Graco Evo Pushchair inc. Apron and Raincover Review

This arrived in a Graco branded box tightly packed inside with plastic, foam and bespoke cardboard sections protecting all the parts from damage and damaging each other along with the assembly and part identification instructions.

After opening it all up and setting out all the parts I started the assembly, this was fairly straight forward clipping on the front wheels and the only real fiddly bit was putting in the holding pins for securing the rear wheels, most other parts just clipped into place as with the bumper bar and rear bar with the brake section and it took around 15 minutes to complete start to finish.

The high quality of finishing on the pushchair runs right through top to bottom with no loose threads or bad stitching on any of the material parts or any bad finishing, rough or sharp edges on any part of the pushchair frame or wheels.

The folding of the frame and unfolding is a very simple action and can be closed one handed, it can be closed without removing the top section but I found it much easier to remove the top section and then fold it as keeping it in one does not save any space and as the top section is so easy to remove I find it a better way of folding it.

The three position reclining works very well and is simple and quick to adjust, I liked the design of the bumper bar being able to swivel out of the way making it easy to take the baby in and out not having to lift them upwards to do so, the adjustable handle and calf support mechanisms adjust very smoothly and due to their design don’t need great pressure applied to activate unlike with some pushchairs.

Removing and reversing the top section I found really easy just holding two release handles and lifting it off, it then locks back into place when you reverse it, the harness has a good adjustment and locking system, the apron is fairly simple to attach and remove with a long zip system round the outside, the brake system works well and is easy to operate along with having a swivel wheel lock on the front wheels.

• Versatile pushchair with reversible seat and 3 recline positions to lie flat. suitable from birth to 15kg (approx. 3 years)
• Adjustable handle and calf support for added comfort
• One-hand fold mechanism for quick and easy folding
• Click connect travel system compatible with graco snugride/snugessentials isize infant car seats and add the graco evo luxury carrycot for a true lie flat pram (all sold separately)
• Package includes zip-on apron and raincover

Overall a very polished and practical pushchair with good attention to detail and ease of use, all the actions are smooth, the three position reclining adjustment is ideal for baby comfort and easy to adjust without having to remove the baby to do it, I can’t really fault this pushchair it’s obviously been designed with a lot of parental input and it gets top marks from me.

Price: £230.00
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T-Rex Remote Control Light Up Walking Dinosaur Toy Review

This arrived in a nice and colourful box with a carry handle on the top and pictures of the T-rex on the sides, I was slightly concerned I could hear all the parts rattling loose on the inside but nothing was broken or damaged.

After unpacking it there are two Philips head screws you need to remove to put the batteries inside, three in the tail section of the T-rex and two in the remote control, once the batteries were in I set the switch on the back of the remote control to the ‘C’ position inserted the tail section into the main body of the T-rex and switched it on with the small on/off switch on the tail.

The controls are fairly basic but also ideal for a small child to use, it lights up with flashing lights in the mouth and back with the eyes lighting up green, I thought the movement and walking very good along with a loud roar and the little jingle it plays when in dance mode.

The added extras of three plastic dinosaurs, two trees and two rocks is a nice addition to set the theme, my daughter came home from playschool and has played with it for hours over the last few days loving it, I did have concerns it would eat through batteries but it is still going strong on the first set and in total must have been running for over three hours.

Overall simple to set up and get running, the batteries are secured with a Philips head screw so no concerns about a child getting messing with them, the sound and movement is great and loud enough to entertain without being unbearably loud, the flashing lights are good fun, it’s very durable and will put up with a lot of banging about without breaking and best of all my daughter loves it so it gets top marks from me.

Price: £24.99

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HP Spectre x360 13-aw0054na Review

This arrived extremely well packed and protected in branded custom Hewlett Packard box with a smaller box containing the pen stylus and the power pack, the main custom Spectre gold and black box contained the laptop sealed in plastic wrap.

First impressions it has a good weight to it (1.71 Kg) and although probably not everyone’s taste I really like the diamond style cut, the corners taken off and used for a Gen 2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 port and power button on the left side, the webcam disable switch is also a good addition avoiding relying on a software disable or even cover tape, the screen is gorilla glass so not only resilient but in my opinion you just can beat a glass display on any device. The keyboard has a good bold font and having used it for over 30 hours now I really like the layout along with the positive feel to the keys, the touch pad works really well and uses Microsoft precision drivers although I opted to use a wireless mouse as I much prefer it.

After unpacking everything I plugged the laptop in and started it up for the first time, it went through the normal Windows 10 setup most of which I chose to set up later apart from linking my Microsoft account and enabling the WiFi connection. After it had finished setting up I went straight to check for Windows updates something I would always recommend as the first thing to do.

The Spectre x360 had quite a few Windows updates to work through which is normal for any new computer out of the box, while the updates processed I did a bit of web browsing along with testing out some 4K video and the display is truly superb with the near border-less display covering 90% of the overall screen even allowing for the infrared facial recognition webcam that uses Windows Hello. After the updates had processed I rebooted the laptop and it also required a bios update, all very straight forward taking very little time.

I was pleased to see it had not been pre-installed with a load of bloat ware programs no one ever uses and trials, the few it did have were either useful or easily removable. I set up the fingerprint reader and that worked well I would say on a par with my phone with a first time success rate of 9/10, I then set up the facial recognition which worked every time but not something I plan to use long term so I then disabled it.

I ran several stress tests along with testing the transfer speeds from USB 3.1 and the USB-C ports with great results on all aspects, you also get a HP Stylus included which charges via a USB-C port and works well for taking notes and simple sketching. I didn’t run any games although I am sure it performs well it isn’t a gaming laptop and does not pretend to be and I won’t be using it for any gaming.

The screen and display is really outstanding with the really deep blacks and vibrant colours and the anti glare feature works very well having tested it outside, the WiFi connectivity is superb and I was able to obtain consistent maximum speeds all around the house.

Overall I really like the design, great battery life with the battery charging from 0% to 50% in under 30 minutes when the system is off and to fully charged in just under two hours, the speed of the machine is great making everything you do almost instant. I have been using the laptop constantly for work and it’s a great workhorse also watching a few films and TV series on it, the display is really beautiful with the 90% display area so it’s great for viewing along with being fold-able to either tablet or stand on its own keyboard at any angle having protective rubber feet to avoid damage and unwanted movement, the Spectre x360 gets top marks from me.

Price: £1,799.99
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