Tuesday 12 May 2015

Ming Da Piccolo

Ming Da Piccolo MC368-B902

David Price lounges around to the soothing sound of Ming Da’s new Piccolo integrated valve amplifier

Remember the seventies? Early on in that decade we saw a wave of new Japanese products begin to appear in the shops and on our roads. The result was that by the end of the decade, Honda, Datsun, Sony and Panasonic were household names and everyone who bought them couldn’t praise them enough.

This same thing is now happening with China. It’s a work in progress I grant you, but some companies have an excellent track record and Mei Xing is one. It’s the manufacturer behind the Ming Da brand name, located in an historic village on Qi Ao Island, which is near Hong Kong. Almost a quarter of a century old, its founder and chief designer says that it has always specialised in valve amplifiers. The company has done high-quality OEM work for several big brands, and is now reaching out to the world under its own name.

HP Pro Slate 12 Tablet

HP Pro Slate 12 Tablet

A nifty little note-taker

A first glance this appears to be a rather overpriced Android tablet, albeit of a rather high quality. However, the inclusion of a strange device that looks like a pen and microphone bred to create a mutant pencil reveals the magic that makes this such a unique device. It's built to turn your hand-written notes into digitised text, and the way it does so is nothing short of incredible.

Gigabyte G3-850-4703

Gigabyte G3-850-4703

A no-frills workaholic

The Gigabyte G3 laptop has been built for one purpose, and one purpose only. This is a no-frills, fancy-free productivity machine, designed to handle your usual work or school duties. As such it's not a very exciting product, but that doesn't stop it from being deserving of your attention.