Jackson Hewitt Online is another internet-based tax filing solution that originated from over 6,000 actual offices where the company delivers the same thing, only with the benefit of real people assisting you every step of the way. As the name Jackson Hewitt Online suggests, they’ve taken the best bits of that service and applied it to this online tax preparation software.
And, as you’d expect from a company with so many branches and a capable history they reckon that Jackson Hewitt Online can get your tax affairs completed and filed both accurately and on time. Having the best of both world's is also useful during the coronavirus pandemic. Rival options include TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxSlayer, Liberty Tax, eFile, TaxAct and FreeTaxUSA.
Jackson Hewitt Online comes complete with a great selection of online tools (Image credit: Jackson Hewitt Online)
Jackson Hewitt Online: Pricing
Jackson Hewitt Online has simplified its strategy over successive years, having had various packages previously. Which one you'd choose would have been dependent on the complexities of your tax filing affairs.
However, Jackson Hewitt Online has made ongoing amendments to its pricing structure over time and things are currently even more straightforward than ever, with $25 being the universal charge for tax filing.
There's the obvious advantage of being able to file at their 5,200 physical locations if you prefer. Jackson Hewitt can also be found in 2,600 Walmart stores, so either of these routes enable you to enlist the services of a tax professional instead.
You'll find a raft of crucial tax forms inside the Jackson Hewitt Online workspace (Image credit: Jackson Hewitt Online)
Jackson Hewitt Online: Features
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of Jackson Hewitt Online is how they promise to get you a guaranteed maximum refund and, they say, if you can do better elsewhere then they’ll cover the difference.
That’s certainly a good place to start, but Jackson Hewitt Online are also big on their accuracy and the level of assistance they’ll deliver during the course of your filing duties.
Once you’re inside the straightforward tax-filing workspace you’ll find that there’s nothing too intimidating, while the useful calculators let you pinpoint the likes of depreciation costs without much in the way of fuss or bother.
Jackson Hewitt Online has the benefit of offering physical branches that you can visit (Image credit: Jackson Hewitt Online)
Jackson Hewitt Online: Peformance
Along with the Jackson Hewitt Online promise to save you money you’ll find that this internet-based tax filing solution rumbles along nicely, once you’ve got yourself set up with an account.
The service also offers secure storage and access to your tax returns as and when you need them and for up to six years for no additional charge proves useful, especially if you find yourself having to go back in time to check figures from earlier years.
All in all then, Jackson Hewitt Online therefore ticks all the right boxes when it comes to the performance part of the equation.
Having tax professionals to hand when filing can be a real bonus (Image credit: Jackson Hewitt Online)
Jackson Hewitt Online: Ease of use
Jackson Hewitt Online has been nicely tweaked and fine-tuned over the years and more recently it seems to be functioning better than ever.
The company has incorporated some very cool tools that aid your filing mission, with something like the W-2 locator tool proving to be an essential addition that allows you to lay your hands on that precious documentation when it might not be immediately obvious where it happens to be.
The same can be said for their library of other crucial IRS forms, that can all be found via the Jackson Hewitt Online site.
There's a package to suit a wide variety of needs within the Jackson Hewitt Online service (Image credit: Jackson Hewitt Online)
Jackson Hewitt Online: Support
If you’re going it alone and prefer to stick with the wholly internet edition of Jackson Hewitt Online then you’ll find that there is still help at hand via the unlimited online support and live chat features.
However, along with the internet options, the other big bonus of using Jackson Hewitt Online is the way that the service can be used in tandem with their physical branches across the US.
Given that some issues with tax filing can be complex to explain, being able to talk things through in a real-world environment makes this support aspect of the Jackson Hewitt Online experience particularly practical.
Jackson Hewitt Online: Final verdict
Jackson Hewitt Online is something of a double-deal when you’re looking at filing your taxes. Whilst everything can be done online, and many people will be happy with that, there’s also the benefit of being able to work hand-in-hand with any one of the many physical branches across the US.
Jackson Hewitt Online is pretty fuss-free too, with a three-step process that involves signing up and the creation of an account. From there you pick through the guided steps, working out your maximum refund along the way, before finally e-filing at the end of it.
Bandzoogle is a website builder with a difference. Unlike the majority of the best website builders on the market, which are built for a wide range of users, Bandzoogle was created specifically to help musicians get themselves and their music online.
The platform includes many features that make it easy to showcase your talents, with professional-looking templates designed for artists, along with an easy set up process, including font and colour options, giving users the ability to create a truly unique online presence.
Bandzoogle also allows users to make unlimited sales without charging any commission, which is great for musicians who anticipate making large sales in the future. So if you’re looking for the best website builder for musicians, Bandzoogle is certainly worth considering.
Bandzoogle pricing and plans
It’s unfortunate that Bandzoogle doesn’t include a pared down free plan you can use for an unlimited time, so if you want to give it a shot, you’ll have to sign up for the 30 day free trial (on the plus side, no credit card details are needed - just your email address and a password, and you’re good to go). You’ll still have the opportunity to cancel your trial at any time, should you decide it’s not the right platform for you.
Bandzoogle has 4 plans available: EPK, Lite, Standard, and Pro. They can all be tried free for 30 days. You have the option of paying annually or monthly - forking out the lump sum each year essentially gets you two months free.
EPK (Electronic Press Kit) plan
EPK (Electronic Press Kit) is the most basic plan and it is still in beta. This provides you with the ability to create a single page press kit. It comes with hosting and all the basic tools you need such as a music player, tour calendar, contact form, and support.
Lite plan
The Lite plan is the next up and unlocks the ability to create full websites with up to 10 pages, 10 tracks, and 100 photos. It also adds on the EPK plan with some promotional tools, ability to sell music, and visitor analytics.
Standard plan
Step up again to the Standard plan and you get everything from the Lite plan plus an additional 10 pages (20 total), 40 tracks (50 total), and 400 photos (500 total). You also get the ability to sell merchandise through your store.
Pro plan
The final ‘Pro’ is a great option for serious musicians. You get everything from the standard plan, but now you have unlimited pages, tracks, and photos. Advanced selling and analytical tools are also included alongside the added ability to sell tickets to your shows.
Choose from hundreds of themes to find the perfect one for your band (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
Getting started with Bandzoogle
Once you start the free trial, you’ll immediately have access to all of the pre-designed themes. Browse through them, check their large previews, and select the one that best reflects your band and its style (they’re broken down into categories such as Rock, Classical, Urban, etc to help narrow down your search).
Use the setup process to add a cover image, logo, etc (you can also change it all later too) (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
During the creation process, you can add your own header image and band logo if you have one, but there’s no pressure: you can add this at any time later on. The same applies for all other initial steps: you can skip them all (adding content, setting up a blog, creating a photo gallery, etc), and insert them at a later time.
There are a few types of sections available to you, from a basic text box, to a photo gallery, to a blog, and everything in between (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
Bandzoogle features
Populating your website with content is a very straightforward affair. Click on ‘Add a section’ to choose from the list of options displayed during the creation process.
Adding sections to a page, changing their position, or even deleting them, is a easy to clicking on those blue buttons (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
You have the ability to add as many sections as you need, across multiple pages, thereby creating an enticing resource for your fans, and if you have experience of other more traditional website builders, you’ll find Bandzoogle very easy to get to grips with.
Blogging is basic, but offers all the essentials, including comments, categories, and scheduling (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
Even the blog section offers all the basics you’d expect, including categories, comments, and being able to schedule your posts.
The main focal point of Bandzoogle is its ability to let you sell your music, videos, tickets, merch, and more (Image credit: Bandzoogle)
Unsurprisingly, the features that stand out the most are options for selling music, merchandise, and tickets. Everything you need as an artist is easily available, so if you’re looking for a template that’s ready to go, you can customise the colours, fonts, and photos to create a website that highlights your style. SEO options are generated automatically from the content on your page, making it easy for Google to pick up the right keywords.
Bandzoogle competition
The largest competitors to Bandzoogle are Wix, Bandvista, and Mymusicstream. Bandvista has very similar pricing to Bandzoogle, and also doesn’t include a free plan. Bandvista also includes a music player and options to sell merchandise, but its templates aren’t quite as professional looking and modern as Bandzoogle's.
Is Bandzoogle right for you? Summary
Bandzoogle is a great website builder for anyone in the music industry who wants to sell albums, merch, and tickets to shows on a personalised website.
Instead of building your website from scratch, this easy to customise web host makes building a website a breeze. You won’t need to spend time learning HTML or other programming languages. All of the templates are creative and built for music-enthusiasts. It’s also easy to transfer your domain over to Bandzoogle if you already own one. Bandzoogle promises fast page loading, so music fans won’t get stuck while waiting to download a soundtrack. Because it’s music-specific, the built-in SEO will help Google recognise key terms from your website, making it easier for people to find your band online.
Overall, Bandzoogle is a helpful tool for anyone in the music industry looking to create their own website.
If you are searching for the best VoIP service for your business then it’s worth taking a look at GoTo Connect, the successor to the popular Jive VoIP platform.
GoTo Connect offers inexpensive pricing for small and medium-sized businesses, compatibility with an enormous range of devices, and plenty of advanced features to manage and route your calls.
On top of that, the package includes the GoTo Meeting video conferencing software, so you can host video meetings with up to 250 participants (on the most expensive plan), a real bonus over some of its rivals.
The ultimate goal of GoTo Connect is to have everything in one place, which functions both to cut costs (since everything is integrated) and make your work life easier. As always, it's worth considering rivals like Zoom and RingCentral in detail before making a decision.
In our GoTo Connect review, we’ll cover everything you need to know to decide if this VoIP service is the best choice for your business.
GoTo Connect recently expanded its tiers, going from three (Basic, Standard, and Premium) to four, based on specific usage: Phone System, Customer Engagement, Complete CX, and Contact Center.
Unfortunately, the actual pricing details are now hidden from public view, and so you'll need to get in touch with GoTo Connect for the specifics based on the size of your organisation.
(For reference, the old plans were priced at £10 per user per month for Basic, £21 for Standard, and £44 for Premium. We'd assume the new prices are somewhat similar, but it's worth checking with GoTo Connect based on the number of seats.)
As we'll get into in more detail below, each of the four packages is well-featured and includes some things that rivals have in higher plans. For example, the Phone System plan supports unlimited users from the off, and up to 250 participants in video meetings, both of which are pretty generous.
We recommend checking out GoTo Connect's pricing website to look at specific features and check those against your needs.
GoTo Connect supports over 180 different models of desktop phones and conference room speaker systems, and you can also use the GoTo Connect desktop and mobile apps to place calls directly from your computer or smartphone. Notably, the service also offers support for SMS messages in the US and Canada.
The GoTo Connect software includes essential features like caller ID, call forwarding, and call recording. However, this platform doesn’t come with its own storage space for your recorded calls. You’ll need to purchase and connect a third-party cloud storage service.
GoTo Connect also has several different modes for supervisors to monitor calls. For example, you can use Spy Mode to monitor an existing conversation without being heard, or use Whisper Mode to be heard only by your employee and not the other caller. Both of these are reserved for higher tiers.
Another plus, particularly for call centers and sales departments, is that GoTo Connect offers very detailed call reporting. Administrators can see how many calls are coming in to each user or extension, how long those calls last, and even what locations they’re coming from.
GoTo also provides a complete activity log that catalogs every call placed over your network, so you can export the data and run your own analyses as needed.
While GoTo Connect is primarily a VoIP service, it also gives you access to the GoTo Meeting video conferencing platform. It's worth keeping in mind that this is nothing new in its segment, with most other providers opening up video capabilities.
GoTo Meeting is itself quite comprehensive, offering features like screen sharing, a virtual whiteboard that enables participants to collaboratively draw on presentations, and in-meeting chat.
We found GoTo Connect’s web-based dashboard to be fairly straightforward. If you use phone hardware sold by GoTo, the software will automatically recognize your devices and all you need to do is associate them with a phone number or extension.
When using your own hardware, the process is largely the same, except that you’ll need to install the GoTo Connect software on your devices before setting phone numbers. Everything basic was easy in our testing.
Setting up some of GoTo Connect’s more advanced features did involve a little more work. For example, connecting a cloud storage space to hold call recordings wasn’t straightforward. GoTo Connect offers instructions if you’re using Amazon S3, but not for popular cloud platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox.
One of the things we liked best about using GoTo Connect was its advanced call routing interface.
The software includes a visual editor to help create a schematic for how calls should be passed through your network based on what number was dialed, where the call originated from, the time of day, and how long the phone has been ringing, among others.
The editor enables you to drag and drop individual users and extensions around your schematic, so it’s easy to modify the routing plan at any time. You can also copy and alter an existing routing plan, which is helpful for creating alternative call plans for occasions like holidays.
GoTo Connect offers support via phone and email during weekday business hours.
On top, GoTo also plays a big role in helping you set up your phone system, offering a short training session and consultation after your hardware arrives. While this is not a particularly common offering, it does help GoTo stand out, especially if this is your first time using VoIP as a business.
GoTo Connect’s online support center is incredibly comprehensive, if a little bit confusing. There are articles and user guides that answer virtually every question you could think of. However, there are few screenshots or videos, and many steps require you to first visit another how-to article.
It’s easy to get lost, so using the documentation center requires some patience.
GoTo Connect encrypts all communications by default, regardless of whether you’re communicating via VoIP or video call. For both audio and video conferences, you also have the option to lock your meetings, which keeps new participants in a waiting room until approved.
In terms of account security, two-factor authentication (2FA) helps protect somewhat against password leaks, and there are other industry-standard features. GoTo also has a useful Trust & Security Center.
GoTo Connect’s primary competitor is RingCentral, which similarly bundles VoIP and business messaging with a video conferencing platform. For most businesses, RingCentral will be more expensive.
RingCentral's plans start at $19.99 per user per month (annually), but you’ll need to upgrade to a $24.99 per user per month plan if you want more than 20 users, video conferencing, or integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365.
However, RingCentral’s call routing features aren’t as advanced as what GoTo Connect offers. For most businesses, we think GoTo Connect offers better value and a more flexible VoIP service.
GoTo Connect is a very capable VoIP service that bundles phone, SMS messaging, and video conferencing. The service offers a simple, user-based pricing structure and is compatible with over 180 hardware devices so you can likely continue using your current VoIP-enabled phones.
We especially like GoTo Connect’s call routing, monitoring, and reporting features. These give you an impressive amount of control over your phone network and are very easy to use.
Overall, GoTo Connect is a competitively priced and well-featured service that's well worth checking out to get the best VoIP service in 2024.
Deque’s Web Accessibility Tool, often known as the axe DevTools, is a powerful and user-friendly software solution that is widely recognized as one of the leading tools in the field of web accessibility. It is designed to help developers build highly accessible web content by leveraging global accessibility standards and providing valuable insights into potential accessibility issues.
With its easy-to-use interface and extensive range of features, including automated testing and real-time feedback, the axe DevTools is a must-have tool for anyone looking to create web content that is accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities.
Interested in Deque? Check out the Deque website here
Features
Deques web accessibility tool is a resource for developers aiming to uphold top-notch accessibility standards on their websites. The tool conducts evaluations covering aspects of accessibility such as form labels, color contrast, attributes, and other vital elements crucial for enhancing web accessibility.
This tool is available in two formats: a browser extension and a module that seamlessly integrates into the existing development environment. This simplifies the workflow by eliminating the need to switch between tools and streamlining the evaluation process.
Upon completion of the evaluation, the tool generates reports highlighting detected issues, their severity levels, and suggestions for resolution. These insights are valuable for developers looking to enhance their website's accessibility.
Furthermore, the tool facilitates testing to ensure higher levels of accessibility compliance. This feature enables developers to cater to all users, including those with disabilities.
It's important to mention that this tool receives updates to align with contemporary global web accessibility standards, like WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and Section 508. Developers can rest assured that their websites comply with accessibility standards and are accessible to all users.
Regarding accessibility, it's crucial to make websites and apps user-friendly for everyone, not only for ethical reasons but also due to legal requirements. Deque's range of tools, including the Axe tool, is known for its dedication to ensuring access to digital content. However, like any tech solution, Deques tools have advantages and drawbacks. This article explores the pros and cons of using Deques accessibility tools so you can make a choice.
Deque has benefits that can be categorized into two areas: thorough accessibility testing and developer support.
Deques tools employ various rules for assessing accessibility compliance addressing WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and Section 508 standards. This comprehensive approach guarantees an evaluation of your content. Aside from automated testing, Deque facilitates testing processes, resulting in a nuanced and thorough approach to accessibility. With plugins and extensions available for code editors, browsers, and CI/CD pipelines, Deque's tools seamlessly integrate into the development workflow, promoting regular checks for accessibility compliance.
Tools, like the Axe browser extension, are straightforward to use. You can get started away without hassle and spot accessibility problems directly from your browser as a developer. When it finds issues, Deque's tools explain why they matter, how to fix them, and even provide links for reading. This does not help in fixing the problems. It also teaches developers about accessibility principles. Most Deque tools, including Axe, are sourced at their core, encouraging community input and keeping things transparent regarding what the tool can and cannot do.
While there are benefits to using these tools, there are some downsides to consider depending on your project's needs and resources. Even though Deque's automated testing catches a lot of accessibility issues, it may not see everyone. For instance, ensuring that all content makes sense without context or checking text accuracy requires judgment. Like any automated tool, there is a chance of both positives and false negatives. This could lead to unnecessary fixes or missing out on essential issues that need attention. That's why human verification is still crucial.
Moreover, for those with accessibility or smaller teams without accessibility roles, the amount of information these tools provide and the number of issues identified might be overwhelming initially. This could potentially make prioritizing tasks more challenging.
Integrating into development processes can bring advantages. However, setting it up and maintaining it may require resources for intricate projects or less popular development setups.
Additionally, although Deque provides tools such as the Axe browser extension, accessing features, APIs, or enterprise solutions may come with costs that could be a hurdle for smaller businesses or solo developers.
Installation, setup, and compatibility
(Image credit: Deque)
Deque's Axe browser extension and Axe DevTools library are powerful accessibility testing tools that help web developers ensure their web pages are accessible to everyone. These tools are designed to be easy to use and integrate with your existing development workflow.
The Axe browser extension is a lightweight tool that can be installed in your web browser with just a few clicks. Once installed, it will be available in your browser's toolbar and ready to scan any webpage for accessibility issues. The extension can test for issues such as missing alt text on images, improper use of heading tags, and other standard accessibility issues. It can also provide detailed reports on accessibility issues, making identifying and fixing problems quickly easy.
The Axe DevTools library is a more integrated approach to accessibility testing. It can be implemented directly into your project and provides a more comprehensive testing solution. The library is compatible with various technologies, including HTML, React, Angular, and Vue. It can be configured to run automated tests as part of your development workflow, ensuring that accessibility issues are caught early in the development process.
Deque's tools are designed to be compatible with modern web technologies. The Axe browser extension works across multiple browsers and platforms, including Chrome and Firefox. The Axe DevTools library supports various languages and frameworks, providing flexibility in integrating accessibility testing into diverse development environments.
Plans and pricing
Deque’s website does not provide direct pricing information. Instead, they offer tailored solutions based on individual accessibility needs.
The final cost of these solutions will depend on factors such as the services required and project complexity.
Regardless, they do provide free demos and 14-day trials.
Final verdict
Deque's suite of accessibility tools is a formidable ally in the quest for digital inclusivity. It offers comprehensive testing capabilities, developer-friendly features, and the flexibility to integrate with existing workflows.
However, it's essential to recognize the limitations of automated testing, the potential for information overwhelm, and the costs associated with advanced features.
Ultimately, the decision to use Deque should be informed by your project's specific needs, your team's familiarity with accessibility best practices, and your budget constraints. By weighing the pros and cons, you can determine if Deque's solutions align with your goals for creating an accessible digital landscape for all users.
Update: February 2024. Despite its relative age (although anything released within the past 10 years hardly qualifies as 'old' for a turntable – this is heritage physical music) the Technics SL-1500C is still emphatically one of the best turntables on the market. And it's not even the iconic SL-1210! What it is, is a direct-drive turntable built to listen to music (rather than to DJ with) and in the years since its release it has become a benchmark for quality at the price – a price which has actually risen owing to the proposition's success and desirability. Features? It's got a switchable phono stage so it'll work with your amp plus nice hefty buttons, but ultimately this is a deck for the purist and vinyl archivist. For clarity, in January 2024 Victrola's record turntable with repeat function arrived, but the firm's 2023 Victrola Stream Carbon can also work with your Sonos multi-room wireless setup, so the category has seen some breakthrough vinyl-meets-wireless tech since the Technics landed. Do you need any of that, or is wired analog audio still the star in your house? That's up to you. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Technics SL-1500C: one-minute review
The first time Technics died, it was a long and unnecessarily drawn-out affair. Parent company Panasonic inexplicably lost patience and faith with the brand around the turn of the century (despite it being one of the few true icons of consumer electronics) - starting its slow demise and leading to fewer and fewer Technics-branded products coming to market.
By 2010 it was official: Technics was no more. Anyone who’d ever visited a nightclub or danced to a DJ set was a little bit heartbroken.
But, in 2015, Panasonic had a change of heart, and Technics was reborn. And while many enjoyed the reborn audio brand, things weren’t quite the same - the first fruits of the brand’s resurrection were both uncharacteristically expensive and a bit misguided.
...Until now. Meet the budget-friendly Technics SL-1500C that will only set you back £899 / $999 / AU$2499. It's still not the most affordable turntable on the market, but it's first the reborn Technics has so far delivered to really remind listeners of what they loved about the brand in the first place.
Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: design
To most people, the words ‘Technics turntable’ means Technics SL-1210 - but the Technics template was set down long before the company designed The World’s DJ Deck, and it would seem strange were they to mess with the formula now. So, naturally, they haven’t.
That’s not to say the SL-1500C is a facsimile of the SL-1200/SL-1210. It’s not built as a DJ deck, but rather as just a record player, so it doesn’t feature pitch control, target light, stroboscope or the other ‘hands-on’ bits ‘n’ bobs that make the SL-1210 look such a purposeful machine.
But the SL-1500C has the same hefty aluminium top-plate, the same aluminium-with-complicated-composite chassis and the same overweight, utterly inert and resonance-rejecting aluminium platter. In fact, here the platter’s substantially rubberised to make it even more efficient.
And, of course, the SL-1500C is a direct-drive design. Technics has almost always preferred this technology for its record players (not just its DJ decks), and here it’s using a fearsomely over-engineered motor intended to resistance the restless ‘cogging’ effect that can afflict some direct-drive Technics-wannabee turntables. It’s engaged using the big ‘on/off’ dial and big ‘stop/start’ button familiar from the SL-1210.
(Image credit: Panasonic)
Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Features
Technics has gone to significant lengths to make the SL-1500C as user-friendly and painless as possible. Niceties start with the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge that’s pre-fitted to the detachable headshell - it’s simplicity itself to attach or detach it from the S-shaped tonearm.
It stands on four hefty (the word ‘hefty’ springs to mind a lot when trying to describe the SL-1500C) rubberised feet. They’re pliant and have quite a lot of articulation so, while - you should always put your record player on a sturdy shelf, where it can avoid vibrations - the SL-1500C isn’t as unsettled by less-than-perfect positioning as some price-comparable but less, yes, hefty rivals.
It’s also fitted with a switchable phono stage. Not every stereo amplifier has the necessary oomph to make a record player audible (though every mixer attached to an SL-1210 does), but because the SL-1500C is packing sufficient pre-amplification it’s compatible with any amplifier you care to mention.
There’s even a switchable auto-stop feature. When the needle reaches the run-out groove it can, if you so desire, return to its resting ‘off’ position. Such pandering to the user is not something you’d ever catch an SL-1210 indulging in.
Like Technics turntables of old, the SL-1500C has big ‘33.3’ and ‘45’ rpm speed-selection buttons - and, like Technics turntables of old, pressing them at the same time delivers 78rpm performance. Ideal for the true vinyl archivist.
(Image credit: Panasonic)
Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Performance
There’s really only one place to start with a Technics record player, and that’s with some thumping dance music. So it’s out with a ‘much-loved’ (for which read ‘slightly knackered’) copy of deadmau5’s single-sided Lack of a Better Name to find out if the SL-1500C is worthy of its illustrious brand name.
The short answer is ‘yes’. The slightly longer answer is ‘yes, all day long’.
Much of what is so prized in the vinyl format - the warmth, detail and texture of its sound, the rhythmic surefootedness, the sense of integration and unity of performance - is here in the SL-1500C, and in good measure. But that’s not what is so initially remarkable about the way this Technics goes about music-making.
Many an otherwise-excellent record player overplays its hand where low frequency information is concerned. The temptation to overstate the luxurious warmth and substance of vinyl-derived bass seems almost impossible to resist - but the SL-1500C is made of sterner stuff. It absolutely snaps into low-end sounds - it doesn’t wallow, it doesn’t drone. Instead, it draws an unarguably straight edge at the start of bass notes and doesn’t let their decay hang around. The result is a sound that has all of the body and momentum vinyl-fanciers delight in, but none of the overhang. The SL-1500C is a snake-hipped listen where too many of its nominal rivals have the bass equivalent of muffin-top.
And above this gloriously well-controlled bottom end, the news continues to be good. One grinding gear-changing from deadmau5 to Ella Fitzgerald’s Dream a Little Dream of Me allows the Technics to showcase its keen eye for the detail and nuance of a vocalist’s delivery. Fitzgerald’s pure tone and impeccable phrasing is served up explicitly by the SL-1500C - her voice is utterly packed with character, and occupies centre-stage in the most natural manner imaginable.
(Image credit: Panasonic)
To complete the nap hand of frequency response expertise, the Technics has sufficient bite and attack at the top end to make the fiercer moments of Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden properly forceful, but there’s never any suggestion things could get splashy or in any way out of control. The same LP highlights the SL-1500C’s confident manner with both high-level ‘quiet/loud/quiet’ dynamics and the low-level harmonic dynamics of Mark Hollis’s piano- and organ-playing.
Sound-staging is impressive, with recordings given plenty of elbow-room for individual instruments to make their presence felt. There’s depth and height to the Technics’ stage, as well as width, but despite all this breathing-room there’s no lack of unity to the sound the SL-1500C delivers. And no matter whether you choose to listen to the cramped, claustrophobic beats of Burial’s Untrue or the wide-open elegance of Brian Eno’s Another Green World, the Technics remains completely authoritative.
Overall, there’s remarkably little to take issue with here. Some alternative turntables (from the likes of Rega and Pro-Ject) will extract even more detail, and manage rhythms and tempos with even more assurance. But they don’t have electronic speed change, or direct drive, or a phono stage, or the build quality to survive a medium-sized detonation.
And they don’t say ‘Technics’ anywhere on the top-plate, either.
Technics SL-1500C Turntable review: Final verdict
It’s been a bit of turbulent start for the reimagined Technics brand, but with the SL-1500C it seems the company is beginning to find its line and length. This isn’t the most out-and-out accomplished turntable you can buy in purely sonic terms, but it’s not far off - and it’s more robustly made, better specified and has greater cachet than any price-comparable alternative.
Despite its name, Vonage for Home should not be discounted by businesses that are looking for the best VoIP services, especially those on a tighter budget.
While Vonage does offer its own enterprise VoIP solution via Vonage Business Cloud, the offering is better suited to larger businesses, the kind that will make the most of its collaboration and CRM integrations.
Vonage for Home, on the other hand, is a wonderfully affordable and time-tested option from Vonage that represents a fantastic VoIP option for SMBs or sole traders.
The service comes complete with great international calling rates, online tracking, easy transportability, anonymous call blocking, and excellent call quality. In short, everything you'll get from more expensive options.
There are numerous advanced calling features included at no extra cost, and Vonage Extensions, a free mobile app, means you can take your Vonage calling plan with you wherever you go.
Although many businesses have recently been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, communication tools like VoIP telephony and video conferencing platforms have proven their worth.
For smaller firms, in particular, VoIP solutions have helped employees remain connected with colleagues and customers even when they’ve not been able to visit the workplace.
Alternatively, for SMBs that are have always worked from a home office environment, VoIP tools have long been associated with reliability. And that’s certainly what’s on offer with Vonage for Home.
Vonage for Home offers numerous different pricing plans, depending on a company’s home market.
Vonage North America offers unlimited nationwide calling (as well as unlimited calls to Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico) for $9.99 per month for the first six months. This plan also comes with a free phone adapter, free shipping, and free activation.
UK customers have the option of two different plans: Talk UK 1,000 and Premium Mobile 1,000, which cost £10.25 and £13.25 per month, respectively. The latter plan comes with reduced calling rates and free international calls to five countries.
Vonage also offers its customers a number of different international plans, which could be worth exploring for SMBs that conduct a lot of business overseas.
The most extensive of these is the Vonage World plan, which comes with all the standard VoIP features, plus unlimited international calling to landlines in more than 60 countries and mobile phones in 10 countries. The regular price is $27.99 per month, but customers will only be charged $9.99 per month for the first six months when they sign a 12-month agreement.
Vonage for Home also offers several add-on features for an extra free, including the ability to use a virtual number. Many SMBs like to use a virtual number when contacting customers for the local area code, which helps give businesses a local feel. Virtual numbers cost between $5 and $10 per number.
Businesses can also add a dedicated fax line for an additional $9.99 per month, additional calling lines for $9.99 for the first three months (although prices do increase after this), and toll-free 1-800 numbers for $4.99 per month.
In addition, businesses can purchase a Vonage softphone, accessible from their computer, for an extra $9.99 a month. This comes with 500 minutes per month.
For SMBs that are still relying on old-fashioned landline phones, switching to Vonage for Home could result in some significant savings. Plus, because extra features can be added quickly if required, this is a VoIP service that provides the kind of flexible pricing that small businesses often prefer.
So... a lot of different options, and it's worth checking out the Vonage's pricing website to see the exact features and what's right for your business.
Just because Vonage for Home sounds geared towards residential use, doesn’t mean that SMB users have to miss out on any of the essential features you expect to be included with a B2B VoIP solution.
Some of the most popular features on offer here are VoiceMail Plus, which lets users receive their voicemail messages by phone, email, or via an online account, and Caller Display, which reveals the number of the incoming caller.
Other widely-used features are Call Divert, which lets users divert incoming calls to another number, and International Call Barring, which prevents users from making international calls.
Altogether, these features give SMB owners more control over their telephony network. Whether they are sole traders or have a handful of employees, being able to see who is calling and transfer calls appropriately is a great way of ensuring that important conversations aren’t missed.
Other call management features include an anonymous caller block, the option of keeping your own number private when making a call, and a do not disturb option that diverts all incoming calls to voicemail.
Another feature that small businesses will be thankful for is SimulRing, which lets multiple lines ring at once when an incoming call is received. When expecting important calls, this can be a great way of ensuring that customers aren’t neglected. When SimulRing is employed, the caller is much more likely to get through, with the first recipient to answer, taking the call.
Vonage for Home also offers several advanced features that SMBs may want to consider, includeing three-way calling, particularly useful with more firms adopting hybrid working policies. In-person meetings may become less and less common in the workplaces of the future, increasing the importance of having different conferencing call options.
There are also other features that will give SMBs more autonomy regarding how they receive their calls. Call Hunt lets incoming calls be distributed to multiple lines on your account, Ring Lists allow you to control how an incoming call is routed, and there’s also the option of adding a dedicated fax line.
For small businesses that simply need a reliable VoIP offering that comes with all the standard features that you’d expect, then Vonage for Home ticks all the boxes. While Vonage may not have fancy integrations with CRM platforms like those that are on offer with the Vonage Business Cloud platform, for many SMBs that is unlikely to be an issue.
Many smaller companies might not have access to IT teams or large numbers of technical staff to help with the installation of new workplace digital tools. As such, ease-of-use is one of the most important goals for any VoIP solution – and one that Vonage for Home undoubtedly meets.
Getting started with Vonage for Home is straightforward.
First users should activate their Vonage account before setting up their Vonage Box. However, there’s no need to worry about either of these steps. No engineer visits are required and there are no installation costs to contend with. In fact, individuals can even keep their existing phone numbers. Setup is as simple as plugging your Vonage Box into your home router, and then connecting your home/business phone to your Vonage Box. Any mobile device can connect to the Vonage service remotely over a Wi-Fi connection.
With the installation complete, SMBs can start making calls straight away, whether that’s from a mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop, office, or home phone. Like other VoIP services, Vonage works by sending audio data over an internet connection. Unlike with traditional phone systems, this means that calls are significantly cheaper (particularly international calls). It also allows businesses to access the kinds of advanced features that simply wouldn’t be possible with a traditional landline.
(Image credit: Vonage for Home)
With modern workplace trends meaning that employees are less and less likely to be sat at the same desk from nine until five every day between Monday and Friday, the added mobility provided by VoIP solutions like Vonage for Home is essential. SMBs can’t afford to neglect potential customers because their employees are based in a variety of locations.
With Vonage for Home the ability to answer calls to a work number from a variety of devices means that the number of missed calls will be significantly reduced.
Another factor making Vonage for Home easy to use is the addition of the Vonage Extensions mobile app. This allows businesses to use their landline plan on their smartphone, meaning they can make calls remotely as long as they are connected to either an LTE mobile data plan or a Wi-Fi connection.
Having this added flexibility means that small businesses and their employees can enjoy the added freedom of working wherever they like, without the worry of missing an important phone call.
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Vonage for Home: The competition
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Vonage for Home: Final verdict
Don’t let the name fool you, Vonage for Home is a great VoIP option for small businesses. With its affordable rates, simple installation, and impressive list of features, SMBs will find a VoIP platform that ticks all the boxes. The inclusion of the free mobile app, Vonage Extensions, is also a nice bonus, allowing firms to take calls on the go, wherever they are.
The internet has become an essential element of contemporary life. We depend on it for communication, education, business, entertainment, and many other purposes. However, a considerable number of websites are not accessible to individuals with disabilities. This excludes a significant portion of the population from participating in online activities. This is where EqualWeb comes in.
EqualWeb offers a range of features to help website owners ensure their sites are accessible to all users. These include an accessibility widget that allows users to adjust the site's appearance and functionality to suit their individual needs, as well as a screen reader and keyboard navigation support.
Additionally, the service provides a comprehensive audit of the website's accessibility, highlighting any areas needing improvement. EqualWeb's accessibility experts are also available to guide and support website owners looking to make their sites more inclusive.
Here's a look at EqualWeb to help you better determine whether it's the best web accessibility tool for you and your business.
Ensuring accessibility for all users is crucial to creating an inclusive web experience. However, accommodating a wide range of disabilities can be a daunting task. EqualWeb offers a comprehensive suite of accessibility features that make the web more accessible to everyone.
EqualWeb offers various options for visually impaired users, such as increasing text size, changing contrast levels, enabling text-to-speech capabilities, and more. The service also allows screen reader software to interpret page elements and alt text for images easily. Those with color blindness can also adjust color schemes to suit their needs.
Meanwhile, users with hearing loss can benefit from closed captioning on videos and live chat support. The interface is designed straightforwardly to help those with cognitive disabilities easily navigate and understand content.
EqualWeb also offers solutions for individuals with motor impairments that make mouse/keyboard use difficult. These users can use voice commands and other hands-free navigation features to browse the web without manual input.
Overall, EqualWeb takes a comprehensive approach to accessibility, ensuring that users of all abilities can enjoy a seamless web experience. By providing a wide range of accessibility features, EqualWeb is helping to create a more inclusive web for everyone.
How EqualWeb uses AI
Like similar solutions, including UserWay and AccessiBe, EqualWeb's product relies heavily on AI.
The core feature of the product being discussed is its Auto AI interface. This interface is specifically designed to identify and automatically fix accessibility issues on your website in real-time. This can be a major benefit for website owners who want to ensure their website is accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities.
Once you install the code for the Auto AI widget, a widget that allows for seamless integration will appear on your website. This widget is easy to use and can be customized to match your website's design, which can help provide a more cohesive user experience for visitors to your website.
One of the key benefits of the Auto AI interface is that it is lightweight, which ensures that it does not impact the performance of your website for users who do not use the Auto AI widget. This means that you can provide a more accessible website without sacrificing performance. It also means that you can reach a wider audience of users who may have previously been unable to access your website due to accessibility issues.
Overall, the Auto AI interface is a powerful tool for website owners who want to ensure their website is accessible to everyone. With its real-time identification and automatic fixing of accessibility issues, as well as its lightweight design, this interface can be a valuable addition to any website.
Ease of Use
EqualWeb has gone above and beyond to ensure that their website is accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. The website's design is not only visually appealing, but it is also highly functional and intuitive. The navigation system is straightforward and easy to use, with clearly labeled icons and text labels that help users find what they are looking for quickly.
Moreover, the website's accessibility features are exceptional. For instance, EqualWeb provides properly structured heading tags and alt text for images, which makes it easy for screen reader users to navigate the website. Additionally, the website is optimized for keyboard navigation, allowing users to navigate by pressing the "Tab" key on their keyboard.
All in all, EqualWeb has done an excellent job of creating a website that is both aesthetically pleasing and accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities.
Installation, setup, and compatibility
Creating an account on EqualWeb is a breeze. The platform offers clear step-by-step instructions that make it easy for users to sign up. Moreover, the form fields are correctly labeled for screen readers, and the automatic password generator ensures that users create secure credentials.
Only the required information is asked during signup, and additional profile fields are available later for those who want to expand their account. Moreover, email verification quickly activates the account, adding an extra security layer.
EqualWeb offers flexible options to customize the interface based on the user's preferences. The website supports dark mode, font size adjustment, highlighting colors, and more. There are also settings to reduce motion and animation, remove flashing imagery, and simplify layouts. This makes it easy to tailor the site experience according to individual requirements. It’s compatible with various devices and browsers. It is optimized for modern browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on both desktop and mobile. During testing, EqualWeb performed well across these significant Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android browsers. The pages loaded quickly, and all core features worked correctly. No significant issues were encountered.
The service is also functional on older browsers like Internet Explorer 11, but some minor styling may be affected. However, support for legacy browsers is limited.
EqualWeb uses responsive design to optimize the mobile experience. The pages adapt dynamically to fit phones or tablets, ensuring the content is accessible and usable regardless of the screen size. During mobile testing, everything from navigation to forms to images scaled well, which makes the platform accessible to users on the go.
Plans and Pricing
(Image credit: EqualWeb)
EqualWeb provides different packages that are determined by the number of webpages on your website and whether you choose to pay monthly or yearly. The pricing for these packages starts at $390 per year for small-sized websites of up to 100 pages, and rise from there. For example, the “huge” package costs $1,690 annually and covers up to 100,000 pages. All plans come with the company’s AI-powered widget, and there’s a managed plan avaialble that adds in-house expert remediation solutions.
Each plan provides WCAG 2.2 AA, ADA,and Section 508 compliance, unlimited pageviews and monthly visits, an alternative text editor, and automatic video and audio captions. They also include 24/7 support, an accessibility statement, certificate of perf EqualWeb offers various packages that are determined based on the number of webpages on your website and whether you choose to pay monthly or yearly. The pricing for these packages starts at $390 per year for small-sized websites of up to 100 pages and increases from there. For instance, the "huge" package costs $1,690 annually and covers up to 100,000 pages. All packages include the company's AI-powered widget, and there is a managed plan available that adds in-house expert remediation solutions.
Each plan provides WCAG 2.2 AA, ADA, and Section 508 compliance, unlimited pageviews, and monthly visits, an alternative text editor, and automatic video and audio captions. Additionally, they come with 24/7 support, an accessibility statement, a certificate of performance, and more. You can try the service for free for seven days. ormance, and more. You can trial the service for free for seven days.
Final verdict
EqualWeb is a platform that ensures websites are accessible to everyone through a team of experts from diverse backgrounds. It is user-friendly and easy to navigate. You can easily identify all the issues that need to be fixed, and the remediation widget will work to correct them. In case of complex situations where automated remediation is not enough, EqualWeb provides a full remediation package.
Making sure that websites and online content are accessible for people with disabilities is not just a legal obligation but also a moral duty. Companies like User1st play a vital role in helping businesses and organizations meet the requirements for web accessibility. User1st offers various services, including automated testing, training, and advice to ensure digital content is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.
By leveraging its expertise in compliance, User1st helps businesses and organizations avoid expensive legal battles and boost their reputations by demonstrating their dedication to inclusivity and accessibility.
This article will delve deeper into User1st's offerings and explore its features in depth.
User1st offers a comprehensive suite of digital accessibility services. Their services are designed to improve access for individuals with disabilities and ensure compliance with web accessibility laws. They provide several SaaS-based offerings to analyze a website for remote accessibility.
One of their most popular services is Check1st. It's a comprehensive automated web accessibility testing tool that claims to find more accessibility errors than its competitors. Check1st allows for customizable filters with labels to facilitate better project management and communication. It also has reporting functions to keep the team updated on the latest web accessibility issues, and it can be fully integrated into DevOps pipelines.
User1st Check1st helps businesses ensure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities. It does so using an automated testing platform and detailed reporting.
The testing platform identifies accessibility barriers on your website. It checks your site against accessibility guidelines the World Wide Web Consortium (WCAG) set. After scanning, Check1st provides a comprehensive report outlining the issues found. The report prioritizes the most critical errors, making it easier to address them first.
That report doesn't just list problems; it also provides recommendations on how to fix them. This helps developers understand the necessary changes to make the site compliant.
User1st offers a free version of Check1st, which can be a good starting point for small websites. For more significant sites or those needing more in-depth support, User1st offers paid plans with additional features like ongoing monitoring and manual remediation.
In response to a lack of compliance notification or when trying to remediate a website, User1st offers the uRemediate tool. uRemediate is a powerful tool that can increase the accessibility of a website by providing a snippet (single line of code) that can be integrated into the site. The code provided will create an accessibility button that can be branded as needed and placed in a location of choice on the page. When a user visits the site and needs accommodation, they can hit the button, and the website can then be used up to WCAG 2.1 AA standards, fully compliant with the ADA. Customers can provide feedback about the accessibility, and a back-end portal generates statistics for tracking usage. It can also be configured in several different languages.
(Image credit: Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash)
The uRemediate code does a comprehensive program survey that benchmarks industry standards and provides a complete analysis of gaps. It offers comparative maturity scoring and best practice guidance. In addition, User1st's accessibility experts test uRemediate with assistive tech, including JAWS (Job Access With Speech, a screen reader popular with low vision users). They perform a complete audit, with certification of accessibility fixes to the website code, suitable for showing governmental agencies in case of noncompliance issues. uRemediate indicates that it is certified to provide all the necessary fixes for web accessibility, which will provide a defense against an audit.
Furthermore, User1st provides legal, regulatory, and industry updates to maintain compliance with changing regulations. Their services are designed to be user-friendly and accessible and offer a seamless user experience. They can help businesses expand their customer base and achieve compliance with web accessibility laws.
User1st uRemediate is a subscription-based service offered by User1st that focuses on remediating accessibility issues on your website rather than just identifying them like Check1st. uRemediate uses automated tools and manual processes to fix accessibility barriers. This helps address issues efficiently while ensuring accuracy.
With URemediate, you don’t need to install software on your end. uRemediate works through the cloud, making it easy to implement and use. It aims to help websites comply with accessibility standards like WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
User1st offers a free light version of uRemediate with basic functionalities. Paid plans provide more features like customization options, back-end analytics, and ongoing monitoring.
Pricing
User1st offers both free and paid packages to its users. The paid packages come with a 14-day free trial period. You can choose from monthly or annual subscriptions that start at around $450 annually. The pricing structure is determined mainly by the number of users, domains, and frameworks. While some users may appreciate User1st's transparency in its pricing on its website, others may find it unclear since it doesn't include training and auditing services.
If you have any queries regarding the pricing or packages, please feel free to contact the company for more information.
Final verdict
User1st is a well-received web accessibility company that offers two distinct pathways to increase website accessibility for people with disabilities and seniors. The first pathway is through its fully automated Check1st offering, which uses an advanced algorithm to scan websites and identify accessibility issues. The second pathway is through expert-driven uRemediate offering, which provides personalized remediation solutions for websites with more complex accessibility needs.
One of the biggest pros of User1st is its expertise in dealing with complex governmental regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This means that the company's solutions comply with the latest accessibility guidelines and regulations, ensuring that websites are accessible to all users. Additionally, both Check1st and uRemediate are easy to deploy, can be customized to fit the website's unique needs, and can be translated into different languages.
However, one of User1st's cons is that the cost of either offering is opaque and can be considered expensive by some users. Some user reviews also mention that the cost and value of User1st's services are below average.
Despite these cons, User1st is worth considering, especially since it offers a free demo to try its services. The demo allows users to experience the solutions firsthand and see how they can improve website accessibility. Additionally, User1st has a dedicated support team that provides ongoing assistance and guidance to ensure that websites remain accessible to all users.
Overall, User1st is a top-notch web accessibility company that is dedicated to making the Internet a more inclusive and accessible place for everyone. Whether a small business or a large corporation, User1st's solutions can help you achieve greater accessibility and comply with ADA regulations.
• Original review date: June 2022
• Newer BenQ X3100i now out
• Launch price: $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,599
• Target price now: $1,499 / £1,279
The BenQ TK700STi is a short-throw DLP model from a company known for its gaming projectors. It was relatively affordable for a 4K model at launch and at its current $1,499 / £1,279 price, is now an even better deal. (The TK700STi no longer appears to be available in Australia.) BenQ recently refreshed its short throw gaming projector lineup, with new models like the X3100i featuring higher brightness and built-in Netflix streaming. But the BenQ TK700STi remains in the lineup, and even though it doesn’t budge much from its current price, gamers looking for a projector that works well for both gaming and movies can look no further. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
If you’re looking to lay a big load of cash on a projector, you can’t go wrong with the BenQ TK700STi. If you’re buying it for gaming, then that endorsement is even stronger. This unit supports 4K at 60Hz with an unsurpassed 16ms response time at that resolution, which is as low as response times get in a native 4K projector. If you want up to 120 inches of bright, crystal-clear game on your wall or screen, this sets a new benchmark.
What do those numbers mean in practice? It means a crisp 100 inch image with a smooth frame rate and utterly negligible input lag. With a 3,000 lumens brightness and HDR support – as well as a couple of purpose-suited game modes – the display absolutely sings. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X out in the wild now (albeit, still hard to find), this projector can actually take advantage of the new console generation’s performance advantages.
While 60Hz at 4K is impressive, the TK700STi will also support 120Hz so long as you’re happy to compromise on a 1080p output, and with three modes in the form of FPS, SPG and RPG, the display can be optimized according to the type of action happening on screen.
What does that mean for watching TV content? Not a great deal: you’re getting a brilliant image at 4K, though naturally the 120Hz capabilities, not to mention the low response time, aren’t going to make a big difference. This is a projector for someone who wants the best of both worlds, though if you’re never going to use it for gaming, and 4K isn’t a big deal to you, you can probably settle for something less expensive.
Not to mention that the bundled Android TV dongle – which needs to be installed manually, albeit easily – has a glaring omission in a dedicated Netflix app. Still, if you’re a console gamer, Netflix is available on everything except Nintendo Switch, and this model packs a lot of performance for the price.
(Image credit: Future)
BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Price and availability
The BenQ TK700STi projector is available for $1,899 in the US, £1,299 in the UK, and AU$2,599 in Australia.
Design and features
While other companies might be tempted to make their gaming projectors look like sci-fi obelisks, BenQ takes a minimalist approach to the TK700STi’s design – nothing about it screams 'gamer'. It’s a discreet white box with a black front, and it boasts a far more conservative design than its sibling model, the X1300i.
Analog zoom and focus dials are readily accessible at the top of the unit, as is the rest of the projector’s user interface: the power button, a directional pad for navigating the system’s menus, and a few quick access buttons for choosing display modes or triggering the Eco Blank functionality.
As for those zoom and focus dials, they allow for a lot of precision and stop very firmly in the desired location. There are also three thick bolts at the base which can be unscrewed in order to elevate the device slightly. This model comes with a remote control, which is highly recommended, as the buttons on the unit itself are unpleasant to use and require very firm presses to activate.
(Image credit: Future)
As for connectivity, you’ve got two HDMI 2.0 ports (with ARC on the second port), an RS-232, audio out for 3.5mm and a sole USB port. The device comes packaged with a BenQ Android TV dongle which you’ll need to install yourself: this involves removing one screw from a protrusion on the back of the unit, and connecting the dongle to a hidden USB port inside. It’s a slightly inelegant solution – why not bake this functionality in? – but it’s a one-and-done annoyance.
The rear of the TK700STi with the included Android TV dongle attached. (Image credit: BenQ)
Elsewhere, you’ve air vents along the entire right hand side of the unit, as well as a fraction of the left, and a little at the front. The whole thing measures at 31x11x25cm, and it has a 5W speaker included, though very few people are probably going to use it: you can either use the 3.5mm jack or attach a sound system or soundbar via ARC.
That said, if you’re traveling and want to use it away from your home entertainment audio gear, it’ll get you through.
This short-throw projector requires at least two metres between the projector and the wall to reach the 100-inch mark, and while the TK700STi advertises a 100-inch maximum, we found that it could retain a perfectly viewable picture at 120-inches on the wall. In concert with its 3,000 lumens brightness – which is about as bright as you’ll want to get in a home environment – the 4K display is remarkably crisp and vibrant, thanks to its HDR10 support.
Still – and this probably goes without saying – you’re going to want a very dark room. In some ways HDR can be a drawback in environments with just a little bit of sun leakage: playing Housemarque’s dark and gloomy PS5 game Returnal with the blinds futilely drawn was not an enjoyable experience, and wasn’t conducive to winning. That effect is exacerbated with a projector, and worth keeping in mind as more and more next-gen games embrace deeper blacks and more blinding brights.
Aside from that point, the 4K image is bright and invigorating and, in some ways, quite jaw dropping. The 60Hz refresh rate may not impress by the standards of modern gaming monitors, but it’s hugely impressive in a native 4K projector. With the appropriate lighting (or lack thereof) the TK700STi’s display shines like a portal on your wall, though like its X1300i stablemate, you do tend to see blooming around any bright-on-dark areas of the display.
Meanwhile, if you’re planning to use the TK700STi for movies and streaming you won’t be disappointed: color and clarity is admirable, though of course, you’re probably going to want to use a better sound source.
(Image credit: Future)
BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Sound and gaming
While the gaming monitor market likes to promote the advantages of 1ms response rates, you’re getting nowhere near that with the TK700STi: in 4K it has a 16ms response time, while it can hit 8ms in 1080p.
It can’t be stressed enough, though, that these response times on a projector are very novel indeed, and given this is a projector with native 4K you’re not going to find better than this performance at the moment. All but a small number of inveterate competitive gamers (or dyed in the wool pedants) are going to notice any input lag. Basically, you’re probably not going to get better performance than this.
Still, given the emphasis Sony and Microsoft are placing on both 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rates, it’s a question that will arise, and the TK700STi’s 60Hz refresh rate at 4K – impressive only 5 years ago – might seem inadequate on paper.
Sure, if you’ve been gaming on a 240Hz monitor you may notice a difference in fluidity, but 60 frames-per second is a bar that consoles have only just gotten around to making (unofficially) standard: the likelihood of more than a handful of blockbuster games with 120Hz support coming out during the console generation seems low, as developers focus on the wow-factor of ray tracing, detail and resolution.
Of course, if you’re rocking this projector with a gaming PC those platform-oriented limitations are immaterial to you, and if a high-refresh rate is more important than resolution, then you probably aren’t seriously in the market for a projector.
For our money, playing through a selection of games on both the Xbox Series X and PS5 including Dirt 5, Returnal, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Forza Horizon 4 and Outriders, 100 inches of 60 frames-per-second next-gen goodness is undeniably impressive, offering a level of immersion no halfway affordable TV is likely to produce. Note that 4K offers a maximum 60Hz refresh rate, while 120Hz maxes out at 1080p.
• Original review date: June 2022
• Newer BenQ X3100i now out
• Launch price: $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,599
• Target price now: $1,499 / £1,279
The BenQ TK700STi is a short-throw DLP model from a company known for its gaming projectors. It was relatively affordable for a 4K model at launch and at its current $1,499 / £1,279 price, is now an even better deal. (The TK700STi no longer appears to be available in Australia.) BenQ recently refreshed its short throw gaming projector lineup, with new models like the X3100i featuring higher brightness and built-in Netflix streaming. But the BenQ TK700STi remains in the lineup, and even though it doesn’t budge much from its current price, gamers looking for a projector that works well for both gaming and movies can look no further. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
If you’re looking to lay a big load of cash on a projector, you can’t go wrong with the BenQ TK700STi. If you’re buying it for gaming, then that endorsement is even stronger. This unit supports 4K at 60Hz with an unsurpassed 16ms response time at that resolution, which is as low as response times get in a native 4K projector. If you want up to 120 inches of bright, crystal-clear game on your wall or screen, this sets a new benchmark.
What do those numbers mean in practice? It means a crisp 100 inch image with a smooth frame rate and utterly negligible input lag. With a 3,000 lumens brightness and HDR support – as well as a couple of purpose-suited game modes – the display absolutely sings. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X out in the wild now (albeit, still hard to find), this projector can actually take advantage of the new console generation’s performance advantages.
While 60Hz at 4K is impressive, the TK700STi will also support 120Hz so long as you’re happy to compromise on a 1080p output, and with three modes in the form of FPS, SPG and RPG, the display can be optimized according to the type of action happening on screen.
What does that mean for watching TV content? Not a great deal: you’re getting a brilliant image at 4K, though naturally the 120Hz capabilities, not to mention the low response time, aren’t going to make a big difference. This is a projector for someone who wants the best of both worlds, though if you’re never going to use it for gaming, and 4K isn’t a big deal to you, you can probably settle for something less expensive.
Not to mention that the bundled Android TV dongle – which needs to be installed manually, albeit easily – has a glaring omission in a dedicated Netflix app. Still, if you’re a console gamer, Netflix is available on everything except Nintendo Switch, and this model packs a lot of performance for the price.
(Image credit: Future)
BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Price and availability
The BenQ TK700STi projector is available for $1,899 in the US, £1,299 in the UK, and AU$2,599 in Australia.
Design and features
While other companies might be tempted to make their gaming projectors look like sci-fi obelisks, BenQ takes a minimalist approach to the TK700STi’s design – nothing about it screams 'gamer'. It’s a discreet white box with a black front, and it boasts a far more conservative design than its sibling model, the X1300i.
Analog zoom and focus dials are readily accessible at the top of the unit, as is the rest of the projector’s user interface: the power button, a directional pad for navigating the system’s menus, and a few quick access buttons for choosing display modes or triggering the Eco Blank functionality.
As for those zoom and focus dials, they allow for a lot of precision and stop very firmly in the desired location. There are also three thick bolts at the base which can be unscrewed in order to elevate the device slightly. This model comes with a remote control, which is highly recommended, as the buttons on the unit itself are unpleasant to use and require very firm presses to activate.
(Image credit: Future)
As for connectivity, you’ve got two HDMI 2.0 ports (with ARC on the second port), an RS-232, audio out for 3.5mm and a sole USB port. The device comes packaged with a BenQ Android TV dongle which you’ll need to install yourself: this involves removing one screw from a protrusion on the back of the unit, and connecting the dongle to a hidden USB port inside. It’s a slightly inelegant solution – why not bake this functionality in? – but it’s a one-and-done annoyance.
The rear of the TK700STi with the included Android TV dongle attached. (Image credit: BenQ)
Elsewhere, you’ve air vents along the entire right hand side of the unit, as well as a fraction of the left, and a little at the front. The whole thing measures at 31x11x25cm, and it has a 5W speaker included, though very few people are probably going to use it: you can either use the 3.5mm jack or attach a sound system or soundbar via ARC.
That said, if you’re traveling and want to use it away from your home entertainment audio gear, it’ll get you through.
This short-throw projector requires at least two metres between the projector and the wall to reach the 100-inch mark, and while the TK700STi advertises a 100-inch maximum, we found that it could retain a perfectly viewable picture at 120-inches on the wall. In concert with its 3,000 lumens brightness – which is about as bright as you’ll want to get in a home environment – the 4K display is remarkably crisp and vibrant, thanks to its HDR10 support.
Still – and this probably goes without saying – you’re going to want a very dark room. In some ways HDR can be a drawback in environments with just a little bit of sun leakage: playing Housemarque’s dark and gloomy PS5 game Returnal with the blinds futilely drawn was not an enjoyable experience, and wasn’t conducive to winning. That effect is exacerbated with a projector, and worth keeping in mind as more and more next-gen games embrace deeper blacks and more blinding brights.
Aside from that point, the 4K image is bright and invigorating and, in some ways, quite jaw dropping. The 60Hz refresh rate may not impress by the standards of modern gaming monitors, but it’s hugely impressive in a native 4K projector. With the appropriate lighting (or lack thereof) the TK700STi’s display shines like a portal on your wall, though like its X1300i stablemate, you do tend to see blooming around any bright-on-dark areas of the display.
Meanwhile, if you’re planning to use the TK700STi for movies and streaming you won’t be disappointed: color and clarity is admirable, though of course, you’re probably going to want to use a better sound source.
(Image credit: Future)
BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Sound and gaming
While the gaming monitor market likes to promote the advantages of 1ms response rates, you’re getting nowhere near that with the TK700STi: in 4K it has a 16ms response time, while it can hit 8ms in 1080p.
It can’t be stressed enough, though, that these response times on a projector are very novel indeed, and given this is a projector with native 4K you’re not going to find better than this performance at the moment. All but a small number of inveterate competitive gamers (or dyed in the wool pedants) are going to notice any input lag. Basically, you’re probably not going to get better performance than this.
Still, given the emphasis Sony and Microsoft are placing on both 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rates, it’s a question that will arise, and the TK700STi’s 60Hz refresh rate at 4K – impressive only 5 years ago – might seem inadequate on paper.
Sure, if you’ve been gaming on a 240Hz monitor you may notice a difference in fluidity, but 60 frames-per second is a bar that consoles have only just gotten around to making (unofficially) standard: the likelihood of more than a handful of blockbuster games with 120Hz support coming out during the console generation seems low, as developers focus on the wow-factor of ray tracing, detail and resolution.
Of course, if you’re rocking this projector with a gaming PC those platform-oriented limitations are immaterial to you, and if a high-refresh rate is more important than resolution, then you probably aren’t seriously in the market for a projector.
For our money, playing through a selection of games on both the Xbox Series X and PS5 including Dirt 5, Returnal, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Forza Horizon 4 and Outriders, 100 inches of 60 frames-per-second next-gen goodness is undeniably impressive, offering a level of immersion no halfway affordable TV is likely to produce. Note that 4K offers a maximum 60Hz refresh rate, while 120Hz maxes out at 1080p.
