of 10. 

The Food. 

We ordered the 6 course taster menu which was £59 per person. There was other choices, but this seemed like a good option and by the end really worked out as an 8 course menu. 

I have to say the good was a little hit and miss. The bread that was brought to the table was over cooked, giving an instant let down to the choice of dinner location. 

Then the amuse bouche. This was lovely light, a good start. 

As the rest of the course came, some were good, like the cod course and soup, and the beef cooked perfectly, seasoned well and great presentation (in fact all the dishes were presented well). 

Others not so good, like the lamb, the Jew was so over seasoned I couldn't taste any of the lamb, and destroyed my pallet for the following course. 

I also found that there was far too much enphasis placed on smoking. As a advice BBQ smoker myself. I love the flavour, however not in every course. 

Initially thought the position sizes were a little small, even for a taster menu, but as the night went on, I found it was just about right for my partner and I. 

Overall I would say enjoyed the meal. The good did out way the bad, although when eating at a restaraunt of this standard why is there any bad course? 

Rating: 6.5 out of 10. 

Service. 

Funny one this. 

To start with when we say down everything seemed a little rushed. Menus, orders, drink, all taken within the first 10 mins. 

Bread on the table not long after and the drinks with the rolls. 

This speed continued for the. First 4 courses. 35 mins into our dinner and we thought we were going to be done in less than an hour. 

Then suddenly a big slow down. We had to wait a very long time between the remaining course. I would say on average between 15 to 20 mins after our plates were taken. At first this didn't bother us. Have us time to chat and enjoy the evening. However after about 1 1/2 hours it was getting a tiresome. 

Although saying that, the staff we're pleasant and attentive. So no complaints there. Just the timings. 

Overall service rating: 5.5 out of 10. 

Value for Money

Again a funny one. Was I happy with what it cost. Well at the end was close to £200. Which isn't too bad for the food and drinks we had. Although. For some reason at the end I did think, I have had better for less in London and other places. I wouldn't say it was too much, maybe I was thinking with the deal it would be less than £150, and with the small issues I have mentioned above I think it should have been. 

Rating: 5.5 out of 10 

Conclusion. 

I suppose the question I should answer is would I go back. Probably not. 

There was nothing wrong with anything really, which is the problem. Some of the dishes were truly excellent, however on a special night, in what is raved about as one of the best in Manchester I had high expectations, so shouldn't all the dishes be like this, or at least most of them????

I wouldn't say to friends don't go, but I wouldn't also say it is a must. 

Overall Rating: 6 out of 10. 

Below are some pictures of the dishes. As I mentioned above, they all were extremely well presented. 

Hope you enjoyed the read. 

Air France travelling to Cameroon

OK when you travel you just want to be where you are going. Everyone is a little grumpy, sitting in those little sits people next to you lack of sleep everything just get to you. However with all this going on the cabin crew in most cases are happy and willing to do whatever they can to make you trip a little bit more pleasant.

Now lets get down to Air France and how they did on my flight to Cameroon from Paris.

So as normal we took off and within 30-45 minutes we were brought a menu and a drink. I had a gin and tonic, a bottle of wine and a bottle of water.

Then it came to dinner, now I have been a lot of flights with the job that I do, so I do have a few points of reference. This time they offered chicken or fish with a side salad, some pasta with a little tomato sauce and a sweet tart. With some small bread rolls. One thing that I have to say is that I do like that the fact that Air France has lots of bread rolls and they allow you to have more than one if you want.

The chicken was OK, the salad was pleasant, well everything was OK. A lot better than a lot of airlines that I have been on but worse than others.

In general the flight was good, although the seats are a little cramped, but crew were all very nice and there was plenty of drinks at the back of the flight that you could help yourself too.

The only thing that is bad in my opinion about flying with Air France is CDG. Now there is another topic of discussion that I really shouldn't get into.

Costa Coffee - Heathrow Terminal 4

OK so today is the day that I had to go back to work for 5 weeks and as always I was up early and off to an airport. This time it was Heathrow terminal 4. After being up at 5.30 then the drive to the airport, I had, had no breakfast so was on the hunt for something before flying to Paris. In the end I settled for a cooked chicken and bacon sandwich with mozzarella.

Now as always at an airport you have to pay a high price for anything over £3 pounds in this case, and as with many chain coffee shops they offer for the sandwich to be toasted. Which I opted for. The sandwich itself was ok, what you expect. Tasty enough but nothing special, just something to fill the whole. BUT why is it that at airport chains the staff don't really care what you want, just want to get the food out. I wasn't asked if I wanted it to take away or sit in, and even after trying to rectify the issue they still insisted on giving it me to eat in. Which was a  pain in the backside. Not only this, it took ages for me to get the food, almost to the point I had to leave without my sandwich. OK the place was busy, but then I have been in coffee shops in London a lot busier and they seem to get the job done. Now I know that this seems like I am moaning, but I'm not. In an airport you pay a premium because of where you are, but your time is important, and if you go to these type of places, they should know that, and should still be helpful and courteous.

I must say today's experience hasn't left me wanting to go back to Costa anytime soon.